Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume IV, Part 91

Author: Little, George Thomas, 1857-1915, ed; Burrage, Henry Sweetser, 1837-1926; Stubbs, Albert Roscoe
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 896

USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume IV > Part 91

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

(IV) Ebenezer, son of Noah Barker, was born at Ipswich, May 4, 1716, and died at Stratham, New Hampshire. He married Mary Rundlett. Children: I. Nathan. 2. Noah, born 1743. 3. Simon, mentioned below. 4. Ebenezer, born 1758; settled. at Cornish, Maine ; married Widow Bradbury. 5. Sarah.

6. Hannah, married Thomas A. Johnson, of Cornish, Maine.

(V) Simeon, son of Ebenezer Barker, was born at Stratham, New Hampshire, 1745-55- He settled in Limerick, Maine, and must have died before 1790, as his name does not ap- pear in the census of that year. Daniel Bar- ker, son of Josiah Barker (4), was of Limer- ick, while Noah and Ebenezer, brothers of Simeon, were of Cornish, Maine.

(VI) Simeon (2), son of Simeon (1) Bar- ker, was born probably before 1790, in Lim- erick, Maine. He married Elmira, daughter of William and Rachel (Wiggin) Boardman (see Boardman). Simeon was a well-to-do merchant at Limerick, Maine. Children, born at Limerick: I. Mary, married H. P. Storer (see Storer family). 2. Eliza, resides in Bos- ton. 3. Sarah H., born 1826; married Luther S. Moore. 4. Almira, married C. W. Will- iams; lives at 21 Blagden street, Boston. 5. Frances. 6. Caroline, resides at 21 Blagden street, Boston. 7. Captain William B., served in Twenty-seventh Maine Regiment, and was an officer of the Thirty-second Maine in the civil war; died soon after the war.

DAY Tradition says that the family of Day originally came from Wales, where the name was written Dee, but pronounced Day, which in time became the English spelling. The genesis of the name is exactly opposite what might be supposed. In- stead of being associated with light, Day in its primal form of Dee means dark or dingy. As such, the name was applied to a small river in Wales, and in time was transferred to the peo- ple living along its banks. William Day was provost of Eaton College and dean of Wind- sor during Queen Elizabeth's time; and in a document dated 1582 it is stated that he is descended from the Welsh Dees. The name in England was often spelled Daye.

The family ranks among the oldest on this side the water. No less than eight Days are found to have settled in New England before 1650, and some of them were of more than ordinary prominence. Robert Day, born in England in 1604, migrated to this country in 1634, settling first at Cambridge or Newton, Massachusetts, but moving in 1639 to Hart- ford, Connecticut. He died there in 1648, and his descendants became numerous in the Con- necticut valley, many of them moving up the river to Springfield and South Hadley. From this line comes Dr. Jeremiah Day, president of Yale College, 1817-46, who was born in

Holman J. Day

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Washington, Connecticut, son of Rev. Jere- miah and Abigail (Noble) Day. One of his brothers was Judge Thomas Day, a well- known citizen of Hartford.

Stephen Day, of Cambridge, Massachu- setts, was the first printer in North America. He was originally a locksmith, but in time found demand for his other work. He be- gan business in 1639, published books and almanacs, and died December 22, 1668, aged fifty-eight. Matthew Day, of Cambridge, also a printer, possibly son of Stephen, was stew- ard of Harvard College from 1645 till his death in 1649. He probably was unmarried, because he made a nuncupative will in which he gave a liberal bequest to the college and to one or two friends. A Robert Day, of Ips- wich, came over in 1635 in the "Hopewell," from London, and was living in 1681. Na- thaniel Day was living in Ipswich in 1637. Wentworth Day, of Boston, was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com- pany in 1640, was later a chirurgeon at Cam- bridge, and in 1652 saved the life of a woman charged with witchcraft. Ralph Day, born in England, was made a freeman of Dedham, January 1, 1645. Anthony Day, born in Eng- land, in 1616, emigrated to Gloucester, Mas- sachusetts, in 1645, and died there April 23, I707.

A branch of the Anthony Day family moved to Maine and settled at Georgetown, near the mouth of the Kennebec, during the first half of the eighteenth century. Their descendants afterwards moved to Brunswick and Durham. The following line is distinct from the de- scendants of this Anthony Day.

