THOMAS E. DAY. Some thirty years ago Thomas E. Day took his bride into Stony Creek Township while the wilderness conditions still prevailed and with a strong arm and courageous heart began the work of clearing out a home for himself and family. By dint of hard labor and thrifty management he has prospered, until today he is not only one of the most substantial, but also one of the most influential men in his section of the County.
Thomas E. Day is a native of the state of North Carolina where he was born April 15, 1858, and from an early age had to snake his own way in the world. His parents were Alva and Sarah (Harris) Day, neither of the parents ever leaving North Carolina which was the state of their birth and their life and death. There were eight children in the family and Thomas E. was the sixth, and one of his sisters also lived in Indiana. The father died when Thomas E. was eight years of age, and he had little chance after that to get an education. He remained with an uncle for some years, and learned more of hard physical work than the lessons which are given in schools and in books. In company with an aunt he arrived in Madison County, November 22, 1874, and soon afterward began his career on his own account.
Thirty-two years ago Mr. Day married Miss Sarah J. Shaul, and he then went into the woods and with his axe cleared up a tract of one hundred and ten acres, which has been the basis of his home. The six living children in the family are named as follows: William H., who is at home; Vado P., wife of Hugh Minor; Luther B., who is married and a resident in Stony Creek Township; James E., who is married and lives in Stony Creek Township; Iva M., who is unmarried and still in the home circle, and Lorenza, a student in the high school at Lapel. Mr. Day and family are members of the Christian church, and in politics he is a Republican, without any participation in party affairs or without ever having held any public office. Mr. Day is the owner of one hundred and eleven acres of land in Stony Creek Township and-has a prosperous and well improved farm.