{{Short description|American politician (1827–1899)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Smedley Darlington | image = Smedley Darlington (Pennsylvania Congressman).jpg | state = Pennsylvania | district = 6th | term_start = March 4, 1887 | term_end = March 3, 1891 | preceded = James B. Everhart | succeeded = John B. Robinson | birth_date = {{birth date|1827|12|24}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1899|06|24|1827|12|24}} | birth_place = Pocopson Township, Pennsylvania | death_place = West Chester, Pennsylvania | resting_place = Oaklands Cemetery, West Chester, Pennsylvania | spouse = Mary Edwards Baker (m. 1851) | children = 11 | relatives = Thomas S. Butler (son-in-law)<br/>Smedley Butler (grandson)<br/>Isabel Darlington (daughter) | party = Republican | occupation = Teacher<br/>Businessman | allegiance = United States | branch = Pennsylvania Emergency Militia | unit = Beaumont's Independent Company of Cavalry | rank = Private | service_years = 1862 | battles = American Civil War *Defense of Pennsylvania }}
'''Smedley Darlington''' (December 24, 1827 – June 24, 1899) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district from 1887 to 1891.
==Biography== Darlington was born in Pocopson Township, Pennsylvania on December 24, 1827, the son of Richard and Edith (Smedley) Darlington.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}} He attended the common schools and the Friends' Central School in Philadelphia.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}} He taught at Friends’ Central School for several years, and while teaching he made stenographic reports of sermons, lectures, and speeches for the newspapers of Philadelphia.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}} He established a school in Ercildoun, Pennsylvania.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}} First known as Ercildoun Seminary, it was later called Darlington Seminary, and Darlington operated it as an academy for boys during its first three years, then converted it to a school for girls.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}} Darlington Academy remained open for 12 years.
He enlisted in the Civil War as a private and was subsequently promoted to the rank of captain in Beaumont’s Independent Company of Cavalry, Pennsylvania Volunteer Emergency Militia.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}} He was discharged with the company on September 24, 1862.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}} He moved to West Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1864.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}}
After the war, Darlington became active in banking and investment brokering, and owned interests in several financial institutions and corporations.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}} He was an early entrant into the petroleum industry in the 1880s, and maintained an office in Oil City, Pennsylvania from which he managed his involvement.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}} In 1885, he founded the Chester County Guaranty Trust & Safe Deposit Company, and he served as its president until 1897.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}}
Darlington was a delegate to the 1872 Liberal Republican convention and the 1896 Republican National Convention.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}} In 1886, he was elected as a Republican to the 50th Congress.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}} He was reelected to the 51st Congresses in 1888.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}} Darlington served as a Representative from March 4, 1887 to March 3, 1891 and was not a candidate for renomination in 1890.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}}
Darlington died in West Chester on June 24, 1899.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}} His funeral took place at his home, "Faunbrook" on June 26, and he was buried at Oaklands Cemetery in West Chester.{{sfn|"Mr. Darlington's Funeral"}}
In 1851, Darlington married Mary Edwards Baker.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}} They were the parents of 11 children, four of whom died in infancy.{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}} Their daughter Isabel became the first woman to practice law in Chester County.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Long |first=Gail |date=1995 |title=Isabel Darlington, Esq., Belle of the Bar |url=http://paheritage.wpengine.com/article/isabel-darlington-esq-belle-bar/ |access-date=2022-07-06 |website=Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> His daughter Maud became the wife of Thomas S. Butler, who also served in Congress,{{sfn|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}} and the mother of Marine Corps Major General Smedley Darlington Butler.{{sfn|''Maverick Marine''}} He was the second cousin of Congressmen Edward Darlington, Isaac Darlington, and William Darlington.{{sfn|''Guide to Congress''}}
==Photos== <gallery mode="packed" heights="220"> File:Smedley Darlington House.JPG|Darlington's house in West Chester File:Smedley Darlington Grave in Oaklands Cemetery, West Chester, Pennsylvania.jpg|Darlington's grave at Oaklands Cemetery in West Chester, Pennsylvania </gallery>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources== ===Books=== *{{cite book |date=1945 |title=The National Cyclopædia of American Biography |volume=XXXII |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015078229195&view=2up&seq=328 |location=New York, NY |publisher=James T. White & Company |page=160 |via=HathiTrust |ref={{sfnRef|''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography''}}}} *{{cite book |last=CQ Press |date=2013 |title=Guide to Congress |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iqN2AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA148 |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |publisher=Sage Publications |page=148 |isbn=978-1-60426-953-6 |via=Google Books |ref={{sfnRef|''Guide to Congress''}}}} *{{cite book |last=Schmidt |first=Hans |date=1987 |title=Maverick Marine: General Smedley D. Butler and the Contradictions of American Military History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GeHWAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 |location=Lexington, KY |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |page=6 |isbn=978-0-8131-0957-2 |via=Google Books |ref={{sfnRef|''Maverick Marine''}}}}
===Newspapers=== *{{cite news |date=June 27, 1899 |title=Mr. Darlington's Funeral |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/168375716/ |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |location=Philadelphia, PA |page=6 |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com |ref={{sfnRef|"Mr. Darlington's Funeral"}}}}
==External links== {{CongBio|D000058}} Retrieved on 2008-02-14 *[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/darlington.html Smedley Darlington] at The Political Graveyard
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Pennsylvania | district=6 | before=James B. Everhart | after=John B. Robinson | years=1887–1891 }} {{s-end}} {{Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania}}
{{Portal bar|American Civil War}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darlington, Smedley}} Category:1827 births Category:1899 deaths Category:Burials at Oaklands Cemetery Category:Union army officers Category:Pennsylvania Liberal Republicans Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Pennsylvania Category:Politicians from Chester County, Pennsylvania Category:People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War Category:19th-century United States representatives