Darlington was born at Redstone, Pennsylvania, December 3, 1804, to Stephen and Rachel 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 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 Ulysses S. Grant to the Upper Arkansas Agency, in the Indian Territory. 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 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 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.
