Mayor Bingham's House
124 Boteler Street
Written by Bytown Museum
on
03/Dec/2009
Samuel Bingham never made a penny as Ottawa's mayor in the late 1800s. Each month, he would hand over his paycheque to a local charity – one month to a Catholic group, the next to a Protestant group.
Born into a working-class Irish-Catholic family in Lowertown in 1846, he was one of the richest men in town by the time he became mayor. A self-made lumberman, Bingham could lead a log drive better than anyone, earning him the name “King of the Cascades.” Sadly, Bingham died in 1905 after falling asleep on his way home in a horse and buggy and falling into the Gatineau River, where he had worked all night clearing a log jam. Like other early Ottawa mayors, Bingham had a regular job in addition to his duties as mayor.
He and his family moved out of his house on Boteler Street in 1880 to their home at 89 Sussex Street (near the present National Research Council building).
Neighbourhood
From its very beginnings in 1826, Bytown (early Ottawa) was divided geographically, with Uppertown to the west of the Rideau Canal and Lowertown to the east. Lowertown, then ... read more
