This CDV features a bust view of Assistant Paymaster William Lee Darling of the U.S. Navy. This bearded sailor wears a double-breasted frock coat with a small necktie. His shoulder boards bear the rank of paymaster.

The double border card mount of this CDV shows some dirt but the photograph is clear and bright. No detracting marks to note.

No backmark is present on the reverse of this image. However, an orange 2-cent cancelled tax stamp is present along with the period ink signature of Assistant Paymaster Darling. It reads: “Wm Lee Darling / Asst Paymaster / U.S.N. / Apl 10^th 1865.”

Darling enlisted as a private in the 7^th New York National Guard on April 26^th 1861 at the very beginning of the war when Lincoln called for the first 75,000 troops to quell the Rebellion. He served his three-month term and was discharged. In December of 1861, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy as assistant paymaster. Eventually, he was granted the rank of paymaster. He served the United States Navy in this role until his resignation in 1869.

As a born and bred New Yorker, Darling returned home after the war to marry Louise Ann Gibson at a church on Madison Avenue on August 10^th 1865. Their first of four children was born less than one year later. After resigning from his duties as paymaster, Darling returned to his pre-war occupation as a bank clerk. He and his family spent their lives in their hometown of New York City, where he died October 10^th 1915.  [cls]

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