Horatio Bingham (c.1763 – 1831) and Sarah Johnson (c.1767 – after 1831) were my 5th-great-grandparents, being the parents of Erastus Bingham. They married 1787-12-19 in Springfield, Vermont.ref Horatio was probably the son of Reuben Bingham and may have been born in Massachusetts. Sarah’s ancestry is unknown.
No records are found indicating the parents of either. The name Johnson is common, and I have a few plausible candidates for Sarah’s family, but with no proof of any. However, I have a pretty good theory for Horatio.
Reuben Bingham was born in Windham, Connecticut in 1738, but thereafter was on the move. In 1787, the year Horatio married in Springfield, he was a member of the church in Rockingham, about 15 miles south of Springfield. In 1790, he was listed in the census in Weathersfield, about 10 miles north of Springfield. In 1800, he was in the census for Springfield itself, where Horatio also was. There are no other Binghams recorded in the county in these years, although there are some in neighboring counties more distant.
Horatio named his second son Reuben.
Horatio’s son Erastus on the 1880 census reports his father’s birthplace as Massachusetts, which is between Connecticut and Vermont and so, even if wrong, may indicate an origin in that direction. Horatio’s son James’s death record says Horatio was born in Nova Scotiaref; this is surely wrong, and it also says James’s mother was named Mary (not Sarah), but a plausible theory is that this information, presumably supplied by his widow, was confused because Reuben lived his late years on Grand Manan Island, which was part of Nova Scotia until 1784. Reuben’s wife was named Mary.
It is known that Reuben married and had children, but there is scanty documentation of the family.
Together, these tidbits make a good case for Reuben being Horatio’s father, although more solid information is naturally sought.
Finally, even if Reuben is not the father, nearly all colonial Binghams were related as descendants of Thomas Bingham and Mary Rudd, so at least some of the inferred ancestry is correct.
Here is a breakdown of the Horatio Bingham households in the Federal censuses of Springfield:
| Year | Counts | Inferred births |
|---|---|---|
| 1800ref | 3 ♂ <10, 1 ♂ 26–44, 2 ♀ <10, 1 ♀ 26–44 | 1755–1774 ♂♀ 1790–1800 ♂♂♂♀♀ |
| 1810ref | 1 ♂ <10, 2 ♂ 10–15, 1 ♂ 45+, 2 ♀ <10, 2 ♀ 16–25, 1 ♀ 26–44 | –1765 ♂ 1765–1784 ♀ 1784–1794 ♀♀ 1794–1800 ♂♂ 1800–1810 ♂♀♀ |
| 1820ref | 1 ♂ <10, 2 ♂ 19–25, 1 ♂ 45+, 1 ♀ 10–15, 1 ♀ 16–25, 2 ♀ 26–44, 1 ♀ 45+ | –1775 ♂♀ 1775–1794 ♀♀ 1794–1801 ♂♂ 1794–1804 ♀ 1804–1810 ♀ 1810–1820 ♂ |
| 1830ref | 1 ♂ 15–19, 1 ♂ 60s, 1 ♀ 20s, 1 ♀ 30s, 1 ♀ 60s | 1760–1770 ♂♀ 1790–1800 ♀ 1800–1810 ♀ 1810–1815 ♂ |
I could not find the family in 1790. Horatio sold property in Springfield on 1831-05-16ref, and his estate was administered on 1831-09-08ref, so he died between those dates, probably closer to the latter. Horatio died intestate, and his widow was named as Sarah Bingham. It is thus nearly certain that the oldest woman in the household in each census is Sarah.
If the reported ages are accurate, this puts Horatio’s birth as 1760×5 and Sarah’s birth as 1765×70.
Eight children are recorded, all born in Springfield:
The match to the census records is pretty good. There is an extra boy in the 1820 and 1830 censuses; he could be another son but also, e.g., a grandson, perhaps a son of Ralph, who died about 3.5 years after marrying.
This assumes the Reuben inference is correct.