ABEL L. DARLING, M.D.
Page 689
ABEL L. DARLING, M.D.
Page 689
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ABEL L. DARLING, M.D. Success in any profession can only be obtained through industry and study, and the good physician must necessarily be the hardest of workers and the best of students. Mason County is proud to number among her physicians the one with whose name we head this sketch. He is a most conscientious man, and whatever he undertakes is done thoroughly. He keeps apace with every onward movement made in his profession and presents a remarkable example of what may be accomplished by unremitting toil. Patrick M. Darling, the father of our subject, was born in 1812, in Virginia, and is the son of Abraham Darling, also a native of that state; the latter in turn is the son of William Darling, who came from Ireland and became one of the early settlers of Virginia. He served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, in which conflict he lost his leg in battle. The grandfather of our subject removed from Virginia to Ohio about 1814, and made location on a wild tract of land on Owl Creek, Knox County. He was a strong antislavery man, and on his removal to the buckeye State was accompanied by many of his negroes, who remained in his employ for years afterward. Later Abraham Darling engaged in the banking business, and was one of the founders of the Owl Creek Bank at Mt. Vernon, Ohio. He was also County Judge at one time and lived in Ohio until quite an old man, when he came to Illinois and made his home with his daughter Mary, then Mrs. Dixon, of Fulton County. His death took place in 1874. The mother of our subject, Mrs. Jeremiah (Strong) Darling, was born in 1814, in Maryland, and was the daughter of Jacob and Catherine Strong, who on their removal to Ohio located in Seneca County. The parents of our subject were married in Coshocton County, that state, after which they moved to Knox County, where the father died in 1857. Mrs. Darling is still living and making her home with her son Charles in that county. The parental family included seven children, three of whom are living: Mrs. Temperance Butler, residing in Mr. Vernon, Ohio; Albert L., of this sketch, and Marion. The mother of these children is a most estimable lady and a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject was born April 4, 1849, near Mr. Vernon, Knox County, Ohio , and remained in his native place until nineteen years of age, in the meantime carrying on his studies in the New Castle Academy. Mr. Darling came to Illinois in 1868, and for some time taught school in Fulton and Mason Counties. September 2, 1874, he was married to Miss Fannie Clary, native of Fulton County, and the daughter of Henry Clary, who was born in Kentucky, and who was an early settler in the above locality. Mrs. Darling's birth occurred in 1851, and her education was obtained in the schools of Lewiston, this state. After his marriage our subject located on a farm in this county, where he remained for a short time and then moved to Summum, Fulton County. When enabled to carry out his long cherished desire of studying medicine, our subject went to Cincinnati and took a three years' course in the Cincinnati Eclectic Medical Institute, from which he graduated with the Class of '81. After receiving his diploma he came to Topeka, where he has been engaged in active practice since, his field of operation covering a large territory. To Dr. and Mrs. Darling have been born four children: Byron C., Fred L., Tempie B. and Lyle Henry. Mrs. Darling is an active member of the Christian Church, and the Doctor socially belongs to the State Eclectic Medical Association, and also the United States Eclectic Medical Association. He is likewise connected with the Railroad Surgeons Society, and is widely known throughout the county, and is exceedingly popular in his community. Gifted by nature with high endowments, he has cultivated these to the utmost and his indefatigable labor has brought to him the esteem of his fellow-men. He is the possessor of a fine farm in Havana Township, which is occupied by tenants. The maternal grandfather of our subject, William Strong, married Catherine Boher, a native of Germany, who lived to the remarkable age of ninety-four years. He died when in his eighty-fifth year. Abraham Darling, the paternal grandfather of our subject, married Rhoda Shrimplen, who lived to be eighty-five years of age, while he lived to be ninety-four years of age. |