Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/848

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��BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

��was a man of great energy ; always on the alert himself, he would not tolerate anything like idleness or inactiv- ity on the part of his sons. As soon as John was old enough to handle a hoe or feed stock, he was put to work by his father, and from that day till the day of his marriage, he was obliged to toil from day to day, but little time being allotted him for literary pursuits or for purposes of recreation. He was married .Jan. 16, 1851, to Miss Mary Jane Rea, the only surviving child of William and Eliza Rea ; the marriage was per- formed by Rev. Richard Gaily, a minister of the United Presbyterian Church ; John Darling's father gave him the southeast quarter of Sec. 36 in Monroe Township ; Mr. Darling moved on this farm shortly after his marriage ; it was then very much out of re- pair ; the buildings were old and dilapidated, and the fences very much in want of repair; Mr. Darling's labors, therefore, did not cease with his marriage, or with his becoming the owner of a farm; here a new field of labor opened up before him ; he went to work in earnest to cultivate and improve his farm, and the work of improvement has steadily advanced to this day ; he now has one of the most productive and best cultivated farms in this section of the country ; the old tumble-down buildings have given place to a splendid dwelling and large and commodious barn; his fences are in good repair, and everything about the premises bespeaks for its owner the title of a first-class farmer. John and Mary Darling are the parents of the follow- ing children: Mary Elizabeth, born March 13, 18-52; William Washington, born Feb. 2, 1855 ; Irena Jane, born Oct. 13, 1857 ; Florella May, born June 4, 1859 ; Alfred W., born Oct. 2, 1863; Harman Lewis, born May 10, 1868; Emma J., born Oct. 23, 1870. Mary E. was married to Charles Culler, June 28, 1873 ; Will- iam W. was married to Mary E. Heck, second daughter of J. B. and Artemissa Heck, of Newville ; Irena Jane died April 2, 1858 ; Florella, in May, 1860 ; both buried in St. Johns Cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. John Darling have both been active and consistent members of the Lutheran Church for many years, and have been very liberal in their contributions for the support of the Gospel.

DARLING, GEORGE W., farmer; P. 0. Perryville. Geo. Washington Darling, third son of AVilliam and Mary Darling, was born in Worthington Township, Richland Co., Ohio, near the site of the old block-house, on the 25th day of December, 1822, just three days after his father's leg was amputated. As soon as he was old enough to handle a hoe or ride a horse, his father set him to work His father was a man who never tolerated idleness, or had any sympathy for a lazy person ; his word was law, and, when he commanded, he expected to be obeyed. His father being an extensive land- owner and farmer, as well as a breeder, feeder and dealer in live stock, he had plenty of work for his boys to do ; so that the Darling boys of that day had but little time for idleness or play. Little George Washington trained from his boyhood to habits of industry. These same habits that attended the boy have attended the man through life. Farm labor was much harder to per- form then than now. This was before the day of the reaper and mower, drill and riding plow ; even thrash- ing machines had not then been introduced into this country. At that time, they used "Armstrong's" ma-

��chines, and tramped out their grain with horses or thrashed it with ilails, so that the Darling boys had to work hard at all kinds of farm work during the summer. Their father sent them to school in the winter season, but very irregularly. They always had a large herd of cattle to feed and attend to during this season of the year, and had to walk nst less than a mile every morn- ing to attend to them; and then the thrashing was all done in the winter time, and the boys had to stay out of school to ride the horses while tramping it out, so that George Washington's facilities for obtaining an educa- tion were quite limited. However, notwithstanding all these drawbacks, he succeeded, by exercising due dili- gence during the time allotted to him for study, in obtaining a pretty fair knowledge 'of the common branches. G. W. Darling was married to Miss Rebecca Jane McCuUough, eldest daughter of Samuel and Nancy McCuUough, of Newville, Ohio, on the 25th day of January, 1848, at her father's residence, by Francis Johnston, Esq. They lived for two years after their marriage on a farm owned by his father in Mifilin Town- ship, shaking with the ague nearly all the time. From there they removed to the "old homestead," where they resided two years, when they removed to the farm where they now reside, it being the northeast quarter of Sec. 36, in Monroe Township. Mr. and Mrs. Darling are the parents of three children, two sons and one daughter — Robert Benton, born Nov. 10, 1850, mar- ried to Miss Amelia Parkison, youngest daughter of James Parkison, formerly of Worthington Township, on the 15th day of April, 1875, by John H. Jones, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Plymouth, Ohio ; Samuel Franklin, born Nov. 28, 1852, married to Miss Mary Leiter, daughter of Lewis and Rachel Leiter, by Rev. T. F. Dornblazer, Pastor of the Lutheran Church at Lucas, Ohio, on the 18th day of May, 1873; Clara Artamissa, born Oct. 15, 1858, married to Harrod Judson, of De Kalb Co., Ind., by Rev. C. S. Ernsbarger, of the Lutheran Church, on the loth day of .January, 1878. Mr. Darling is the owner of an excellent farm ; it is well improved and well cultivated; his buildings and fences are all in good repair, and everything is in tiptop order about his ftirm. Mr. Darling united with the M. E. Church at Newville in 1851, and remained a member of that church till 1853, when he united with the Lutheran Church at St. Johns. Mrs. Darling also joined the M. E. Church at Newville when quite young. She united with the Lutheran Church at the same time her husband did. They have been very active and zealous members of the church ever since they united therewith ; they have contributed largely of their means for the building of churches and the support of the Gospel, and have the confidence and esteem of all who know them.

DARLING, ABRAHAM, farmer; P. 0. Perryville; he was born in Worthington Township May 31, 1824; he is the fourth son of William and Mary Darling ; from early youth, he was inured to labor and toil ; he never owned a pair of boots till he was 18 years old ; he fre- quently had to go barefooted till quite late in the fall, because it was impossible to get them made sooner, on account of the shoemaker's being so thronged during this season of the year. In the winter season, he and his brothers had to wade through snow to the depth of

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