Losing his father at an early age, "Joe" - as he was
called - helped his widowed mother and sister as soon as he was large enough to work.
Graduating from Erskin College at great sacrifice, he taught school long enough to earn
enough money to go on to law school, apparently helping many people along the way with
encouragement and later, as he was able, financially as well. He taught in Rome at the
Proctor School from 1872 until 1874. As an early widower he was the devoted father of two
little girls, a dedicated churchman, a financially successful lawyer, and a much
loved and honored Dean of the Washington Bar. Although approached by colleagues and two
presidents to serve on the Supreme Court, he never sought public office and quietly
declined. Quoting from a letter by Hooper Alexander of Atlanta, Ga., who was a pupil under
Mr. Darlington in the Proctor School, "It would be hard to say just wherein lay the
qualities that so endeared him to the school and the town. His demeanor was so modest and
unobtrusive and his individuality, although definite and pronounced, was so little
manifest that I have never quite understood the secret of it. What I do know is this, that
upon the boys who attended the school he left an ineffacable impression, and, I think, he
largely influenced their future lives. I believe I am warranted in saying that he
influenced them for good to themselves and to their country."Another of the boys he taught in the 1870's, John Paul Cooper, named the school he founded in 1905 after this much admired and loved teacher. During his illness shortly before his death, Mr. Darlington wrote to Mr. Cooper, saying, "I received a letter of sympathy from a Committee of the Young Men of the School, which I greatly appreciated. Having no sons, the School will be my only interest left behind to perpetuate my name, a memorial created for me by my boys of the Seventies, in which movement you were chief. Please believe that I deeply appreciate it, and that the best wishes of which I am capable are for you and each of yours until we next meet."