HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY. 
 
looked upon shams of every kind with con- 
tempt, and was rarely if ever, deceived by them. 
In politics he was formerly a whig, and always 
anti-slavery in principles. He was an earnest 
supporter of Fremont in 1856, and of Lincoln 
in 1860, and was a member of the national con- 
vention that re-nominated the latter in 1864. 
To his influence is largely due the revolution in 
the politics of his county, which, formerly 
largely democratic, is now overwhelmingly re- 
publican. He was an ardent supporter of the 
government during the Civil War, and it was a 
source of great sorrow to him that failing health 
prevented his entering more actively into the 
service of his country. 
Judge Bingham took active interest in all 
matters of public improvement, contributing 
freely both time and money to the success of 
enterprises which met his approval.  Above 
everything else he was the friend of education, 
and no other man ever did so much for the schools 
of Monroe. For months at a time he visited them 
daily, watching the progress of favorite classes, 
counseling teachers, and studying methods of 
instruction. He possessed a natural love of 
teaching,and was peculiarly happy in his mode of 
imparting information. This disposition, sharp- 
ened and intensified by the difficulties he had 
encountered in procuring an education, led him 
to take great pleasure in assisting all young 
men, and especially poor and ambitious youths 
who were struggling to gain an education. Hav- 
ing helped himself he understood the value of 
self-help, and never squandered money in any 
enterprise because it was labeled "benevolence." 
Every effort calculated to better qualify men to 
help themselves, or to render them temporary 
relief from pressing difficulties, commanded his 
cordial support; and during the last years of his 
life a large constituency, whom he counseled 
gratuitously, regularly sought his advice in re- 
gard to the conduct of all their more important 
affairs. 
The community also leaned upon and trusted 
his judgment as it had never trusted that of 
 
any other man, and when lie was prematurely 
stricken down his acquaintances felt that their 
strongest and ablest man was gone. 
He had six children,three sons and three daugh- 
ters, five of whom survive. The eldest son, 
Horace, died in infancy; Homer, the second son, 
was educated at Cornell University, New York, 
and is at present (1876) attending the law de- 
partment of the Wisconsin University, with a 
view to the profession of his father, and is a 
a youth of fine presence and large promise; 
Herbert still in his teens, is attending the Mon- 
roe High Schoql; the daughters, Helen M., Alice 
and Ada, all graduates of the Lombard Univer- 
sity, Galesburg, Ill. Alice is the widow of the late 
Prof. Herbert E. Copeland, for some years 
professor of natural science in the Whitewater, 
Wis., Normal School, and latterly in a sim- 
ilar institution  in  Indianapolis, Ind.  He 
died on the 12th of December, 1876. Helen is 
a well known contributor to the current litel'a- 
ture of the day, and has been for some time past 
engaged in writing a history of Green county, a 
task for the successful accomplishment of which 
her tastes and talents eminently fit her. Ada 
is a medical student at the Boston University, 
and gives promise of a bright and successful 
career. 
Judge Bingham died at Johnson, Vt., July 24, 
1865, having been stricken down by paralysis 
while on a visit to his native State. 
Brooks Dun widdie 
was born in Green Co., Ohio, Jan. 22, 1818. His 
parents were John and Ruth (Betts) Dunwiddie. 
About the time of the Revolution, two brothers 
came from southern Ireland to America, and 
enlisted in a Maryland regiment. One of them 
was killed at the battle of Brandywine. The 
surviving brother, John Dunwiddiesettled upon 
the eastern shore of Maryland. He married 
and raised a family of children, of which John, 
one of his sons, was the father of the subject of 
this sketch, he marrying Ruth B0tts, in the 
State of Delaware, a ste p-daughter of a Mr 
 
350