Middletown Township.

Garrett, William Eyre, Jr., George Sharpless; Treasurer, Adam C. Eckfeldt; Corresponding Secretary, Y. S. Walter; Recording Secretary, Ellis P. Marshall; Assistant Secretary, D. R. Hawkins.

On September 17, 18, and 19, 1855, a fair was held at Chester. The public excitement preceding the civil war so absorbed the public mind that the organization was compelled to disband.

The Darlington Dairies. - The farm of the Darlington Brothers is located at Darlington Station, on the West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad. The business was established by Jesse Darlington about ninety years ago. The original dairy consisted of fifteen or twenty cows, which had been increased to thirty or forty cows at the time of Jesse Darlington's death in 1842. He was the first person to introduce ice to the market of Philadelphia to keep butter fresh and hard. At first the prejudice was strong against its adoption, and it was slow to win its way to popular favor, and then only after a trial of the two systems side by side had demonstrated the superiority of the new over the old one. On the death of Jesse Darlington the business passed to his son, Jared, who continued to supply the same class of families in Philadelphia as did his father, no butter being sold in open market. He died in 1862, at which time the dairy consisted of sixty or seventy cows, the weekly production of butter being two hundred and fifty pounds. The Darlington butter was held in high repute, and commanded a much higher price than ordinary first-class butter. At Jared Darlington's death the business was continued by his sons, - Edward, Albert, Jesse, and Jared. The dairy on the homestead farm was conducted by J. and J. Darlington, who are making about twelve hundred pounds of butter weekly from the milk of two hundred and seventy-five cows; Albert Darlington, from the adjoining farm, about five hundred pounds from one hundred and fifty cows; and Edward Darlington's family, on another adjoining farm, about four hundred pounds per week from one hundred cows. The butter is now largely shipped to Washington, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and other localities, where it is delivered to wealthy private families. These dairies are furnished with every modern improvement known in the business. The cream is separated from the milk immediately after milking by centrifugal force, the machines used for that purpose being run by steam-power at a velocity of seven thousand revolutions per minute.

Jesse Darlington, the grandfather of the subject of this biographical sketch, married Amy Sharpless. Among their children was Jared, born Aug. 15, 1799, in Middletown township, Delaware Co., who married Mary, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Jones Dutton. Their children are Edward, Sarah J., Albert, Amy (Mrs. Henry Pratt), Frances (deceased), Jesse, Jared, Mary, and Ruth Anna. The death of Mr. Darlington occurred Dec. 7, 1862. His son, Edward, was born Jan. 22, 1832, near Darlington Station, Delaware Co., and spent his early years upon the farm of his father. He enjoyed moderate advantages of education, having first pursued his studies in Chester County, and subsequently at Andover, Mass. After a period spent in teaching he returned to the homestead farm, which he cultivated until his marriage, when the farm upon which his family now reside was rented. He subsequently became the owner of this property, and during his lifetime followed the pursuits of an agriculturist. He married, in 1856, Miss Mary F., daughter of Charles and Deborah Pittman Palmer, of Concord. Their children are Frances (deceased), Charles P., Mary, Jared, Anna S., Beulah W., Edward, and three who died in infancy. Mr. Darlington was, in his political views, a Republican, and, though interested in the public measures of the day, was not active as a politician, nor ambitious for official distinction. As a business man he possessed remarkable energy and was thoroughly in earnest and diligent in what he undertook, ever manifesting a keen sense of justice in all his business transactions. Integrity and honesty were prominent traits in his character. He was in his religious belief a Friend, and reared his family in that faith. Mr. Darlington's brief but useful life terminated on the 7th of October, 1876, in his forty-fifth year.

Thomas Pratt, the father of the subject of this biographical sketch, who was of English descent, married Hannah Haycock, of the same county and township, and had one son, Thomas, born on the homestead in Middletown township, now occupied by his son, William H. Pratt, on the 11th of February, 1818. After receiving a substantial English education at the popular Friends' boarding-school at Westtown, Chester Co., Pa., he returned to the parental roof and engaged in labor on the farm. He married, in 1839, Mary Worrall, of Middletown township, a descendant of John Sharpless, and had children, Elizabeth (Mrs. Jesse Darlington), William H. (married to Clementina M., daughter of Charles Johnson, who has four children), T. Mitchell (married to Eva Woodward, of Chester, who has three children), Peter W. (who married Barbara Herr, of Lancaster County, and has five children), Phineas (deceased), and Anna Mary (Mrs. Thomas Byers). All the sons reside upon the family estate. Mr. Pratt was a second time married June 15, 1874, to Miss Sarah, daughter of Oliver and Emma Johnson, of Middletown, Conn., to whom was born Sept. 8, 1875, a daughter, Emma. By the