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	WILLIAM FRANKLIN DARLING.  A well improved farm of ninety acres pays tribute to the labor and care bestowed upon it by William Franklin Darling one of Ohio's native sons, whose birth occurred in Richland county, Jan. 2, 1856.  He is a son of William and Lydia (Shoup) Darling, both natives of Richland county, Ohio, the former born in 1811.  The father, who was the second white child born in that county, spent his entire life within its borders, passing away in 1874.  He was twice married, his first union being with Miss Lydia Shoup, while for his second wife he chose Miss Leah Wagner, a native of Crawford county.  Two children were born unto the first union, Mary and William F.      No event of especial importance came to vary the routine of life for William Franklin Darling during the period of his boyhood and youth, which were spent on his father's farm amid the scenes and environments of rural life.  He attended the district schools in the acquirement of his education, and under the capable direction of his father received thorough business training which well equipped him for the practical and responsible duties of life.  He remained at home until his marriage and in the year following that event, he purchased the farm upon which he now resides and which was been in his possession for the past thirty-two years.  He has directed his entire energies toward its further its further improvement, has brought him fields under a high state of cultivation and has erected substantial, modern buildings, while upon the place are found all of the conveniences and accessories that go to make up a model farm.  In the management of his affairs, he manifests excellent business ability, and his close application and untiring industry are the salient elements in the prosperity which he now enjoys.      Mr. Darling was united in marriage on the 30th of December, 1876, to Miss Catherine Wentz, who was born Nov. 27, 1854, in Richland county, Ohio, her parents being Solomon and Catherine (Firewood) Wentz.  She had three sisters and two brothers all younger than herself, namely:  Mary, George, Anna, Clara and Charles.  Mr. and Mrs. Darling became the parents of three children, as follows:  Effie, who was born in 1877, and married Joseph Hodge, by whom she has three children:  Adon, Alice and Martha; Pearl, whose birth occurred in 1884; and Mary, born in 1890.  The family are members of the Lutheran church at Shiloh, Ohio, in the work of which they are interested and to the support of which they are generous contributors.  Mr. Darling gives his political allegiance to the republican party, but has no desire for office, preferring to concentrate his time and energies upon his business interests in which he is meeting with signal success, being now ranked among the enterprising and progressive agriculturists of Ripley township. Source: History of Huron County, Ohio - Vol. II - By A. J. Baughman - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1909 - Page 331
	WILLIAM H. DARLING.  No history of Huron county would be complete without special mention of William H. Darling, who for a long period has been closely identified with the public interests of this, his active county.  Born in Hartland township on the 25th of April, 1867, he is a son of John B. and Mary E. (Noble) Darling, the former a native of Northumberland county, England.  He came alone to the United States when twenty-seven years of age and settled in New York, where he followed the machinist's trade which he had learned in his native country.  Later he went to Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, where he engaged as foreman or master mechanic in the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad shops, while the year 1860 witnessed his arrival in Ohio, locating in Norwalk, where for a time he was employed in the railroad shops.  Subsequently, he was compelled to give up this line of activity on account of failing health, and he purchased a farm in Hartland township, where he resided until his death, which occurred in August, 1903.  His widow and three children still survive him, the children being: Jennie, now the wife of F. H. Rumsey of North Fairfield; Sate B., a teacher in the Shelbyville, Illinois, schools; and William H., of this review.  One daughter, Annie, passed away when five years of age.      Spending the years of his boyhood and youth on his father's farm, William H. Darling attended the district schools in the acquirement of his early education and later supplemented this training by a course at the Western Reserve Norman School at Milan, while he also pursued a course at the Northwestern University at Ada, Ohio.  