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The University of Iowa Libraries

Guide to the Marcellus Warner Darling Papers

Collection Overview
Date Span:1862-1911
Creator:Darling, Marcellus Warner (1844-1913)
Extent:.50 linear feet.
Collection Number:MSC0236
Repository:University of Iowa Special Collections
Summary:Civil War soldier, Congregational minister, and father of Jay Norwood Darling. Consists primarily of letters, a diary, and memoirs of his service in Company K, 154th New York Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War.

Marcellus Warner Darling (1844-1913) was a native of New York. He and his older brother enlisted in Company K, 154th New York Volunteers on September 6, 1862. The 154th saw a great deal of action during the Civil War. Darling was wounded in the battle of Chancellorsville, was subsequently captured and later escaped. While his regiment was fighting at Gettysburg, Darling was hospitalized with typhoid fever. He fought in the battles at Lookout Mountain and Chickamauga, and participated in the taking of Atlanta, Savannah, and Charleston, during General Sherman's march to the sea.
 
After the war, he decided to go to school in Albion, Michigan. He graduated from Albion College in 1870. That same year he accepted a post as Superintendent of City Schools in Grand Haven, Michigan. He spent the following three years as a professor of Greek at Albion College. Darling pursued post-graduate work at Ann Arbor, where he earned his A.M. in philosophy and languages. After graduating, he decided to devote his life to the ministry. His first job was as a Methodist preacher, but he later found a home in the Congregational Church. From 1879 to 1886, he served as a minister in a Congregational Church in Indiana. In 1886, he moved to Sioux City, Iowa, and from there he went to Glencoe, Illinois, leaving that church in 1909. His last position was that of Chaplain at the National Home for Volunteer Soldiers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1910.
 
Among his children was cartoonist Jay Norwood Darling.

The papers of Marcellus W. Darling are comprised of seventy-eight items dating from 1862 to 1911. The majority of the papers relate to his service in Company K, 154th New York Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. Included are approximately forty letters that he wrote home during the war, and a diary from 1864. The rest of the collection is made up of memoirs, genealogical data, and a book of quotes and sayings by Marcellus Darling.

Access: This collection is open for research.

Use: Copyright restrictions may apply; please consult Special Collections staff for further information.

Acquisition: This collection was donated to the University of Iowa by Darling's son, Jay N. (Ding) Darling in 1949.

Preferred Citation: Papers of Marcellus Warner Darling, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa.

Repository:University of Iowa Special Collections
Address:Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, IA 52242
Phone:319-335-5921
Curator:Greg Prickman
Email:lib-spec@uiowa.edu
Website:http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/

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