Smedley DARLINGTON, Congress, PA (1827-1899)

DARLINGTON, Smedley, (second cousin of Edward Darlington, Isaac Darlington, and William Darlington), a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Pocopson Township, Chester County, Pa., December 24, 1827; attended the common schools and the Friends’ Central School, Philadelphia; teacher in the latter school for several years; while teaching he made stenographic reports of sermons, lectures, and speeches for the morning dailies of Philadelphia; established a school in Ercildoun in 1851 which he operated for twelve years; enlisted in the Civil War as a private and subsequently promoted to the rank of captain in Beaumont’s independent company of cavalry, Pennsylvania Volunteer Emergency Militia; discharged with the company September 24, 1862; moved to West Chester in 1864; conducted an extensive banking and brokerage business; delegate to the Liberal Republican National Convention in 1872 and the Republican National Convention in 1896; elected as a Republican to the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses (March 4, 1887-March 3, 1891); was not a candidate for renomination in 1890; resumed the brokerage business and banking; died in West Chester, Chester County, Pa., June 24, 1899; interment in Oakland Cemetery near West Chester, Pa.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present