Mrs. Mary H. Darling Biography This biography appears on page 506 in "History of Minnehaha County, South Dakota" by Dana R. Bailey and was scanned, OCRed and edited by Joy Fisher, http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00001.html#0000031 . This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/sd/sdfiles.htm DARLING, MRS. MARY H., was born in Belgrade, Maine, December 29, 1801, and died in Sioux Falls March 26, 1898. Her maiden name was Mary H. Buffington. In 1826, she was married to the Rev. J. W. Darling, a Free Will Baptist minister, who died at Freeport, Illinois, in 1868. In 1882, she came with her daughters, Mrs. Rowland and Miss Ella L. Darling, to Sioux Falls, where she resided until her decease. "Grandma Darling" as she was called by those who knew her, was a woman of more than ordinary strength of character. She had a purpose in living. Industry, frugality, and benevolence, were the rules of her life. She took an active interest in all the public questions of the day, and her sympathies were keenly enlisted in the Cuban cause during her last days. Living such a life, covering nearly a century, made rich and great by the devotion of noble, good women, it is no wonder that she was a grand good woman herself.