Charles H. Darling, Kappa, 1884, Phi Alpha 1904-1905
Charles H. Darling, Kappa, 1884, was a prominent attorney, judge and public official. A Republican, he practiced law with Orien M. Barber in Bennington, Vermont and was appointed as a municipal judge in 1887 by the Vermont Governor. He was subsequently reappointed by each Governor until 1901. Brother Darling was elected president of the village of Bennington in 1895 and represented the town in the Vermont House of Representatives in 1896-1897. He was elected president of the Vermont Bar Association in 1900.
In 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt nominated Darling as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. [NOTE: From 1861 to 1954, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was the second-highest civilian office in the Department of the Navy (reporting to the United States Secretary of the Navy). That role has since been supplanted by the office of Under Secretary of the Navy and the office of Assistant Secretary of the Navy has been abolished.] Darling held this office from December 28, 1901 until October 30, 1905. Upon leaving Washington, D.C. in 1906, Darling settled in Burlington, Vermont where he practiced law with Darling and Mower.
Darling was a trustee of Tufts University from 1907-1944 and served as president of the
Board of Trustees of Goddard Seminary in Barre, Vermont. He was active with the Sons of the American Revolution serving as the Society’s president in 1908 and a member of Masonic order and grand lecturer thereof. He was a life member of the Vermont Historical Society.
Brother Darling was active with the Kappa chapter at Tufts and was among the many
elders to contribute to the chapter’s new home on “Professors’ Row” in 1910.