Smedley Darlington was a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

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Biography

Smedley Darlington (second cousin of Congressmen Edward Darlington

Edward Darlington

Edward Darlington was an Anti-Masonic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.Edward Darlington was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He moved in early youth with his parents to Delaware County, Pennsylvania. He taught school from 1817 to 1820...

, Isaac Darlington

Isaac Darlington

Isaac Darlington was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.He was born near West Chester, Pennsylvania and attended Friends School at Birmingham, Pennsylvania. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1801 where he commenced his practice in West Chester...

, and William Darlington

William Darlington

William Darlington was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.William Darlington was born in Birmingham, Chester County, Pennsylvania. He attended Friends School at Birmingham and spent his youth on a farm...

) was born in Pocopson Township, Pennsylvania

Pocopson Township, Pennsylvania

Pocopson Township is a township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,582 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.43%, is water.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000,...

. He attended the common schools and the Friends’ Central School in Philadelphia. He taught at Friends’ Central School for several years, and while teaching he made stenographic reports of sermons, lectures, and speeches for the morning dailies of Philadelphia. He established a school in Ercildoun, Pennsylvania

Ercildoun, Pennsylvania

Ercildoun, population about 100, is an unincorporated community in East Fallowfield Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. In 1985 the entire hamlet, including 31 properties, was listed as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places...

, in 1851 which he operated for twelve 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. He was discharged with the company September 24, 1862. He moved to West Chester, Pennsylvania

West Chester, Pennsylvania

The Borough of West Chester is the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,461 at the 2010 census.Valley Forge, the Brandywine Battlefield, Longwood Gardens, Marsh Creek State Park, and other historical attractions are near West Chester...

, in 1864. He conducted an extensive banking and brokerage business. He was a delegate to the Liberal Republican

Liberal Republican Party (United States)

The Liberal Republican Party of the United States was a political party that was organized in Cincinnati in May 1872, to oppose the reelection of President Ulysses S. Grant and his Radical Republican supporters. The party's candidate in that year's presidential election was Horace Greeley, longtime...

 National Convention in 1872 and the 1896 Republican National Convention

1896 Republican National Convention

The 1896 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held in a temporary structure south of the St. Louis City Hall in Saint Louis, Missouri, from June 16 to June 18, 1896....

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Darlington was elected as a Republican to the Fiftieth

50th United States Congress

The Fiftieth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1887 to March 4, 1889, during the third and fourth...

 and Fifty-first

51st United States Congress

The Fifty-first United States Congress, referred to by some critics as the Billion Dollar Congress, was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C...

 Congresses. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1890. He resumed the brokerage business and banking. He died in West Chester in 1899. Interment in Oakland Cemetery near West Chester.

He was the grandfather of Smedley Darlington Butler

Smedley Butler

Smedley Darlington Butler was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps, an outspoken critic of U.S. military adventurism, and at the time of his death the most decorated Marine in U.S...

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