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As mentioned previously, the Day line takes us back to royalty of several ranks.  For our lineage, however, the line since arrival in the Colonies is by comparison brief:  Robert Day (1605-48), John Day (I) (1645-1730) and John Day (II) (1670-1752).  From John (II)we have two lines, the first via his son Benjamin Day (1704-77), to Lydia Day (Asa Beebe Sr.'s wife); and the second via his son Abraham Day (1712-1792), Oliver Day (1761-1800), to Lucy Day (wife of Asa's son, Paphiras Beebe).

Robert Day's male line is well if somewhat erroneously documented, thanks to an 1848 monograph entitled, A Genealogical Register of the Descendants in the Male Line of Robert Day of Hartford, Conn., Who Died in the Year 1648. 

• He arrived in New England in 1634 aboard the "Elizabeth."  From 1620-50 eight men with surnames "Day" arrived in New England, including -- as noted below -- another Robert born in the same year.  Robert was one of the first settlers of Hartford, Connecticut, in the company of approximately 100 others. 
   

• We know little else of his life.  One source has summarized what is known:

Robert Day was the son of Richard Day and was born on 31 July 1604 in Kilburn, Yorkshire, England. Robert married first while still in England in or before 1634, Mary _______ (b. abt. 1606). In Apr., 1634, they came to this country on the ship "Elizabeth". They located in Newtown, now Cambridge, Mass. but Mary died shortly after their arrival here. Robert was made a freeman on 6 May 1635, which shows that he must have belonged to some church in the jurisdiction. He returned briefly to England in 1636 and while there, married second in Ipswich, England, Editha Stebbins. (We do not have any sources to prove that Robert and Editha married in England. Editha was the daughter of William and Mary Stebbins and sister of Deacon Edward Stebbins. She had been born in 1615 in Woodham, Essex Co., England. Robert and Editha returned to this country in the same year and became original settlers of Hartford, Conn They were probably in the company of one hundred persons who journeyed through the wilderness in 1636 with the Rev. Mr. Hooker. They became members of the First Church of that town. Robert Day's Will was dated 20 May 1648. He died at the age of 44 on 4 Sept. 1648 in Hartford, Conn. and the inventory of his estate was taken on 14 Oct. 1648. Editha (Stebbins) Day married second Deacon John Maynard. He died without issue shortly after, and left all his property, which was considerable, to his wife's children," provided they carried themselves well towards their mother." Editha married third in 1658, Elizur Holyoke of Springfield, Mass., who was the grandfather of President Holyoke of Harvard College. Elizur Holyoke died on 6 Feb. 1676 in Springfield, Mass. Editha died on 24 Oct. 1688 in Springfield, at the age of 72.
 

• He executed a will the year he died:

The will of Robert Day hee being sick and weake, yet in perfect memory : doth order and dispose of his estate to his wife and children, in the manner following: Impr'mis I give unto my beloved wife Edatha Day my now dwelling howse and howsing thereto adjoyning, howse Lott, Allso all my Land whereof I stand possessed, or that of right doth belong unto mee, lying in Hartford, during the tearme of her naturall life : And at the end of her life, my will is that the said howse and land shall bee devided in an equall proportion : my will allso is that all my howsehold stuff, and Cattle and other moveable goods shall bee my wives to bring up my children : And in case my wife should bee married to another man, then my surviers of my will shall have power if they thinke good to take security for the bringing up of the children, and for so much estate as shall bee though meete by them, and to this my last Will and Testament I make my wife my Executrix, and I doe desire my Deare Brethren Mr. Tailecoate, Willerton, and Stebbing, to take care of and Assist my wife in the ordering her selfe and my children, and I give them power to doe what in their Judgements may bee for the best, to bring up my Children and dispose of them, and that I leave, for theire good : And to this my will I sett to my hand the day above written. EDWARD STEBBING, ROBERT DAY WALLTER GAYLERD.

leaving an estate valued at 142 pounds (about $24,000 in 2010).

An indication of the precarious existence of those early settlers:  Robert's daughter Sarah was killed by Indians along with her son Joseph.

(Our Robert Day should not be confused with another of the same name born in the same year, but married to a Hannah Pingry (or "Pingree"), most especially because from him is apparently descended one Richard Cheney, former U.S. Vice President, who I am well pleased not to include as a "famous relative.")

John Day (I) was born in 1645.  Early records identify his wife as Sarah Maynard, and that identification has continued into several current records; we we show her as Mary Gaylord.  I cannot account for the discrepancy, although possibly they were sequential marriages; some sources have marked them as such, but since we have neither proof nor dates, we cannot determine which children came from which mothers.  See also this brief discussion.

• Another summary of what is known (from a source that names Sarah Maynard as wife):

JOHN DAY, b. 1645 in Hartford, Ct. d. bef. 29 Apr 1730 in Hartford; m. 1675 in Hartford to Sarah Maynard, b. 1651; d. abt 1730, daughter of John Maynard and Mary Starr. His will was dated 16 Nov 1725, when he was "advanced in years," and proved 6 May 1730. He owned a share in a grist or saw mill, which he bequeathed to his son William." There has been some confusion about the wife of John Day, with some claiming she was Sarah (Stone) Butler, but the following reference from Savage, "Genealogical Dictionary of New England," vol. 4, p. 446 shows that that would have been impossible. "Richard Webb........he died [1665] leaving no children but took Sarah, dau. of Rev. Samuel Stone, and brot. her up, until she married Thomas Butler of Hartford; and in Hall's History we see that the widow [Webb] empowered a friend, in 1677 to adj. with Butler and his wife for their claim of the estate of her Husband. Butler's wife had half, and by the court was distribut. other portions to Bartholomew Barnard, who was husband of Sarah, dau. of Thomas Birchard, to Richard Homes, Stephen Beckwith, Thomas Barnum and others, of whose degrees of consanguin. it may not be easy to determine." This would indicated that John Day did not marry Sarah (Stone) Butler & have children by her in 1675 & 1677, because Thomas Butler did not die until 1688. John Day owned a share in a grist or saw mill, which he bequeathed to his son William.
 

