Theodore A. Bingham

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Brigadier General
Theodore A. Bingham
Theodore A. Bingham, United States Army General
NYPD Commissioner
In office
1906–1909
Preceded byWilliam McAdoo
Succeeded byWilliam Baker
Personal details
Born(1858-05-14)May 14, 1858
Andover, Connecticut
DiedSeptember 6, 1934(1934-09-06) (aged 76)
Chester, Nova Scotia
Spouses
Lucile Rutherfurd
​
​
(died 1920)​
Addison Mitchell
​
​
(m. 1926; died 1927)​
Alma materWest Point Military Academy

Brigadier General Theodore Alfred Bingham (May 14, 1858 – September 6, 1934) was the New York City police commissioner from 1906 to 1909.[1]

Early life[edit]

Bingham was born at Andover, Connecticut on May 14, 1858, to Joel Foote Bingham (1827–1914), a clergyman, and Susan Elizabeth (née Grew) Bingham (1834–1908).[1]

Bingham graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1879, receiving a commission as second lieutenant.[1]

Career[edit]

Between 1879 and 1890, he served in various capacities as an engineering officer and as a military attaché in Berlin and Rome. He served as superintendent of the public buildings and grounds at Washington from 1897 to 1901 with the rank of colonel. He was transferred to Buffalo, New York on an engineering assignment where he suffered an accident which caused the loss of a leg, forcing his retirement from active service in the army in 1904 at the rank of brigadier general.[2]

He served as police commissioner of New York City from January 1, 1906, to July 1, 1909.[1]

Controversial actions[edit]

In 1907, while serving as police commissioner of New York City, he arranged with Immigration Commissioner Robert Watchorn to allow local New York detectives to search newly arriving immigrants,[3] who he publicly blamed for a “crime wave”.[4]

These anti-immigrant policies received wider attention when he published an article in North American Review on "Foreign Criminals" in which he asserted that half the criminals in the city were Jews.[5] In the controversy that followed,[6] he issued a statement denying any malice or prejudice, instead blaming incorrect statistics that “were not compiled by myself, but were furnished me by others”.[7]

Later life[edit]

Bingham was removed from his role as police commissioner on July 2, 1909, by Mayor McClellan after he refused to remove photos of individuals not convicted of any crime from his ‘Rogues Gallery’, in defiance of a New York Supreme Court ruling [Gow vs. Bingham].[1] Bingham, defending his refusal, wrote “the police report to me that Duffy [George B. Duffy, 19 y.o.] is a very disorderly person, with a bad reputation, and that some of his associates are degenerates.”[8] In 1908 he was elected as a hereditary member of the Connecticut Society of the Cincinnati. In 1911, he served for a few months as chief engineer of the Department of Highways, and from 1911 to 1915, he was a consulting engineer with the Department of Bridges. In 1917, he was recalled to active service in the army in command of the Second Engineering District, New York City. He was discharged from active service and returned to retirement on June 10, 1919.

Personal life[edit]

In 1881, Bingham married Lucille Zoe Rutherfurd (1859–1920), a daughter of Thomas Scott Rutherfurd of St. Louis, Missouri. Before her death in 1920 on board the army transport Northern Pacific, they were the parents of:[9]

In 1926, he was married to Addison Mitchell of New York in London. She died, suddenly, a year later on November 21, 1927.[14] Bingham died at his summer home in Chester, Nova Scotia on September 7, 1934, aged 76. He was buried in Chester according to his wishes.[1]

Dates of rank[edit]

  • Cadet - 1 September 1875
  • 2nd Lieutenant - 13 June 1879
  • 1st Lieutenant - 17 June 1881
  • Captain - 2 July 1889
  • Major - 5 July 1898
  • Colonel (temporary) - 9 March 1897 to 30 April 1903
  • Brigadier General - 11 July 1904
  • Retired - 12 July 1904

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Gen. Bingham Dies at Summer Home. Former Police Commissioner of New York Succumbs in Canada at Age of 76. Ruled With Iron Hand. His Rugged Leadership Brought Political Protests. Served in Bridge Department Also". New York Times. September 7, 1934. Retrieved 2011-05-01.
  2. ^ "Letter from De Alva Stanwood Alexander to Theodore Roosevelt". www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org. Theodore Roosevelt Papers. Library of Congress Manuscript Division.: Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Watch on immigrants". The New York Times. 3 August 1907. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Blames foreigners for crime wave". The New York Times. 21 July 1907. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  5. ^ Bingham, Theodore A. (September 1908). "Foreign Criminals in New York". The North American Review: 383–394.
  6. ^ Bentwich, Norman (1954) For Zion's Sake. A Biography of Judah L. Magnes. First Chancellor and First President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia. Library of Congress Number: 54 7440. Page 77.
  7. ^ "Wrong about Jews, Bingham admits". The New York Times. 17 September 1908. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Oust Bingham, Gaynor urges". The New York Times. 2 June 1909. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  9. ^ "MRS. BINGHAM DIED AT SEA". The New York Times. 29 October 1920. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  10. ^ "DINNER FOR MISS SHONTS.; Second of Two Given at the Plaza by Her Father, Theodore P. Shonts". The New York Times. 11 May 1909. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  11. ^ "MISS JANE MORGAN WED TO GEO. NICHOLS; Elder Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.P. Morgan Married in St. John's, Lattingtown, L.I. MARGUERITE SHONTS WEDS The Bride of Rutherfurd Bingham in St. Thomas's--Nuptials of Miss Johns and L.S. Kirtland. Bride Walks with Her Father. Bingham-Shonts. Miss Aileen Sedgwick Weds. Lieut. Commander Dowell Marries. Bride of L.S. Kirtland. Miss Finn Weds Ignace Panzer. Walters--Dauer. Lieutenant Gillespie Weds Miss Burne. Franklin-Kenyon. Mrs. Aphie James Weds. Swan-Pells". The New York Times. 15 November 1917. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Duc de Chaulnes Buried". The New York Times. 29 April 1908. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  13. ^ "TRAINS TO HALT IN MEMORY OF SHONTS; Interborough Traffic to Cease One Minute at 4 P.M. Today for President's Funeral. VAIN SEARCH FOR DAUGHTER Mrs. Rutherfurd Bingham Is on a Hunting Trip in Canadian Woods and Cannot Be Found". The New York Times. 23 September 1919. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  14. ^ "Mrs. Theodore A. Bingham". The New York Times. 22 November 1927. Retrieved 18 April 2023.

External links[edit]

Police appointments
Preceded by NYPD Commissioner
1906–1909 		Succeeded by
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