BINGHAM, CHARLES W. (22 May 1846-3 Mar. 1929), was a businessman active in Cleveland cultural institutions. Born in Cleveland to William and Elizabeth Beardsley Bingham, he graduated from Yale with a B.A. in 1868. Bingham spent 3 years in Europe studying geology, mining, and chemistry. He earned his M.A. from Yale in 1871 and began working in Cleveland, perhaps at the Cleveland Iron Co., of which his father, WM. BINGHAM, was president. In 1879 he was a member of Wm. Bingham & Co., and from 1881 until his death, was president of the Standard Tool Co. He served on several banking boards and arranged business matters for family members, for which he establish Perry-Payne Co.. On 8 June 1876, Bingham married Mary Perry Payne. They had 5 children: Oliver Perry, William II, Elizabeth Beardsley (Blossom), Frances Payne (Bolton), and Henry Payne.
From 1892 until his death, Bingham was a trustee of the WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. He was treasurer of the Case Library and president of the Case Library Assoc. He was an original trustee conducting the Huntington Art & Polytechnic Trust; and was a trustee of the Horace Kelley Art Foundation. He chaired the building committee representing these 2 trusts in the construction of the CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART, of which he was a trustee from 1913-20. A trustee of the Lake View Cemetery Assoc., Bingham was also a member of the FIRST PRESBYTERIAN (OLD STONE) CHURCH from 1862, and a trustee from 1909 until his death. He was buried in LAKE VIEW CEMETERY.