Had the reputation of being one of the best lawyers in Burlington. He came to the city when a young man and for a time followed school teaching. In 1852 he was elected, and was the first principal of North Hill School. Was a man of liberal education, being a graduate of Oberlin College. He was a student of the classics, and delighted in reciting selections from Shakespeare's plays, as well as the orations of the Latin and Greek orators. He was chosen to represent the people of the county in the House of the Eleventh Legislative Assembly of the state. There had not been a revision of the laws of the state since the codification of the laws made by Charles Mason, William A. Woodward and Stephen Hempstead, code commissioners appointed January 25, 1848, and it became necessary to have a new codification of the laws of the state. The Seventh General Assembly in July, 1858, passed a joint resolution appointing W. T. Baker of Dubuque County, Charles Ben Darwin of Des Moines County and William Smith of Lynn County, commissioners to draft and report to the Judiciary Committee of the two Houses a code of civil and criminal procedure. The Eighth General Assembly on April 2, 1860, passed an act which provided, "That Charles Ben Darwin is hereby appointed to incorporate by proper, etc., into the revision prepared by him, and presented to this session by the code commissioners, all the laws of a general nature, etc., and when published shall he known as the Revision of 1860." So it appears Mr. Darwin was the one on who principally fell the burden of doing the work and we notice that in the report to the General Assembly it was signed "Charles Ben Darwin." The Revision of 1860 was called by the lawyers "Darwin's Code." Taking into consideration the time in which he had to prepare the work, it cannot but be said he did the work as well as it could be done under the circumstances. Soon after the organization of Washington Territory he was appointed United States judge of the District Court of that territory.