Nicholas Balfour Day B. 1835 Preble Co., OH
Submitted by Becky Rittenhouse
1892 Portraits and Biographical Record of Ford Co., IL - 1892
pg 345
NIcholas Balfour Day, a well-known early settler of Ford County, and a pioneer mechant of Paxton, now the manager and junior
partner in the mercantile firm of J.P. Day & Co., was born in PReble Co OH , on the 12th of Nov, 1835, and is a son of
Samuel and Peggy Purviance Day, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work.
The childhood and youth of our subject was passed on his father's farm. He attended the district school and learned to swing an
ax about as early as he learned to read. His home was in a heavily timbered region, where every acre of land represented
an immense amount of hard labor, compared with the land whereon he subsequently made his home in IL. When he was sixteen years
of age, he removed with his parents to Miami Co., IN and after there residing upon a farm for two years, the family,
consisting of the parents, two married sons and thier families, and one married daughter and her family, also Nicholas B. and
his younger sister, emigrated to IL. THey left IN in the fall of 1853, with teams and wagons loaded with household goods, in
addition to which they drove considerable live stock, making quite a caravan. They made their way to Vermilion Co. IL,
and settled on land near Danville. The following spring they put in crops, but decided to go father to the Northwest, where
the country was more newly settled, and land cheaper. In August, 1854, Mr. Day and his sons, Samuel and N. B., came to what
is now Ford Co., and settled near the site of the present city of Paxtoon, then a wild prairie.
Mr. Day spent the fall and winter of 1854 in assisitng his father in getting a home established, and was back and forth
between the new home and the farm near Danaville, aiding in securing the crops. The next winter he helped break prairie
and on the 15th of December, a month after his twentieth birthday, was married at the lady's home, to Miss Barbara, the eldest
daughter of Daniel C. and Susan Stoner, who was one year his junior. She was born in Tippecanoe Co. IN and came to
Ford Co. with her parents in 1852. THe young couple who at so early an age had launched their ship in life upon the sea of
Matrimony, were rich only in youth, hop and energy, and a determination to succeed in makeing their way in the world.
Mr. Day's worldly possessions consisted soley in the ownership of a horse and saddle, which may have been very useful for
purposes of locomotion over the prairie, and no doubt might carry double on a pinch, but could not ver well be tuilized for
shelter, food or rainment. The bride's father was well-to-do for a settler in the new country, and was evidently shrewd and
sensible, and instead of reaching for his pocket-book and making the opening chapter of the married life of his daughter and
son-in-law cheerful and easy, took Mr. Day at his word when he said he only asked him for his daughter, and let the young folks
learn by experience that married life without means, was no summer holiday. ANd they learned it. But their indiependence and
pluck, back by indefatigable enery, soon made the road smoother.
Mr. Day rented a partially improved farm, where he and his wife worked with all their strength and endurance to make a start.
THose wer hard times too, in the history of the West; produce brought but small return for labor, and money was scarce,
especially in the years 1857, 1858, and 1859. After a few years, hoping to better themselves, they rented land near Danville
and removed there. Mr. Stoner had evidently watched with satisfaction the manly independent course of his son-in-law,
and had made up his mind that the time had come when he might safely lend a helping hand, especially as he had learned that
a valuable farm ner by was on the market at a very low figure. So he wrote Mr. Day that he wanted to see him at once. On our
subject's arrival, he was surprised to learn that it was the desire of his wife's father that he should buy of two hundred
and twenty acres at a cost of about $3000, and that the first payemnt of $1000 was made by Mr. Sonter, he taking Mr. Day's
not for the same. THe old gentleman then took from all the holes in the walls of the rude cabin in that amount in gold, for
which he took a note on a long time. WHen Mr. Stoner was fully satisfied that his son-in-law was a financial success, he
made his wife a present of that $1000 note as a birthday present. THe purchase was made, and Mr. Day found himself the owner of
a fine farm partially improved, but he was also deeply in debt. He had given his notes for the deferred payments in amounts
of $5000, running one, two and three years. Then came the tug of war. He raised a big crop of corn the first year, but on
hauling a load into Paxton, was offered only ten cents a bushel for it. He finally sold it for twelve and a half cents
per pushel, beut decided not to sell any more at those figures. THe date of payment of the first note came round, and for
the first and last time in his life, he had to admit that he could not meet his obligation. He had a lot of corn in store and
some cattle, but to sell a t going prices would only make his ruin more complete. So he got an extension of time. This was
during the first year of the war; gold had disappeared from sight, and prices were tending upward. To make a long story shor,
he sold his ten-cen corn for seventy-five cents per bushel, and his cattle, that had been held at two cents per po9und for
six or seven, and he soon had his land paid for and money to spare.
After his farm was clear, Mr. Day found that both he and his wife, by their long continued struggle, were broken down in health,
and they decided to let the farm, move to Paxton and take a year's much need rest. THe change was made in the fall of 1863,
but the result was not what they had anticipated. The sudden change from active and continuous labor to idleness was terrible
to Mr. Day, who became so uneasy that he had no comfort or pleasure in life. It happened that an acquaintance offered
him a position as clerk in a general store at a modest salary, which he gladly accepted in order to have something to occupy
his time. He learned to like his new work, and continued in it about two years, or until he had thoroughly learned the
mercantile business, when he started in the dry[goods trade for himself in 1865, and has followed it almost continually since,
making him the oldest merchant in Paxton in years of business experience. DUring all this time, he has still held the title
to his farm, which is one fo the most productive and valuable in the county. His wife inherited one hundred and sixt acres
adjoining it, which is also valuable land.
Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Day, a son and two daughters; Florence A., the eldest, is now the wife of
WIlliam P. Martin, of Paxton; Viola E. Married Wilmer Wright , and is now residing in Chicago; Curtis, the only son, is single
and in business with his father in Paxton.
Recently a partnership was formed between Mr. Day and his brother, John P., in the mercantile business, under the firm name
of J.P. Day & Co. WHile this partnership has existed only a year, they have been associated in business, in one way and
another, for the greater part of their mature years. It has been a marked characterisic of the Day brothers, that they have
always worked together in harmony and mutual confidence; the younger ones looking up to John P. as the head of their
family, and their counselor and adviser.
N.B. Day has always been a Republican in politics, and while he has served as Supervisor of his township for six years,
he has never been an aspirant for public office. His religious training in early life was under the auspices of the
Christian Church, to which his parents belonged, but later in life he became associated with the Methodist Church as an
official member, and with his family attends that church. Mr. Day has been known to the citizens of Ford and adjacent
counties from early manhood, with whom he has maintained intimate social and business relations, and it is no flattery to say
of him that his integrity is above question, and his character with reproach. He is genial, cordial and unassuming in manner,
and is always to berelied upon for a fair and honorable discharge of the duties devolving upon him in all the relations of life.
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