Biographical Sketch of Frank P. DARLINGTON (1893); Chester County, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by John Morris . *********************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: Printing this file within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** Source: "Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county", by Samuel T. Wiley and edited by Winfield Scott Garner, Gresham Publishing Company, Philadelphia, PA, 1893, pp. 197-9. "FRANK P. DARLINGTON, one of the leading business men of West Chester, who is vice president of the West Chester board of trade, and prominently identified with a number of important enterprises in the borough, is fourth of the five sons of Amos H. and Sarah H. (Strode) Darlington, and was born June 1, 1850, in East Bradford township, Chester county, Pennsylvania. He grew to manhood in this county, and received a superior English education at Fairville institute. After leaving school he engaged for a time in farming on the old homestead in East Bradford township, and then accepted a position as bookkeeper with the dry goods firm of N. H. Brown & Co., in the city of Philadelphia. At the end of two years he became salesman for the same company and spent about two years in that capacity, after which he returned to West Chester, this county, and in 1871 embarked in the grocery and provision business at this place. His store is located on the corner of Market and Church streets, and contains at all times a full stock of everything connected with his line. Being a man of fine executive ability, sound judgment and strict integrity, he has succeeded in building up a large trade, and now finds himself at the head of a lucrative and constantly growing business. In addition to this he is largely connected with a number of other enterprises, being secretary and treasurer of the Cooper Medicine Company; vice president of the West Chester board of trade; and a director in the West Chester Electric Light Company, besides other business interests here and elsewhere. Mr. Darlington has always taken an active part in every enterprise calculated to increase the prosperity of the borough, and as a business man and citizen stands deservedly high. Politically he is a republican, and has served as a member of the borough council two terms, during the latter of which he acted as second burgess, and in the absence of the chief burgess served as chief burgess for a time. "On April 30, 1879, Mr. Darlington was united in marriage to Annie D. Tate, a daughter of Joseph G. Tate, a well-known and prosperous business man of Phila- delphia. To Mr. and Mrs. Darlington have been born three sons: Herbert T., born September 11, 1880; J. Benson, born August 3, 1887; and Irwin, born May 10, 1890. "The Darlingtons of Chester county are descended from Job and Mary Darlington, of Darnhall, Cheshire, England, two of whose sons, Abraham and John, emigrated to America prior to 1711, and settled near the town of Chester, in what is now Delaware county. John, the younger of these two brothers, finally removed to Maryland, and his history and that of his descendants, if any, has become obscure and uncertain. Abraham Darlington married Deborah Carter, a daughter of Joseph Carter, and after her death without issue, in 1716, he wedded Eliza- beth Hillborn, a daughter of Thoams and Elizabeth Hillborn, of Bucks county, and became the progenitor of the numerous family of Darlingtons in Chester county and vicinity, now numbering nearly two thousand souls. He had learned the saddler's trade in England, but it is supposed he did not devote much attention to it after locating on the farm in Chester county. He, however, became widely known as a physician and surgeon, being very skillful in the treatment of disease, and apparently a natural born surgeon. After his marriage Abraham lived in Ashton township, then Chester, now Delaware county, until 1723, when he removed to a farm on the left bank of Brandywine creek in Birmingham township, about half a mile above Chad's Ford. Here he purchased two hundred acres of land for eighty pounds sterling, and resided upon it until his death, February 9, 1776. His wife died December 28, 1771. Their children were ten in number: Mary, Deborah, Elizabeth, Abraham, Thomas (great- grandfather), John, Hannah, Rachel, Job and Rebecca. The farm descended to the eldest son, Abraham Darlington (2), and has since passed out of the family, the principal portion of it being now the property of Clement Biddle. "Thomas Darlington (great-grandfather), married, April 25, 1754, Hannah Brinton, a daughter of Edward Brinton, of Birmingham, and settled in East Bradford, on one hundred acres of his father's land, purchased from John Strode in 1750. Their children were: Edward, Abraham, Thomas, Jesse, Amos, George, Stephen, Hannah, Elizabeth, Emanuel and Brinton. Emanuel Darlington (grandfather) was born June 28, 1775, in East Bradford township, this county, and after attaining manhood engaged in agriculture, and followed that pursuit all his life. Politically he was an old-line whig, and in religion a strict member of the Society of Friends. He married Martha House, and had a family of five children, one son and four daughters: Sarah, Hannah, Phoebe, Mary and Amos Darlington (father). The latter was a native of East Bradford township, born in 1814. He was reared on the home farm and educated in the subscription schools of his neighborhood. After leaving school he engaged in farming and made that the principal business of his life. He died at his home in East Bradford township, April 20, 1866, aged fifty-two years, and greatly respected by a wide circle of friends. In politics he was an active republican, and held many of the offices in his township. He was a life long member of the Society of Friends, and married Sarah H. Strode, a daughter of Richard Strode. She was born in East Bradford township in 1810, and is still living in her native town- ship, being very active for a woman of her great age. Her father was born in Westtown township, but lived during the latter part of his life in West Chester, dying there at an advanced age. He was a farmer and nurseryman. By his marriage with Sarah H. Strode Mr. Darlington had a family of five children, all sons: Richard S., who served in the State militia during the civil war, and is now superintendent of the West Chester brick and tile works at West Chester; Eugene, now a resident of Greenwood, Kentucky, where he is engaged in merch- andising; Edwin, a prosperous farmer residing on the old homestead in East Bradford township; Frank P., the subject of this sketch; and S. Barnard, now a clerk and bookkeeper in the employ of his brother, Frank P. Darlington, at West Chester."