(I) William Day was a native of Boston, and by trade a ship carpenter. He was one of the early settlers of Leeds, and for a time lived in a log house in that town. When he got a bit forehanded he built a house of cut timber, and it was considered quite stylish for those days. A part of each year he worked at shipbuilding on the Kennebec. To him and his wife Betsy (nee Jones) were born twelve chil- dren. The oldest of these was Adaline, who says of her father, "He was a very strict man, and insisted on morning devotions. We twelve children were ranged around the room, the youngest in mother's arms, with father in the center of the room, a Bible on a chair a little to one side. We all had to march up and read a verse, and woe to us if we made an error, for though father did not have the good book himself, he knew the whole of it by heart, I believe, and would punish us for a mistake. When I was fourteen, father made a trip to

Boston to visit his relatives, and walked every step of the way up and back. His mother was a great pie cook, and he brought on his re- turn a mince pie that was divided into twelve parts. Each one of us got a piece gauged ac- cording to the size of the child. To me he brought a Bible, and the other children were provoked because I was specially favored." The children that reached adult age were : Adaline, Susan, Clara, Isaac C., John Ran- dolph and Thomas Francis. No one of these is now living.

(II) Captain John Randolph, son of Will- iam and Betsy Day, was born in Leeds, Maine, August 1, 1828. In early life he was a shoe- maker, and employed many men making "sale shoes." During the rebellion John R. Day served in the Third Maine Regiment, going out as lieutenant under Colonel O. O. Howard, and returning as captain. On January 5, 1854, John Randolph Day married Mary Carter, daughter of Allen and Mary (Chadwick) Carter, of Etna. Captain John R. Day died at Vassalboro, May 22, 1889; his widow died March 7, 1908. Both are interred in Vassal- boro. The home which they owned formerly belonged to Thomas Frye, for many years at the head of the Vassalboro Quakers. Long before the days of the railroad, Vassalboro was a strong rival of Waterville, and under the direction of the Quakers was a beautiful village with its own bank and an exceptionally fine school; but the coming of the railroad half ruined the town. The Frye house held the old Kennebec bank, and when Captain Day bought the place the bricks were taken out and used to rebuild the chimneys. Children of Captain John R. and Mary (Carter) Day : William Foster, born at Waterville, February, 1855; Holman Francis, whose sketch follows; Fred Mortimer, born in Vassalboro, Septem- ber 14, 1871.

(III) Holman Francis, second son and child of Captain John Randolph and Mary (Carter) Day, was born at Vassalboro, Maine, November 6, 1865. He received his early edu- cation in the Quaker school of that town, be- ing a pupil at Oak Grove Seminary from 1877 to 1882, and completed his preparation for col- lege at Coburn Classical Institute, Waterville, where he studied during 1882-83. He entered Colby College in the fall of the latter year, and was graduated in the class of 1887. At the age of sixteen he spent one season in a hotel in Kineo, Maine, and during his college days he taught school two winters to assist in paying his way, making up his studies during the summer. Holman F. Day graduated from

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Colby College on Tuesday, and on Wednesday he entered the office of the Fairfield ( Maine) Journal as local editor. No sooner had he taken this position than he was left with the entire charge of the paper ; and though at first it looked like a huge undertaking, the young collegian proved himself fully equal to it, and successfully conducted the sheet for six months. About this time he saw in a Boston paper an advertisement for a reporter on a journal in North Adams, Massachusetts. Mr. Day answered this notice, and received a re- ply to the effect that his letter had been chosen from a number of applications because it looked promising, and that the manager would meet him at a certain hotel in Boston on an appointed date, and talk the matter over. Mr. Day left Waterville in the evening, rode all night, went to the hotel, where he sat near the door all day, and when the man failed to ap- pear, took the night train for home, again riding all night and getting no rest. On reach- ing Fairfield he sat down, and in a polite and scathing letter expressed his opinion of the un- reliable manager. He received a return reply to the effect that he was hired, asany man who could write such a letter would be able to report for the paper. It turned out that the manager had forgotten which hotel he had des- ignated. Mr. Day remained about six months, finally securing acceptance of his resignation because helonged to get back to his native state.

He then took the position of managing editor of the six weeklies of the Union Pub- lishing Company of Bangor, a place which he successfully filled for one year. At the end of that time Mr. Day went into partnership with the former foreman of the firm. They put New York Nation, perhaps the most critical their money together-about five hundred dol- lars, and with that, and an immense amount of assurance, the two young men bought out the Dexter Gazette and assumed the indebtedness of the same. Later they bought out the sub- scription list of the Monson Weekly Slate, giv- ing them a total of about fifteen hundred sub- scribers. This list was soon increased to five thousand by the energy of Mr. Day, who was reporter, solicitor and editor, writing editorials at night and hustling for business during the day. Soon after, the owner of a rival sheet in the same town, becoming jealous of the large business done by the Gazette, had his editor begin a series of abusive articles through the columns of the Eastern State. The Gazette replied to these virulent attacks in terms so strong that its readers almost expected to see the Eastern State shrivel up and disappear.

