Bingaman was born at
Bayou Sara, Louisiana, a son of Catherine Surget and
Adam Bingaman, a wealthy planter who served on the legislative council of
Mississippi Territory during the
John Adams administration. Bingaman studied law in
Massachusetts, graduating with a bachelor of arts,
Harvard University, class of 1812. While at Harvard, by arrangement, Adam lived in Boston with the sister of
Winthrop Sargent (former Governor of the
Mississippi Territory).
Judith Sargent Murray, Winthrop's sister, was a highly regarded feminist essayist, poet, and playwright, whose husband,
John Murray, was the founder of
organized Universalism in America. Adam was drawn to their daughter, Julia Maria Murray, and the two married secretly before Adam was called home to Natchez. Many months went by without word from Adam, but when Julia Maria gave birth to their daughter, Charlotte, Winthrop Sargent intervened with the Bingaman family in Natchez and Adam was directed to Boston and returned with his wife and child. By then, John Murray had died. Not wanting to part with her daughter and granddaughter, Judith Sargent Murray also relocated to Natchezjust when her young cousin Henrietta Sargent,
Lydia Maria Child, and other Boston
abolitionists were starting to incorporate Judith's political essays into their own arguments for equality. == Plantation life ==