Working on Wednesday: David Darling (1805- 1895) Farmer

Although this maternal 3X great grandfather was born in Rhode Island, in 1816 his father (also named David*) had relocated the family to central New York State, first living in Chenango County and then moving on to Virgil in Cortland County by 1825. Although we don't have a record of their union, that's probably where the younger David and Polly Gates were married about 1830.

[Map of the counties of Chenango and Cortland, New York : from actual surveys. Philadelphia : Published by A. Pomeroy & S.W. Treat, 1863. Philadelphia : F. Bourquin & Co., Printr., 1863. Source: Library of Congress]

[Map of the counties of Chenango and Cortland, New York : from actual surveys. Philadelphia : Published by A. Pomeroy & S.W. Treat, 1863. Philadelphia : F. Bourquin & Co., Printr., 1863. Source: Library of Congress]

As far as we can tell David and his growing family remained in Cortland County through the 1850 U.S. Census which found them living in Harford, about 7-1/2 miles from Virgil. (My direct ancestor Mercy is enumerated on line 19 and her younger sister Amanda, the second wife of my great great grandfather George Tomlinson, is on line 22.)

["United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DHWR-CB?cc=1401638&wc=95RZ-K66%3A1031313801%2C1033674601%2C1033701601 : 9 April 2016), New York > Cortland > Harford > image 11 of 24; citing NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).]

However, from the 1852 Iowa State Census we learn that the Darlings were now residing in Fairview Township in Jones County.

[Ancestry.com. Iowa, State Census Collection, 1836-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Microfilm of Iowa State Censuses, 1856, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925 as well various special censuses from 1836-1897 obtained from the State Historical Society of Iowa via Heritage Quest.]

David, as head of household, appeared in an 1854 Iowa State Census and the whole family are listed in the 1856 state enumeration.

[Ancestry.com. Iowa, State Census Collection, 1836-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Microfilm of Iowa State Censuses, 1856, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925 as well various special censuses from 1836-1897 obtained from the State Historical Society of Iowa via Heritage Quest.]

Four years later only Amanda was left at home in Fairview with David and Polly.

[Year: 1860; Census Place: Fairview, Jones, Iowa; Roll: M653_328; Page: 593; Image: 585; Family History Library Film: 803328. Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. ]

In Fairview 10 years later David and Polly had been joined by their widowed daughter Lovina and her son George.

[Year: 1870; Census Place: Fairview, Jones, Iowa; Roll: M593_401; Page: 67A; Image: 137; Family History Library Film: 545900. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]

David and Polly were alone in their house in Fairview in the 1880 U.S. Census.

[Year: 1880; Census Place: Fairview, Jones, Iowa; Roll: 348; Family History Film: 1254348; Page: 433B; Enumeration District: 336; Image: 0450. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. All use is subject to the limited use license and other terms and conditions applicable to this site. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

Polly died in 1883, probably in Fairview as she is buried in the Norwich Cemetery in Jones County. In his obituary in Boulder Daily Camera of January 28, 1895, David Darling was described as a resident of Valmont, east of Boulder. (The Mrs. G. M. Tomlinson referred to is his daughter Amanda.) We don't know where he was buried.

[Source: Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC) online]

There's no reason to believe that David ever followed any other occupation than that of a farmer in his lifetime. He was too young to be a soldier in the War of 1812 and too old to actively participate in the Mexican and Civil Wars. His greatest adventure appears to have been the life changes that took him from a childhood in Rhode Island to his last breath in Colorado 90 years later.

[Ancestry.com]

*You can read my posts about David Darling Sr. who was a veteran of the Revolutionary War here and here.

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