Bingham Purchase
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article is orphaned as few or no other articles link to it. Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. (November 2007) |
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007) |
The Bingham Purchase refers to several tracts of land in Maine[1], formally owned by William Bingham. In 1786, when Massachusetts which then included parts of Maine, disposed of large tracts of unsettled lands in Maine by lottery, William Bingham, a wealthy Philadelphia banker, drew several townships and purchased others, with a total area of one million acres (4,000 km²). This first tract was in the south-east of Maine. General Henry Knox had signed a contract to buy another 1,000,000-acre (4,000 km²) tract, in the west, but his duties as Secretary of War prevented his developing it, and Bingham took that over as well.
Today, these lands are under the jurisdiction of the state of Maine. The term "the Bingham Purchase" is still occasionally used to refer to the geographical area where the lands were once situated.[2][1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b http://www.rootsweb.com/~mefrankl/ Franklin County, Maine Geaneology
- ^ http://newenglandtowns.org/maine/franklin-county "Franklin County, Maine", New England Towns. Retrieved: 11-22-2007
- Dictionary of American History by James Truslow Adams, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940.
This article relating to the history of the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This Maine-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