One issue of the latter paper said that the Gazette could continue only about another week. This started Mr. Day on the war-path, with the result that the Eastern State did not breathe again, but was absorbed and after- wards drew its life from the office of the Dex- ter Gazette. Soon after, Mr. Day was offered a position on the staff of the Lewiston Jour- nal, and finding some one willing to relieve him of his interests in Dexter, he left for his new field after four years of hard, vigorous work in the old. At Lewiston he remained twelve years, acting as special writer of important events and incidentally filling all the positions on the paper except editor-in-chief. He then went to Bangor as correspondent for the Bos- ton Herald, and while there was also on the staff of the Bangor Commercial. At the end of a year he returned to Lewiston as manag- ig editor of the Lewiston Sun, and later went back to the staff of the Lewiston Journal.

Meanwhile his literary bent, which had been manifesting itself for years in occasional verse and prose published in the Saturday Evening Post, the New England Magazine, Harpers, and many other periodicals, had become so strong, and his contributions were in such de- mand, that he found himself compelled to give up the exacting duties of newspaper work and devote himself wholly to creative composition. The state of Maine has produced many names well known in literature, but no one fills a more distinctive place than Holman F. Day. His poems have all the vigor and pungency of the pine and spruce woods. Everything that he writes smacks of the soil, and he describes life in a Maine village with a homely direct- ness and humor that only a genius-and a genius born on the spot-could employ. The authority in this country, a paper which would never be accused of being too commendatory of new writers, in its issue of September 6, 1900, has this to say of Mr. Day's first volume of poems, "Up in Maine": "The lyrics them- selves are so fresh, so vigorous, and so full of manly feeling that they sweep away all criti- cism; and the most commonplace things in the farmer's life take hold upon the human heart when the poet sings this winter song :

The Stock in the Tie-Up.

I'm workin' this week in the wood-lot; a hearty old job, you can bet ;

I finish my chores with a lantern, and marm has the table all set.

. . I tell ye, the song o' the fire and the chirruping hiss o' the tea,

The roar of the wind in the chimbley, they sound dread- ful cheerful to me.

But they'd harrer me, plague me, and fret me, unless as I set here I knew

That the critters are munchin' their fodder and bedded and comf'table, too.

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The critic goes on to say: "But the whole vigor of the strain does not come until the poet

* sings of arrives in the wilderness *

'wangan,' 'peavy,' 'cant-dog' *

* and launches you upon adventures which need no Kipling to tell their tale." Of Mr. Day's sec- ond volume, "Pine-Tree Ballads, Rhymed Stories of Unplaned Human Nature up in Maine," the Nation of October 9, 1902, says : "No one who has not watched, at least as a spectator, the rush and swirl of logging-time on a Maine river, can fully appreciate the courage that shows itself even in making the attempt to describe it in verse :

When the Allegash Drive Goes Through.

We hurroop them with the peavies from their sullen beds of snow ;

With the pickpole for a goadstick, down the brimming streams we go.

They are hitching, they are halting, and they lurk and hide and dodge,

They sneak for skulking eddies, they bunt the bank and lodge.

And we almost can imagine that they hear the yell of saws

And the grunting of the grinders of the paper-mills, be- cause

They loiter in the shallows and they cob-pile at the falls, And they buck like ugly cattle where the broad dead- water crawls

But we wallow in and welt 'em with the water to our waist,

For the driving pitch is dropping and the Drouth is gasping 'Haste' !

Here a dam and there a jam, that is grabbed by grin- ning rocks, Gnawed by the teeth of the ravening ledge that slavers at our flocks ;

Twenty a month for daring Death; for fighting from dawn to dark-

Twenty and grub and a place to sleep in God's great public park ;

We roofless go with the cook's bateau to follow our hun- gry crew-

A billion of spruce and hell turned loose when the Alle- gash drive goes through.

