William Darlington | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's2nd district | |
| In office March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1823 | |
| Preceded by | See below |
| Succeeded by | See below |
| In office March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1817 | |
| Preceded by | See below |
| Succeeded by | See below |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1782-04-28)April 28, 1782 |
| Died | April 23, 1863(1863-04-23) (aged 80) |
| Resting place | Oaklands Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican |
| Education | University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine |
| Occupation | Physician, botanist, politician |
| Signature | .png) |
William Darlington (April 28, 1782 – April 23, 1863) was an Americanphysician,botanist, and politician who served as aDemocratic-Republican member of theU.S. House of Representatives forPennsylvania's 2nd congressional district from 1819 to 1823.[1]: 67
William Darlington (cousin ofEdward Darlington andIsaac Darlington, second cousin ofSmedley Darlington) was born inBirmingham,Chester County, Pennsylvania. He attended theFriends School at Birmingham and spent his youth on a farm.[2] He became abotanist at an early age, studied medicine, and graduated from themedical department of the University of Pennsylvania inPhiladelphia in 1804. He went to theEast Indies as ship's surgeon in 1806. He returned toWest Chester, near Birmingham, in 1807 and was a practicing physician there for a number of years. He raised a company of volunteers at the beginning of theWar of 1812 and served as major of a volunteer regiment.[3]
Darlington was elected as aDemocratic-Republican to theFourteenth Congress. He was again elected to theSixteenth andSeventeenth Congresses. He was appointed canal commissioner in 1825, and served as the first president of theWest Chester Railroad from 1831 to 1835.[2][4] He practiced law in West Chester in partnership withRobert Cornwell from 1868 to 1878.[5]
In 1823, Darlington was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society.[6]
He established anatural history society in West Chester in 1826 and published several works on botany and natural history. His published works includeMutual Influence of Habits and Disease (1804),Flora cestrica: an attempt to enumerate and describe the flowering and filicoid plants of Chester County in the state of Pennsylvania (1837) andAgricultural Botany (1847).[3][7] Several others also contributed to theFlora cestrica, making it a collaborative effort. These includedThomas Potts James who wrote the section about mosses and liverworts[8] andEzra Michner also contributed to this book.[9]Abigail Kimber had provided plant specimens to Darlington and these are also cited in the book.
The degree of L.L.D. was conferred on him by Yale University in 1848, and he was awarded a Doctor of Physical Science in 1855 byDickinson College.[3] The California pitcher plant,Darlingtonia californica, was described byJohn Torrey in 1853 and named in his honor.[10] TheAcademy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University preserves some botanical specimens that he collected — for example, ofTalinum teretifolium (Phemeranthus teretifolius — the quillfameflower).[11]
In 1849 he publishedMemorials of John Bartram and Humphry Marshall; with notices of their Botanical Contemporaries.[12]
He served as director and president of theNational Bank of Chester County from 1830 to 1863, where his friend and fellow botanistDavid Townsend was chief cashier. He died in West Chester in 1863, and was interred inOaklands Cemetery.[13]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 2nd congressional district 1815–1817 alongside:John Hahn | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 2nd congressional district 1819–1823 alongside:Samuel Gross | Succeeded by |
