Harry Bingham was born on March 30, 1821, in Concord, Vermont, United States, the son of Warner Bingham, a prosperous farmer, state senator, and judge of Essex County, Vermont, and of Lucy (Wheeler) Bingham. He traced his descent from Thomas Bingham of England, one of the landed proprietors of Norwich, Connecticut, in 1659.
Harry obtained his early education at the common schools, he entered the Lyndon Academy in 1838, proceeding thence in 1839 to Dartmouth College, where he graduated in 1843. Later he studied law in Bath, New Hampshire.
Bingham was admitted to the New Hampshire bar at Lancaster in May Term 1846. The same year he opened an office in Littleton, New Hampshire, and practised there all his life.
He was an ardent Democrat, and, being the only lawyer of that persuasion in the town, quickly obtained the nucleus of a thriving practise, which ultimately became one of the largest in the state. In 1861 he was elected to represent Littleton in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, and became Democratic leader in the legislature. Although a strong partisan he did not countenance machine politics, and he was able - apart from purely party measures - to exercise an influence in the House disparate to the numerical strength of his political following.
In 1865 and 1867 he was Democratic nominee for Congress, and was candidate for the United States Senate on seven occasions. He was a delegate to the national Democratic conventions at New York in 1868, Baltimore in 1872, Cincinnati in 1880, and Chicago in 1884 and 1890.
An unswerving Gold Democrat, he declined to follow Bryan, and from the first refused to support the Chicago platform. He attended the Philadelphia peace convention of 1866, and took a conspicuous part in the proceedings of the state constitutional convention of 1876, being chairman of the committee on the legislative department.
Bingham was nominated by Gov. Weston in 1874 chief justice of the superior court of judicature, but the appointment failed of confirmation by the Council. Retained in most of the heavy local litigation of his time, he was not an outstanding advocate, but his briefs were always prepared with the utmost attention to detail, and his manner of presenting his cases in clear, unpretentious style before judge or jury, his manifest sincerity, and his scrupulous accuracy were very attractive and had no small share in the attainment of many notable successes.
Harry Bingham was a well-known politician of his time. He was reelected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives no less than seventeen times between 1861 and 1891, in addition to being state senator for Grafton District 1883-1887. When in the House he was always a member of the judiciary committee, being its chairman in 1871 and 1874.
Bingham was president of the Grafton and Coos Bar Association.
Bingham was unmarried.
