Anne Willing Bingham was an American socialite from Philadelphia. She was regarded as one of the most beautiful women of her day.
Background
Anne Bingham was on August 1, 1764, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, one of the thirteen children born to Thomas Willing and Anne (McCall) Willing of Philadelphia. Her inheritance on both sides was enviable and was undoubtedly an important factor in her later success. Thomas Willing was a wealthy merchant of English descent and education, who had become a power in colonial politics and who is said to have resembled his friend Washington in character. Mrs. Willing, whose beauty was not eclipsed even by that of her daughter, belonged to the influential McCall family of Philadelphia.
Career
Already an acclaimed beauty in a city famous for its beautiful women, Anne Willing at the age of sixteen was married to William Bingham, one of the wealthiest men in the American colonies. In 1783 Mr. and Mrs. Bingham sailed for Europe, where the appearance, charm, and wit of the twenty-year-old wife became the subject of flattering attention. After five brilliant years in Paris, London, and The Hague, Mrs. Bingham returned home admirably prepared to reign over the "Republican Court" in Philadelphia. During the decade when her salon was at its height no single character of political importance but came to some extent under the influence of her personality.
"Mansion House, " built by the Binghams on their return from Europe, was modeled on the residence of the Duke of Manchester, "the dimensions of the original being somewhat enlarged in the copy. " If Harrison Gray Otis was pained to find Mrs. Bingham's daughter clad only in her dress and chemise on a January day in Philadelphia; if there was amusement at a long line of Bingham servants, hurtling the names of arriving guests across the sidewalks, up the stairs, and along the corridors; if it leaked out that Mrs. Bingham had a protracted quarrel with a theatre manager over the owning of a box; these were but shallow ripples on a deep stream of admiration that flowed steadily in the conversation, letters, and diaries of the period. While it was probably her wealth and beauty that brought important personages to Mrs. Bingham, it was certainly her intelligence, sagacious wit, and a flair for analysis that made them listen to her.
Shortly after the birth of her only son, in her thirty-seventh year, she insisted upon attending a sleighing party, and the resultant exposure caused an attack of lung fever which rapidly grew so serious that her physicians advised a milder climate. Carried from her luxurious home upon a palanquin which drew the eyes of hundreds, she was placed aboard her husband's elaborately appointed yacht and taken to the Bermuda Islands. There after a few weeks the lovely Anne Bingham died in unaccustomed exile.
Achievements
Anne Bingham was a leading society figure in Philadelphia who entertained leaders of the newly born United States of America. She was said to be the most beautiful woman of her time and to have been the model for the famous Lady Liberty Draped Bust portrait on the American silver dollars and other United States coinage minted between 1796 and 1804.
Personality
There was nothing of the democrat and nothing of the Puritan about Mrs. Bingham. Her vocabulary and taste in anecdote are reported to have been those of her contemporary the Duchess of Devonshire, and the extravagance of her entertainments surprised, and, in the case of Brissot de Warville at least, shocked European visitors.
Quotes from others about the person
"Mrs. Bingham gains my love and admiration more and more every time I see her; she is possessed of greater ease and politeness in her behavior than any person I have seen. " - Miss Abigail Adams
Connections
On October 26, 1780, Anne was married to William Bingham.
