DAVID DAY:

David Day was born September 19, 1825 in Burke's Garden, Virginia, where he spent his childhood. In 1846 he moved to Wisconsin where he spent three years working in the mines and spending his evenings in the study of medicine. He attended lectures at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania during the winter months and graduated in 1849.

Day moved to St. Paul in the Spring of 1849, where he believed the climate would benefit his ailing health. He practiced medicine there for five years before deciding, for health reasons, to go into the drug business, which he maintained on the corner of Third and Cedar streets in St. Paul until 1866. For several years he ran a firm in partnership with J. B. Jenks under the name of Day & Jenks.

Day served in a number of elected offices and political appointments during his years in Minnesota. Governor Ramsey appointed him the county's first register of deeds soon after his arrival in St. Paul in 1849. In 1853, while a temporary resident of Benton county, he was elected to represent that county in the state legislature and was later elected Speaker of the House of Representatives. He also served as state prison inspector, seed wheat commissioner, and commissioner of fisheries. From 1875 until his retirement in 1887, Day was postmaster of St. Paul. He was credited by his contemporaries for many improvements in the postal service and was instrumental in the design of the nation's first return postal card.

Day drew the plans for St. Paul's first courthouse, considered quite progressive in design at the time. When the burgeoning city outgrew this building, Day served as amember of the board of commissioners appointed by the state legislature to superintend the construction of the new courthouse and city hall.

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The collection consists primarily of a photocopy of a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings by and about David Day and his family. Clippings focus on a variety of issues in which Day was involved, especially the postal service and the construction of the Ramsey County Courthouse, as well as a variety of other civic matters. Clippings also include several accounts of his death and some articles about his wife, who lived until 1928.

Also included are three folders (one oversized) of loose items from the scrapbook and other miscellaneous papers, including certificates, correspondence, and a poem entitled "Daddy's Pipe," written by Day's son in 1891.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. David Day Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 8220; 8270; 15,351

Processing Information:

Processed by: Lara D. Friedman~Shedlov, January 1999.

Catalog ID number: 00-14155509

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Records of the Joint Court House and City Hall Committee, on which Day was superintendent of furniture and grounds, are separately cataloged in the Minnesota Historical Society state archives collections.

Records of the U.S. Post Office (St. Paul) are separately cataloged in the Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Pioneers -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Winnebago Indians -- Minnesota.

Places:

Saint Paul (Minn.) -- History.

Saint Paul (Minn.) -- Politics and government.

Persons:

Ramsey, Alexander, 1815-1903.

Organizations:

Minnesota State Medical Society.

Postal Service -- United States -- Saint Paul.

Saint Paul (Minn.). Court House.

Occupations:

Physicians -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Postmasters -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

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