HISTORY 'OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



511 



mained there until he attained his major- 

 ity. His father having died, he went back 

 to the farm in 1853, and remained there 

 two years. In 1855 he entered into part- 

 nership with Enos Prizer, and purchased 

 the Bucks County Intelligencer, of John 

 S. Brown, and assumed control February 

 IS of that year. He was associated with 

 Prizer under the firm name of Prizer & 

 Darhngton in the conduct of the paper un- 

 til the death of the former, November 25, 

 1864, when he purchased the entire inter- 

 ■est, and for the next twelve years conducted 

 the paper alone. In 1876 the Intclliger.ccr 

 was changed from a weekly to a semi- 

 weekly, and Alfred Paschall, a cousin, wab 

 taken into the firm. A year later his broth- 

 er, S. Edward Paschall, entered the part- 

 nership. 



Mr. Darlington, being a man of more 

 than average moral tone, of untiring en- 

 ergy, and by nature an exceptional journ- 

 alist, raised the Intelligencer to the front 

 rank of American country journalism. As 

 an editor there was a dignity as well as 

 a scope in his writing that is seldom seen 

 in newspaper work. He was not excep- 

 tionally well educated, but admirably fitted 

 for his chosen profession. He was a man 

 ■of and for the people, he loved the truth 

 and hated a lie, and devoted the whole 

 force of an earnest and noble life to the 

 -elevation and ennoblement of the profes- 

 sion which was his pride. The Intelli- 

 gencer under the management and control 

 tecame a power in the community, and 

 its circulation and influence was largely 

 increased. Active in politics, yet never 

 seeking office, he took a leading part as 

 editor of the principal Republican paper in 

 the county in moulding and solidifying pub- 

 lic opinion and party policy. His newspaper 

 was preeminently a county paper ; it coun- 

 seled always patriotic and intelligent action 

 in politics, and constantly urged public m 

 preference to private interests ; it reflect- 

 ed the soul of the man that devoted the 

 best years of his life to it. During the 

 twenty-three years of his life in Bucks 

 ■county he was keenly alive to her best in- 

 terests. As a journalist he labored inces- 

 santly for the material interests of the coun- 

 ty ; his whole heart was in his work. Intel- 

 ligent, well read, thoroughly conversant 

 . with the political and social drift of the 

 state and nation, and intensely practical in 

 his ideas, he constantly urged Bucks 

 •county to perfect her own institutions and 

 develop her resources, not only for her 

 own welfare but that her influence might 

 be felt beyond her limits. 



In the town in which he lived he was 

 foremost in the advocacy of all that would 

 contribute to the public good, and was 

 always a leader in the practical affairs of 

 the community. He was prominent in the 

 promotion of the water works in 1869, 

 and assisted in the establishment of several 

 local institutions. One of his first concerns 

 after locating in Doylestown was the need 

 of a public library, and he was active in 



its establishment, and was its first secre- 

 tary and librarian. He held many positions 

 of trust, though never holding public of- 

 fice other than that of town councilman, 

 which he never sought. He was for sev- 

 eral years a trustee of the State Asylum 

 for the Insane at Harrisburg, and was one 

 of the commissioners appointed to build 

 the Hospital for the Insane at Norristown, 

 holding a responsible position on the board. 

 He was for several years a trustee of the 

 State Normal School at West Chester, was 

 secretary of the Bucks County Agricul- 

 tural Society, trustee of Do}destown Ceme- 

 tery, and an officer in several other local 

 institutions. He was twice out with the 

 militia of the county during the civil war, 

 when our state was threatened with invas- 

 ion. He frequently represented his party 

 in state conventions, and was a delegate 

 to the national convention that nominated 

 Hayes for the presidency. His death was 

 due to apoplexy, superinduced by intense 

 mental work. He was stricken while on 

 his way to the office, and died during the 

 night following. 



Like his ancestors for many generations, 

 he was a member of the Society of Friends, 

 and a regular attendant at Meeting. He 

 married, 9 mo. 9, 1857, Susan, daughter of 

 Abraham and Susan (Hoopes) Darling- 

 lington, who survives him, living in the 

 old family residence at Doylestown. 



They were the parents of seven children, 

 six of whom survive : E. Dilwyn, a florist, 

 residing in Doylestown ; Frances, wife of 

 Frank A. Faxon, of Kansas City; Helen, 

 wife of Marshall R. Pugh, of Germantown ; 

 Philip, of Doylestown ; Walter, on the edi- 

 torial staiT of the North American; 

 Zeanetta, the sixth child, died 3 mo. 25, 

 1893; and Agnes, wife of John C. Swartley, 

 Esq., of Doylestown. 



DR. CHARLES B. SMITH, a practic- 

 ing physician of Newtown and vicinity, 

 obtained the degree of Doctor of Medicine 

 from Jefiferson Medical College of Phila- 

 delphia in 1884. He became successor to 

 his father, Elias E. Smith, M. D., who for 

 more than thirty years was a practitioner 

 of the same place — a man of gentle and 

 benevolent character, and signally skillful 

 in his art. 



Dr. Charles B. Smith descends from 

 original county families. His father was 

 of Quaker ancestry, being of the Wrights- 

 town Smiths, whose progenitor settled at 

 Windy-Bush Place in 1684. His mother 

 was of the Wynkoop-McNair families, 

 early Bucks county settlers, at or near 

 Holland, they being of Presbyterian line- 

 age, sturdy, patriotic yeomen, actively iden- 

 tified with early colonial history in Penn- 

 sylvania. He married M. Anna Stack- 

 house, daughter of Jacob W. and Maria 

 Palmer Stackhouse, of Fallsington, Penn- 

 sylvania, in 1887. 



Dr. Smith comes of a family of physi- 

 cians of this name who for a period of many 



