Brinton Darlington (December 3, 1804– May 1, 1872) was an American

Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government. Background The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...

at the Darlington Agency for the

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...

and

Arapaho The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho ba ...

tribes. He was appointed by President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

Early life and family

Darlington was born at Redstone, Pennsylvania, December 3, 1804, to Stephen and Rachel (Cattell) Darlington. He was raised a Quaker and on August 26, 1829 he married Martha Thompson and together they had six children, Rachel, Anna, Esther, William, Mary, and Elma. For a while, they lived in Salem, Ohio manufacturing Woolen goods but after a loss by fire in 1842 they moved to Muscatine, Iowa. His wife Martha (Thompson) Darlington died in 1847. On November 18, 1849, Brinton Darlington married Amelia Charity Hall in Madison County, Iowa and together they had one child, Sarah Amelia Darlington. Amelia was a minister in the Society of Friends and she died in 1860. On September 10, 1863, Brinton Darlington married Lois Cook.

Indian agent

On April 21, 1869, Brinton Darlington was nominated in the US Senate to be appointed as an Indian Agent. In May 1869 he commissioned and appointed by President

to the Upper Arkansas Agency, in the

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...

. He was the first agent for the Cheyennes and Arapahoes. Originally the Agency site was on Pond Creek but it was not a good location due to close proximity to the Osage and Kaws so the decision was made to move it to just outside of Fort Reno, which the tribes rejected. In 1870 the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in Washington told Darlington to set up the agency at the intersection of Chisholm Trail and the North Canadian River. In 1871, Darlington's daughter and son-in-law Jesse and Elma (Darlington) Townsend opened a day school at the Agency. Jesse Townsend was also the Agency's issue clerk. Brinton's son William T. Darlington worked at the agency for a while even after his father's death. After Agent Darlintgton's death

John DeBras Miles John DeBras Miles (June 7, 1832– March 20, 1925) was an American Indian agent at the Kickapoo people Agency and at the Darlington Agency for the Cheyenne and Arapaho. Early life and family John DeBras Miles was born at Dayton, Ohio, June 7, 1 ...

was appointed to replace him.

Death

On May 1, 1872, Darlington passed away at the Agency and was buried about a half-mile west of it. He was later moved to the Concho Cemetery. The Agency was renamed the Darlington Agency in honor of him. John DeBras Miles, agent of the Kickapoo Indians in Kansas was appointed as Darlington's replacement taking his position on June 1, 1872.Oklahoma Travel Handbook by Kent Ruth, OU Press, Norman, 1977

Notes

The Darlington Agency historical site was named after Brinton Darlington.
The Darlington Historical Marker is located on US-81, two miles north of El Reno.
Canadian County Darlington Bio

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darlington, Brinton People from Fayette County, Pennsylvania 1804 births 1872 deaths United States Indian agents