George was among the Scottish highlanders taken prisoner in England by Cromwell following the battle of Dunbar in 1650. These prisoners of war were sent on a forced march from the battlefield to Durham Cathedral during which time many died. Some of those who survived, including George, were forced to leave their country and families and were sent to the American colonies in the ship Unity in November, 1650. It is not clear whether or not these prisoners of war were forced to work at the Lynn Iron Works as slave labor but it took about five to ten years for most of them to be set free. Many of them, either by choice of lack of money for passage home, stayed here in the Colonies and became members of the community as did George Darling.

We calculate that George was born ca. 1620 because of a record of a disposition he made in 1670 which stated that he was 50 years old. By 1657, George was married as it was recorded in that year that as a witness, "George Darline and his wife Kate, deposed that last winter all one Sabbath day there were several persons sitting and drinking at Mr. Jno. Hathorn's house..." Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, Vol. II, 1656-1662, Salem Ma, Essex Institute, 1912, p. 36.

About 1670, "George Darling, Sr. of Salem, yeoman" bought about 20 acres of land from Moses Maverick and erected a house thereon where he lived, the house and lot passing to his son, James, after he died.

In 1675, George was fined for selling beer at 2d a quart without a license. However, this was apparently corrected as it is recorded that on "June 19, 1676, the selectmen approved George Darling as retailer of beer and cider to travelers."

George and his wife Katherine (Gridley) Darling had ten or eleven children, order of birth uncertain:

• John, b. Lynn, MA, ca. 1657; d. Fairfield, CT, 1711; mentioned in his father's will; m. (1) Elizabeth Muzzey and had one child by her; we found in our research that it is apparently accepted that John did not marry Naomi Flanders but did have one child by her; m. (2) Elizabeth Beers and had six children by her.
• James, b. probably Lynn, MA, ca. 1661 (43 years old in 1704); mentioned in his father's will; m. Hannah Lewis Maine, possibly a widow. He inherited the homestead from his father.
• Daniel, b. ca. 1663; d. after 1718; mentioned in his father's will; m. (1) Sarah Beane, daughter of William Beane; m. (2) Hannah (Potter) Rotch.
• George, Jr., b. March 1667, birth reported in "Salem Probate Records," Vol. 203, p. 1481, cited by The Darling Family in America, 1913, Wm. Clemens Publishers, NY, p. 18. Not mentioned in his father's will.
• Benjamin, b. Salem, MA, ca. 1672; mentioned in his father's will; m. Mary Richards.
• Thomas, b. Salem, MA, ca. 1674; mentioned in his father's will.
• Hannah, b. Salem, MA, ca. 1676; mentioned in her father's will; m. James Stones.
• Sarah, d. Salem, MA, in 1744; unmarried; mentioned in her father's will.
• Margaret, mentioned in her father's will.
• Henry, lived in Marblehead, MA, d. after 1733; mentioned in his father's will according to Farmer and other sources but not mentioned in his father's will according to William Clemens in The Darling Family in America, p. 18; m. (1) Joanna Mitchell; m. (2) Elizabeth Pittman.

Found in the Essex County Quarterly Court Record, and also in a compilation of Lynn, MA, vital records at the New England Historic Genealogical Society library in Boston, Joseph, son of George Darling, b. March 1667, same date as George, Jr. above. Was he a twin? A Joseph Darling, unmarried, died in Salem MA in 1690, which was before George Darling's death. He was not mentioned in George's will and was not mentioned in the division of the estate.

We don't know when Benjamin, who at the time of his marriage was listed "Benjamin of Salem" and who was married in Lynn, moved to Plympton, where he died.

Benjamin and his wife Mary (Richards) Darling had five children:

• Joseph, b. ca. 1698.
• Mary, b. 16 May 1699; m. Moses Shaw.
• Benjamin, Jr., b. ca. 1703; m. Abigail Wilson.
• David, b. 4 May 1705; m. (1) Marcy Churchill, m. (2) Ruth (Sampson) Faunce.
• Hopestill, b. ca. 1710; m. Peleg Barrow.

Note: The will of John Richards, Mary (Richards) Darling's father, lists grandsons Joseph, Benjamin, and David Darling. We found the date of David's birth in the Priscilla Jones Collection found at the Penobscot Marine Museum, Searsport, ME. Dates of the other children are approximate. We found in the LDS Library, as submitted by a Samuel Richards: Joseph, b. ca. 1698; Benjamin, b. ca. 1700; David, b. ca. 1702; all born in Lynn, MA, but we have not been able to find these records in the Lynn vital records. Benjamin, the father, died 22 October 1709, so Hopestill could be his daughter if she was born early in 1710.