Thus well equipped, he took up the occupation of teaching and for several years was engaged in that capacity in the schools of Huron county, proving a most capable instructor who imparted readily and clearly to others the knowledge he had acquired.  Giving up that profession, he took a course of study in the Euclid Avenue Commercial College at Cleveland, with the idea of entering the business world.  The failure of his father's health, however, caused his return to the home farm, where he decided to remain and take charge of his father's interests.  He has since continued to make the old homestead his place of residence and has directed his efforts to the further cultivation and improvement of the place, his activity along general agricultural lines meeting with most gratifying and substantial success.      On the 25th of January, 1904, Mr. Darling was united in marriage to Miss Jane Chaffee, a daughter of George W. and Anna (Phillip) Chaffee of Hartland township, where both parents were born and have always resided.  The home of Mr. and Mrs. Darling has been blessed with one daughter, Dorothy B., who is the life and light of the household.  Fraternally Mr. Darling is connected with East Townsend Lodge, No. 322, F. & A. M., and also with Olena Tent, No 58, K. O. T. M., in the affairs of which he is deeply and helpfully interested.      Although Mr. Darling has become well known throughout the locality by reason of the success that he has achieved in his business activities, it is, however, the active part which he has taken in the public affairs of Huron county that has brought him prominently before his fellow citizens and has made him one of the valued representatives of the community.  Republican in politics, he has always done all in his power to further the influence of that party in the district and has been a prominent and influential figure in the party councils.  For several years, he served as county central committeeman and is constantly being sent as a delegate to the district, county and state conventions.  His fellow citizens, recognizing his ability and worth, have frequently called him to office and for a number of years he served as township clerk and also clerk of the board of education for the township, which positions he still holds.  He is also acting as justice of the peace and was census enumerator for Hartland township in 1890.  In 1908, he was the candidate on the republican ticket for county recorder, but with the rest of the ticket was defeated.  He had been nominated by acclamation, a very rare occurrence in Huron county politics.  He is now serving as notary public and carries on considerable business in that connection.  A man of splendid attainments, he performed the duties of each office in such a capable and satisfactory manner, that his efforts reflected honor not only upon himself but also upon his constituents.  Progressive in his citizenship, he is an advocate of advancement and improvement in all forms, but he is especially zealous in the matter of good roads and advanced schools, the cause of education finding in him a stalwart champion.  His various interests have made his a well rounded nature and he stands today as a splendid type of the high-minded American gentleman, with whom contact means expansion and elevation.  Huron county is proud to number him among her native sons. Source: History of Huron County, Ohio - Vol. II - By A. J. Baughman - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1909 - Page 94
	G. H. DAWSON Source: History of Huron County, Ohio - Vol. II - By A. J. Baughman - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1909 - Page 411
	J. F. DELLINGER Source: History of Huron County, Ohio - Vol. I - By A. J. Baughman - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1909 - Page 498
	EDWARD DENMAN Source: History of Huron County, Ohio - Vol. II - By A. J. Baughman - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1909 - Page 256
	J. A. DENMAN Source: History of Huron County, Ohio - Vol. I - By A. J. Baughman - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1909 - Page 349
	ROSWELL DERBY, SR. Source: History of Huron County, Ohio - Vol. I - By A. J. Baughman - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1909 - Page 416
	J. J. DIDION Source: History of Huron County, Ohio - Vol. I - By A. J. Baughman - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1909 - Page 418
	O. M. DOANE Source: History of Huron County, Ohio - Vol. I - By A. J. Baughman - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1909 - Page286
	H. N. DONALDSON Source: History of Huron County, Ohio - Vol. I - By A. J. Baughman - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1909 - Page 308
	J. H. DONALDSON Source: History of Huron County, Ohio - Vol. II - By A. J. Baughman - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1909 - Page 527
	L. L. DOUD Source: History of Huron County, Ohio - Vol. II - By A. J. Baughman - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1909 - Page 36