The New England Magazine of February, 1906, in an article on "New England Humor- ists," gives this interesting account of Mr. Day's early efforts: "His father was a noted story-teller, and at the age of fourteen Holman edited a manuscript newspaper interspersed with verses embalming his father's tales, and the family smiled and showed them to the min- ister when he called. His quill was further sharpened on the Echo, the Colby College paper. When Commencement day came he marched down College avenue behind the brass band, arm in arm with Forrest Goodwin, to deliver the class poem. The next day he went to work on the Fairfield Journal, 'Taking a high dive off the Commencement platform into the ice-cold water of practical experience.' He took to writing articles of Yankee life in Maine. The editor insinuated they were cribbed, on the ground that 'any one who couldn't clean off a horse any better than he could, didn't know enough to write such like.' "

But any critical résumé of Mr. Day's work

fails to convey the satisfaction that the reader gets who has tasted the strong, wholesome savor of this every-day fare. It is the kind of literature to read, not talk about. The New York Sun says: "It is Maine in the phono- graph." In his book, "Browning and the Dra- matic Monologue," Dr. S. S. Curry, presi- dent of the School of Expression, accords Mr. Day chief place among the delineators of Yankee dialect and character, and adds, "Many of our modern poets who use the mon- ologue, such as Day, Foss, Riley and Drum- mond, are blamed by superficial critics for the roughness of their language. Fastidious critics often say the work of these authors is too rough, and 'not poetry.' In reply to such criticism it may be said that the peculiar na- ture of dramatic action is not realized. This rough language is necessary because of the peculiar type of character. The man cannot be revealed without making him speak his na- tive tongue. Browning is blamed as an artist for using burly and even brutal English." Mr. Day's dialect is written from "the inside out"; he is a Yankee along with the people whom he portrays, and he has never written a line in his human documents that ridicules or satirizes the folks of his home state. Dr. Curry says : "True dialect must always be the result of sympathy and identification." Its homeliness (in the old English sense) is its greatest charm. From the wild, rollicking humor of "When O'Connor Draws His Pay," to the pathos of "Cap'n Nutter of the 'Pudden- tame,'' every phase of life in the old Pine-tree state is touched and fixed in fast colors. What could better call up the ways of our grand- fathers than this "Plain Old Kitchen Chap?" I'm a sort of dull old codger, clear behind the times, I s'pose ;

Stay at home and mind my bus'ness; wear some pretty rusty clothes ;

'Druther set out here'n the kitchen, have for forty years or more,

Till the heel of that old rocker's gouged a holler in the floor ;

Set my boots behind the cook stove, dry my old blue woolen socks,

Get my knife and plug tobacker from that dented old tin box,

Set and smoke and look at mother clearing up the things from tea ; Rather tame for city fellers, but that's fun enough for me.

What a piece of character-drawing is "Uncle Micajah Strout," who was "unassuming, blunt and honest. When he said a thing, it went." The lawyers starved in his town, be- cause when there was

Case of difference or doubt Folks say, Waal, we'll leave her out To Uncle Micajah Strout.

It is hard to resist quoting from "The Law 'Gainst Spike-Sole Boots," for Day enters into the feelings of the Maine lumbermen as Kip-

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ling has entered into the lives of the British soldiers; but there is space only for a scrap taken from "A Hail to the Hunter," in which the annual fall sportsman from the city is set out :

He will shoot the foaming rapids, and he'll shoot the yearling bull. And the farmer in the bushes-why, he'll fairly get pumped full.

the average city feller he has big game on the For brain, * #

And imagines in October there is nothing else in Maine! Therefore some absorbed old farmer cutting corn or pull- ing beans

Gets most mightily astonished with a bullet in his jeans. So, O neighbor, scoot for cover or get out your armor plate ---

Johnnie's got his little rifle and is swooping on the State.

The prose of Holman F. Day is as good as his verse-full of humor, sentiment and vivid local coloring. His stories for boys show that strength of character, high aspiration, gener- osity and consideration for others, which have not only made the author popular, but have brought him true friendship, respect and deep regard. His list of books up to 1908 numbers seven. The first three were published by Small, Maynard & Company of Boston; the next two, by A. S. Barnes & Company of New York; and the last two by Harper and Broth- ers. The first edition of "Up in Maine" ap- peared in 1900; "Pine Tree Ballads" came in 1902; "Kin O' Ktaadn" (prose and verse) 1904; "Squire Phin," a novel, 1905; "Rainy Day Railroad War," 1906; "King Spruce," a novel, and "The Eagle Badge," 1908. Of his books of verse more than thirty thousand have been sold, and his novels have been corre- spondingly successful. "Squire Phin" has been dramatized under the name "The Circus Man," with Maclyn Arbuckle in the title role and has been made one of Klaw & Erlanger's big productions.

Politically Mr. Day is a Republican, and his church affiliations are with the Congregation- alists. He belongs to the Benevolent Protec- tive Order of Elks, and has served as exalted ruler and also as district deputy for two years. He served as military secretary, with rank of major, on the staff of Governor John F. Hill from 1901 to 1904, inclusive. At the Com- mencement in 1907, Colby College conferred on Mr. Day the degree of Doctor of Letters.