David lived first in Plympton, then moved to Pembroke, possibly after his second marriage.

David and his first wife Marcy (Churchill) Darling had two children, both born in Plympton, MA:

• Samuel, bpt. 17 Aug. 1735; m. Margaret Cushing.
• Joseph, bpt. 5 March 1737/8.

David and his second wife Ruth (Sampson) Faunce Darling had at least three children:

• Mercy, b. Pembroke, MA ca. 1747; mentioned in her father's will; m. Pembroke, MA 7 April 1767, Steven Richardson.
• John, referred to as diseased in his father's will written 14 Feb. 1784.
• Benjamin, bpt. 10 Aug. 1755; m. Sarah Lawton.

Samuel Darling served as a private in Capt. Samuel Bradford's (1st Duxbury) Co., Col. Warren's regiment, which marched on the alarm of 19 April 1775. This service lasted 3 days, but Samuel later enlisted and served in several different companies until 1779. According to Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution compiled from archives in Massachusetts, all of Samuel's service was as a private. A note in his son's family Bible also refers to him as a private. However, Plympton vital records and Bailey's Early Massachusetts Marriages refer to him as Lt. Samuel Darling. When and how he acquired this rank is not known.

Samuel and his wife Margaret (Cushing) Darling had eight children:

• Joseph, b. 24 Oct. 1757; d. 13 May 1793.
• Samuel, b. 6 Sept. 1759; m. Priscilla Weston.
• Pege, b. 21 Dec. 1762.
• John, bpt. 3 March 1768; d. Nov., 1793.
• Mercy, bpt. 22 April 1770.
• Lydia, bpt. 10 July 1774; d. Nov. 1795.
• Mary, bpt. 6 Oct. 1776.
• Marcy, bpt. 11 Apr 1779.

Samuel Darling served as a private along with his father in Capt. Bradford's (1st Duxbury) Co., Col. Warren's regiment, which marched on the alarm of 19 April 1775. Apparently, he served here only one day but is on the list of men serving under several commands until 1781.

Priscilla (Weston) Darling outlived her son, Samuel Darling (3), who made provision for her in his will of an annuity of 20 dollars per year.

Samuel and his wife Priscilla (Weston) Darling had eight children, a list of their names and dates of their births are found in the family Bible owned by Samuel, all born in Duxbury, MA:

• Hannah, b. 16 Aug. 1784.
• Elizabeth (Betsey), b. 25 Aug. 1786; m. (1) Duxbury, MA, 1801 Asa King; m. (2) Duxbury, MA, 1818, John Cushing.
• Samuel, b. 16 March 1789; m. (1) Esther Dingley; m. (2) Eliza Miles.
• Abial (Abigail in the Duxbury vital records), b. 23 May 1791.
• John, b. 12 Dec. 1793.
• Joseph, b. 25 Jan. 1796.
• Weston, b. 6 April 1798.
• Peter H., b. 12 May 1801.

We do not know precisely when Samuel Darling (3) moved to Boston, where he lived for the rest of his life. We do know that he was a lumber dealer there and had a wharf at Charles St. From a copy of his will, dated 6 May 1842 (now in our possession), we learn that he owned a fair amount of real estate in Boston, the income from which he hoped would provide for his widow.

Samuel and his first wife Esther (Dingley) Darling had five children, all born probably in Duxbury or Boston, the dates of their births taken from the family Bible owned by Samuel (2).

• Samuel, b. 17 Aug. 1817, buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery, Jamaica Plain, MA; m. Lucy F. Duncan.
• George, b. 12 July 1819; died Boston, 26 November 1888; m. Eliza A. Duncan.
• Esther, b. 26 Dec. 1821; m. Charles Woodbury.
• Daniel, b. 4 Feb. 1825; d. 4 June 1825.
• Benjamin, b. 9 May 1827; d. 17 Oct. 1883; buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery, Jamaica Plain, MA.

Samuel and his second wife, Eliza (Miles) Darling had four children, all born probably in Boston, the dates of their births taken from the family Bible owned by Samuel (2):

• William, b. 10 Oct. 1828; d. April 1867, buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery, Jamaica Plain, MA.
• Eliza Matilda, b. 13 March 1830.
• Margaret Ellen, b. 12 Dec. 1832; d. 15 Oct. 1850, buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery.
• Charles Lowell, b. 16 Sept. 1839.