George Caleb Bingham - New Franklin, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 39° 00.747 W 092° 44.275
15S E 522690 N 4318190
Grew up in New Franklin and when on to become very famous in his field.
Waymark Code: WMQPQ5
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 03/14/2016
Views: 3
County of memorial: Howard County
Location of memorial: MO-5 & Katy Trail, S. limits of New Franklin
Artist: Harry Weber
Dedicated: 31 August 2013
Granite Etchings artist: Kevin Hale
Engineer: Crockett Engineering
Contractor: Bill Sullivan Excavations
Memorial Text:
George Caleb Bingham
March 20, 1811 to July 7, 1879
George Caleb Bingham was born March 20, 1811, in Augusta County, Virginia, to Henry and Mary Amend Bingham. Henry moved the family to Franklin in 1819. There they farmed, processed tobacco and ran a hotel. Bingham's interest in painting started when he helped hotel guest and famed artist Chester Harding paint Daniel Boone's portrait. Henry died of malaria in 1821. Mary sold the hotel and opened a girls' school on the family farm. The school's art teacher, Mattie Wood, gave Bingham art lessons. At 16 he apprenticed as a cabinetmaker, studied religion and law, and painted portraits. He was earning a living as an artist by 1836, when he married Sarah Elizabeth Hutchison. They had four children. Bingham painted portraits of President George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Quincy Adams, and famous Missourians James S. Rollins, Frederick Moss Prewitt, and Joseph Kinney. He painted hundreds of portraits over a span of 50 years. In 1845, Bingham began painting scenes of everyday American life such as "The Jolly Flatboatman," landscapes such as "The Old Horse," and political themes such as "The County Election." Bingham's wife and a son died tragically in 1848. He married Eliza Thomas, and they had a son. Bingham's public service included state legislature in 1848, state treasurer and captain in the U.S. Volunteer Corps during the Civil War, and Adjutant General in 1875. After second wife Eliza died in 1876, Bingham married longtime family friend Martha Livingston Lykins. Bingham's artistic genius led to him becoming the first art professor at the University of Missouri in 1877 and, later, earned him recognition at the most famous illustrator of American frontier life. He is buried in Kansas City's Union Cemetery.