PA Photos and Documents

William Darlington was born in Birmingham Township, Pennsylvania, on May 28, 1782. He graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1804 and spent most of his professional career as a practicing physician in the West Chester area. He also served as a ship’s surgeon on a voyage to Calcutta from 1806-1807. Darlington published several works on botany, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1819-1823 and was engaged in other positions and ventures. He died in West Chester on May 23, 1863. The four diaries (one in typescript) record information about Darlington’s medical practice and travels. A typescript with entries dated1804-1812 diary includes details about treating area residents (whose names are included) for a variety of ailments and conditions, including the delivery of over 100 babies. There are several tables summarizing the form of diseases treated, the sex of the patient, and the outcome of treatment. This typescript (of unknown provenance) also includes entries from Darlington’s time as the surgeon onboard the ship Bengal which sailed to Calcutta in October 1806; he notes his return to the “paternal roof” in December 1807. A manuscript volume 1806-1807 is titled “Notes taken during a voyage to Calcutta on the Ship Bengal.” It describes conditions on the ship, the weather, and Darlington’s own ailments as well as those he treated among the passengers and crew. This volume contains many more entries above this voyage than in the typescript volume. On occasion, Darlington includes French and Latin words. The two remaining volumes detail Darlington’s travels in 1851 to Europe, where he visited England, Scotland, and Switzerland. The entries include observations about the places visited including factories, universities, prisons, churches, museums, docks and warehouses.