Mr. Bingham's
Tombstone
BY
JEAN TYREE HAMILTON*
Martha Lykins Bingham had been married a little more than a
year, when the death of her husband encumbered her with a multitude of problems, not the least of which was the selection of a suitable
marker for the grave of Missouri's famous artist, George Caleb Bingham.
After Bingham's death on July 7, 1879, his widow shouldered
responsibilities that might have overwhelmed a less strong-willed person. Fortunately, Bingham had chosen as his third wife a woman of
iron principles, with an impressive capacity for making her own de-
*Jean Tyree Hamilton, Marshall, serves as vice president of the Friends of Arrow
Rock and is active in historic preservation and museum circles. She was graduated
from Columbia College and has a B. S. in Education, with graduate work in history,
from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is the author and coauthor of several
articles in historical and archaeological journals.
The author wishes to express her appreciation to Bonnie Wright, acquisitions
specialist at the State Historical Society of Missouri, for her assistance in providing
information on Martha Bingham. Mr. and Mrs. Lynn Burge, Mrs. Paul Burge, Mrs.
C. R. Larue, Mrs. Mary Turley Rinne, Mrs. Velma Detmer, Talmage Weekley and
Henry W. Hamilton assisted in locating cemetery and Bingham family material.
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