Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, Darling attended the public schools. He taught school in the State of New York. He then studied medicine, graduating from the Berkshire Medical College in 1824. After this he practiced medicine for thirteen years. He moved to Wisconsin Territory in 1837[2] and was one of the original settlers at Fond du Lac in 1838.[3]
In 1848, his daughter Helen married John A. Eastman. Darling founded Fond du Lac Lodge 26 Freemasons in 1849, and served as its First Master.[5] He resumed the practice of medicine and was a dealer in real estate at Fond du Lac until 1864, when he moved to Chicago, at the same time as the Eastmans.
He died in Chicago on March 12, 1866,[2][3] and was interred in Rienzi Cemetery, Fond du Lac.