• He executed his will in 1725:

In the name of God, Amen. I, John Day of Hartford, being advanced in years and weak in body, not knowing the day of my death, and being willing to set my house in order, 1 do ordain and make this to be my last will and testament, hereby making void all former wills by me made or declared. Impri. I give my soule to God who I hope hath redeemed it by the precious blood of his Son, Jesus Christ. Item. After ray debts and funeral charges are discharged out of my moveable estate, I give to my loving wife two cows, with a third part of the remainder of my moveable estate, as also all my right in the mill, and after her decease, I give it to my son William and his heirs : Item. I give to my son John Day forty shillings to be paid out of my [wearing or weaving.] — I do confirm to my several sons the deeds of gift I have formerly made to them, of my lands to them and their heirs. Item. I give to my son William and to his heirs my three acre lot in the Long meadow. I give to my son Joseph my teame, with all the appurtenances thereunto belonging. Item. All the rest of my moveable estate not before given, I give to my daughters equally to be divided among them, only my daughter Sarah shall have the value of four pounds more than either of her sisters. And I do hereby nominate and appoint my loving wife Sarah to be sole Executrix of this my last Will. It being before omitted, I add, I give to my wife the use of half my house during her widowhood, and half the cellar, the housing to be on the south part.

John Day (II) is listed as John (I)'s second son, born 1670 in Hartford.  Sometime around 1701 John moved from Hartford to Colchester, Connecticut, where he lived the remainder of his life.  Two of his sons, by wife Grace Spencer, Benjamin (b. 1704) and Abraham (b. 1712) provide two lines of descent, until they join again with Lucy Day, wife to Paphiras Beebe.  Otherwise, we know nothing of his life in either place.  A source cited two times above has this about his wife:

There is disagreement about the parentage of Grace Spencer. There were two Grace Spencers born in the same generation. One Grace, b. 27 July 1674 in East Haddam, Ct., was the daughter of Samuel Spencer and Hannah Willey. This is the Grace named by Nathaniel Goodwin in "Genealogical Notes, First Settlers of Connecticutt and Massachusetts" (1982) as the wife of John Day. (Also in Virkus' "The Compendium of American Genealogy" and the Elmer I. Shepard Collection) However, TAG 27: 89 lists the Grace, b. 24 Sept. 1676 in Middletown, Middlesex, CT, the daughter of John Spencer and Rebecca Hayward/Howard as the wife of John Day and suggests that Grace, dau. of Samuel died young as she was not mentioned in her father's will. It is possible that children not mentioned in a parent's will received their settlement before the will was written. [Since this could be the case with Samuel Spencer, I personally will not rule Samuel out as the father of the wife of John Day-mra] John Spencer and Rebecca Hayward/Howard have been the accepted parents of Grace Spencer by the Spencer Family Association. However, since it was called to their attention that there were 3 sources that named Samuel & Hannah (Willey) Spencer as her parents, they are doing further research.

John's son Benjamin Day married Margaret Foote, whose ancestry is nearly as convoluted, and certainly as interesting as ours, if not more so.  Some day I should pursue that. 

• About Benjamin we have sketchy details:

Benjamin served as a Lieut. from Colchester in 1747. He next served as a Capt. in the 3rd Conn. Company in 1750. Finally, he served as a Capt. in Col. Trumbull's Regt. in the defense of Fort William Henry and Fort Edward [in the French and Indian War].

• His son, Benjamin (Jr.) (1731-1811) served during the Revolutionary War as private in Capt. Joseph Parkhurst's company, Vermont troops.

Abraham Day, the other of John's sons who is a direct ancestor (father of Oliver and grandfather of Lucy), has little history of his own.  Four of his sons, including Nehemiah and Ezra, fought in the Revolutionary War, and the latter was taken prisoner of war, held aboard the British ship, "Milford."  Moreover,

Abraham and Irene [Foote, his wife] settled in Colchester and all of their children were born there. Sometime later they moved to Chester P.O. Mass.. They apparently started the Dayville Community in that jurisdiction. An old map of Chester PO shows the settlement of Dayville at the juncture of the Middle Branch of Westfield River, Day Brook, and Kinney Brook. This map also shows the residence of A. Day at this juncture. Most of this area is now under the waters of the Littleville flood control revision. The DAR Patriot index page 181 lists him as a drummer in the Revolutionary War. He would have been in his early sixties at that time.

Oliver Day, the youngest of Abraham's children, was born in Colchester, Connecticut, but moved first with one of his brothers to Winhall, Vermont, and then to Holley, NY, where his daughter Lucy was courted by Paphiras Beebe.

Benjamin's daughter was Lydia Day, and her niece (Oliver Day's daughter) was Lucy Day.  Aside from their marriage to Beebes, we know nothing of them.

The Allure of Western New York

Finally, it is a curious coincidence that three of our ancestors' families located within about 100 miles of each other in western New York, all within the timeframe of the 19th century, some of them as pioneers in communities newly carved out of the wilderness.  The map below shows these settlements, of the Keys and Day/Beebe families in Holley, the Jackson family in Arcade, and the Durfee family in Palmyra.  Only their eventual concentration on the Elsie-Ovid axis exceeds the coincidental nature of these New York communities.

[Return to Eliza Keys Forebears]

[Jump to Keys]
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