	H. D. DRAKE Source: History of Huron County, Ohio - Vol. I - By A. J. Baughman - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1909 - Page 472
	JOHN DRURY, a farmer of Lyme township, Huron county, owning seventy-five acres of land near Bellevue, upon which he lives, was born on this farm, Mar. 7, 1847.  The Drury family originally came from England in 1632, settling in one of the New England states.  Our subject’s great-grandfather bore the name of Jonathan Drury, while his grandfather was John Drury, who was born in Massachusetts and became the father of ten children, two sons and eight daughters.  Our subject's father, Jonathan Maynard Drury, was born in Worthington, Massachusetts, Feb. 24, 1809. In the course of time he married Miss Abigail Maynard Knowlton, a daughter of Benjamin Knowlton, of New Fane, Vermont, where Miss Abigail was born June 29, 1812.  In 1837, the year subsequent to his marriage, Jonathan Drury came to Huron county, Ohio, on a prospecting tour.  The following season he moved his family to Lyme township, this county, settling upon a small rented farm.  For several years he worked for the different farmers until, in 1842, he was aide to buy a tract of sixty-four acres of land, to which he added until he had a tract of one hundred and ten acres, upon a part of which his son lives at the present day.  A log cabin was his first habitation and served him until 1857, when he put up a fine brick residence, only one of the many extensive improvements he made on the place.  Jonathan Drury was a life-long member of the Lyme Congregational church, of which he was a deacon for over fifty years, and when death called him, Aug. 13, 1897, the community felt they had lost an esteemed member.  By his first marriage there were three children born: Ellen M., who died at the age of seventeen; Caroline T., who was but six at the time of her death; and John, the subject of this sketch.  After the death of his first wife which occurred May 8, 1847, Mr. Drury married Mrs. Clarissa Barnard Wrisley, by whom he had one son Miron Maynard, who was born on the home farm, June 19, 1853.  He married Miss Ida Osborn and is a prominent business man of Chicago, Illinois, making his home in Evanston.  Four children have been born to him: Walter M., Louise, Burton E. and Allen B.  By her former marriage Mrs. Clarissa Drury had two sons: George A., now deceased, and Allen B., both prominent soap manufacturers of Chicago, where they started in business in 1861.      John Drury has lived all the years of his life on the old home farm, which he inherited from his father.  His education was acquired at the public and high schools of Bellevue.  Upon completing his own schooling he taught for two winters in York township, Sandusky county, while during the summer seasons he followed the life of a farmer, as he had from the days of his childhood. In the quiet pursuit of his vocation his days have been passed.  He fell heir to his father’s property, as he had followed in his footsteps and not only in the matter of business but also as regards functions bestowed by the good will of his fellows, for upon his father’s death he was made deacon of the church.  Of its Sunday school he has been superintendent for fifteen years and for a period of over thirty years has been clerk of the congregation.      Mr. Drury was twice married, the first time to Miss Ida Mary Cowle, a daughter of John and Anna (Ford) Cowle, of Bellevue, whom he married Feb. 8, 1871.  There was one daughter, Edith Ellen, born to this union, but she died in infancy, being born May 27, 1873, and dying the 16th of August following.  Mrs. Drury, who was born Sept. 12, 1846, died Feb. 4, 1887, and on the 8th of May, 1889, Mr. Drury married Mrs. Josephine (Wright) Nims, a daughter of John and Betsy (Ford) Wright.  John Wright was the founder of the Wright Banking Company, of Bellevue, and its president until his death, and at one time he owned three thousand acres of land in this section of the state.  Mrs. Josephine (Wright) Drury was born Apr. 16, 1848, in Groton township, Erie county, Ohio, and by her former marriage had one child, Walter Worthington Nims, who lives at Strongs Ridge, Lyme township.  He married Miss Mamie L. Newton and has one child, born Jan. 1, 1909.      His long residence and connection with affairs in this county has made Mr. Drury well known in this locality.  Looking back over his past life, which has been filled with earnest endeavor, no greater praise can be given than by saying he is a worthy son of an esteemed father. Source: History of Huron County, Ohio - Vol. II - By A. J. Baughman - Chicago - The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co. - 1909 - Page375

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