|Chadds Ford History|
Names from the past By Gene Pisasale Contributing Writer
His passion for medicine prompted him to form the Medical Society of Chester f you remember the somCounty. Darlington passed ber music in the film away on April 23, 1863; he’s Platoon, you’ve heard an buried in Oaklands Cemetery orchestral piece by a local in West Chester. native son. If your grandfaThe decade of the 1920s ther served in the Marines, was for many one of wealth he would have known about and decadence--and Joseph another long-time resident. Hergesheimer’s novels porIf anyone in your family is a trayed the “aesthetic life” history buff, a fan of sports, during that period. Born in or early 20th century novels, Philadelphia on February 15, they’re likely familiar with 1880, he later lived in West some other denizens who Photo courtesy of the Christian Sanderson Museum. Chester. His novel “Three spent years in West Chester Anyone who drives north past Hank’s Place in Chadds Ford has gone Black Pennys” was the first by the Christian Sanderson Museum. Chris Sanderson was the village one printed by the new and Chadds Ford. It’s not often that a man historian for many years, and he helped people understand the heritage Alfred A. Knopf publishing of the area, including its role in the Battle of the Brandywine. achieves success in three house. He produced sevcareers; William Darlington eral works, including “Java did. Born on April 28, 1782 at Birmingham in Chester Head”(1919), “Cytherea” (1922) and “The Limestone Tree” County, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania (1929). His style fell out of favor in the 1930s; he died on with a medical degree. He was a Navy ship’s surgeon in the April 25, 1954 and was buried at Oaklands Cemetery. East Indies in 1806, returning to West Chester the following Smedley Butler was born on July 30, 1881 and later year. Darlington raised a company of volunteers during the give new meaning to the words “Semper Fi.” Butler was War of 1812, made a Major for his efforts. schooled in West Chester, enlisting in the Marine Corps at Darlington was elected as a U.S. Congressman in 1814 age 16. He served in the Phillippines, Central America and and served a total of three terms, taking a stance against the Caribbean during the “Banana Wars” and Veracruz, slavery. When the canal craze swept the nation, he became Mexico during their move toward revolution, which earned a member of the Board of Canal Commissioners. Darlington him his first Medal of Honor. His efforts in a 1915 uprishad a strong interest in botany and helped organize the ing in Haiti got him a second Medal of Honor. In World Chester County Cabinet of Natural Sciences, publishing War I Butler was awarded both the Army and the Navy Cestrica, a catalogue of native plants in the Borough of West Distinguished Service Medal. At his passing on June 21, Chester. He had interactions with Humphry Marshall and 1940, he was one of the most decorated soldiers in U.S. John Bartram, two of the most famous botanists in America. history, the only Marine to win the Brevet Medal and two
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Chadds Ford Life | Spring/Summer 2021 | www.chestercounty.com
