Henry Harrison Bingham is Born

Today in Masonic History Henry Harrison Bingham is born in 1841.

Henry Harrison Bingham was an American solider during during the American Civil War and a Politician.

Bingham was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Jefferson College in 1862 he enlisted in the Union Army as part of the 140th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.

In 1863 Bingham was present at the Gettysburg. During the battle he witnessed Pickett's Charge and the when the Confederacy reached it's "High Water Mark", it's deepest penetration into the Union lines.

While the Confederate General Lewis Armistead was being carried from the battlefield, mortally wounded. He happened to meet Bingham who, like Armistead, was a mason. Armistead surrendered his sword and other personal effects to Bingham knowing that he was a mason and asked Bingham to carry the items to his commanding officer General Hancock. Hancock was a a childhood friend of Armistead. The event of their meeting on the battlefield and Bingham's service to his brother mason, despite being on the opposite sides of the conflict is commemorated with a memorial in Gettysburg called the Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial. The dedication on the memorial reads:

This monument is presented by the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania and dedicated as a memorial to the Freemasons of the Union and the Confederacy. Their unique bonds of friendship enabled them to remain a brotherhood undivided, even as they fought in a divided nation, faithfully supporting the respective governments under which they lived.

In 1867 Bingham was appointed Postmaster of Philadelphia by President Andrew Johnson.

In 1878 Bingham was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives where he would serve until his death.

Bingham was a member of Chartiers Lodge No. 297 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.

This article provided by Brother Eric C. Steele.