On February 6, 1889, Holman Francis Day married Helen R. Gerald, daughter of A. F. and Caroline Rowell Gerald, of Fairfield, Maine. They had one child, Dorothy, born February 9, 1896. Mrs. Helen R. (Gerald) Day died July 12, 1902, and on September 25, 1903, Holman F. Day married his second wife, Agnes Bearce Nevens, daughter of Byron A. and Ella (McDougall) Bearce, of Lewiston.

Mrs. Agnes (Bearce) (Nevens) Day is a member of the New York Society of Keramic Art, and is known in Maine by her artistic china and water-colors. She was superintend- ent of the Maine State Art Exhibition for several years. Mrs. Day is to be credited with a considerable portion of the success of her husband, in whose life she has been an inspira- tion. Those who know her sterling qualities of integrity, force of character, intellectuality, and above all, her womanliness, can readily understand how much Mr. Day is indebted to his wife.

(For first generation see preceding sketch.) (II) Isaac C., son of William and DAY Betsy Day, was born at Leeds, Maine, about 1825. He learned the trade of shoe-making from his father. After following this for some years he removed to Vassalboro, then one of the busiest towns in the state, and became interested in the restau- rant business. During the rebellion he en- listed in Company A, Twentieth Regiment Maine Volunteers. Captain Isaac S. Bangs, Colonel Adelbert Ames. He was mustered in August 29, 1862, and transferred to the Vet- eran Reserve Corps, November 15, 1863.

(III) Horace C., son of Isaac C. Day, was born October 17, 1854, at Vassalboro, Maine. He was educated in the public schools of that place, and after graduating from the high school, attended the Eastman Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York. His first busi- ness position was in the office of F. I. Fuller & Company, shoe manufacturers. He after- wards engaged with Gay & Foss, with whom he remained four years, and later became pay- master of the Barker Mills, where he contin- ued ten years. In 1890 he resigned this posi- tion to become cashier of the First National Bank of Auburn, which place he is now hold- ing (1908). The bank, at the time he became connected with it, had one clerk and about one hundred thousand dollars of deposits. Since then the staff has increased to six clerks, and there are over nine hundred thousand dollars in deposits. In 1890 there was a surplus of about thirty-three thousand dollars, and there is now a surplus of one hundred and ten thou- sand. During Mr. Day's administration a sav- ings bank and a bond department have been added, and the First National is now the largest bank in the city. Mr. Day's strict at- tention to business and his integrity have caused many responsibilities to be thrust upon him, and he is looked upon as one of the lead- ing men of the city. He is a director and the

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largest stockholder in the Androscoggin Wa- ter Power Company.

Politically Mr. Day is a Republican, and he has several times been asked to become a can- didate for mayor, but has declined. He has little time for politics, though he is treasurer of the county committee. He is a member of the Congregational church, and has been su- perintendent of the Sunday school for many years. He is much interested in Young Men's Christian Association work, being a member of the international committee. He was one of the incorporators of the Lake George Branch of the Silver Bay Young Men's Chris- tian Association, is a member of the commit- tee and is also treasurer of the Silver Bay As- sociation. Mr. Day is a Mason of the thirty- second degree, a Knight Templar, and a mem- ber of the grand lodge, Knights of Pythias.

On May 8, 1879, Mr. Day married Hattie Marie Jenkins, daughter of William Sanborn and Catherine (Rusk) Jenkins. They have two children: Francena B. R., born May 26, 1880, married Fred F. Spaulding ; and West- ley C., born October 30, 1884.

(For preceding generations see John Alden I.)

(IV) John (2), son of Isaac Al- ALDEN den, was born at Bridgewater, in 1694, and died in 1762. He mar- ried, in 1727, Hannah Kingman, who died in 1744, aged thirty-nine, daughter of Henry Kingman; (second) 1745, Rebecca Nightin- gale. Children of first wife: I. John (twin), born 1729. 2. James (twin), born 1729. 3. Isaac, born 1731. 4. Jonathan, born 1733; mentioned below. 5. Hannah, born 1736. 6. Adam, 1738. 7. Son, died young. 8. Abigail, born 1742, died young. 9. Keziah, 1743. Chil- dren of second wife: IO. Rebecca, born 1745. II. John, 1747. 12. Esther, 1749. 13. James, 1751. 14. Adam, 1754. 15. Joseph, 1755. 16. Benjamin, 1757.

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Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume IV, Part 91

Author: Little, George Thomas, 1857-1915, ed; Burrage, Henry Sweetser, 1837-1926; Stubbs, Albert Roscoe Publication date: 1909 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 896

Author: Little, George Thomas, 1857-1915, ed; Burrage, Henry Sweetser, 1837-1926; Stubbs, Albert Roscoe
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 896