Bingham Stinson found his calling late in life as a practical nurse. In the days before nursing homes and assisted-care facilities, a family would hire him to take care of an elderly or infirm relative in their last days. When his patient passed on, Bingham would then be hired by another family. In between jobs he stayed with relatives. During World War II he worked as an orderly at Perry Point (MD) Naval Hospital from 1942 (age 66) to 1948 (age 72). Before finding himself, other jobs included farmer (not very successful at it), prison guard (didn't last very long here either; a very religious man, he claimed he couldn't stand the inmates' rough language) and furniture millworker. He married Lizzie Emma Dixon in 1920, but she died in 1924 leaving him with two small daughters (Elizabeth, born 1921, and Anna, born 1923); he lost custody of both in a series of protracted court battles. He was well-known in Siler City and Chatham County as a first-class fiddle player.
Bingham Stinson found his calling late in life as a practical nurse. In the days before nursing homes and assisted-care facilities, a family would hire him to take care of an elderly or infirm relative in their last days. When his patient passed on, Bingham would then be hired by another family. In between jobs he stayed with relatives. During World War II he worked as an orderly at Perry Point (MD) Naval Hospital from 1942 (age 66) to 1948 (age 72). Before finding himself, other jobs included farmer (not very successful at it), prison guard (didn't last very long here either; a very religious man, he claimed he couldn't stand the inmates' rough language) and furniture millworker. He married Lizzie Emma Dixon in 1920, but she died in 1924 leaving him with two small daughters (Elizabeth, born 1921, and Anna, born 1923); he lost custody of both in a series of protracted court battles. He was well-known in Siler City and Chatham County as a first-class fiddle player.
