Stumper #30
James Day, Born Pre-1776
Submitted By Richard Day
roday46@cox.net
There are quite a few of us looking for this person and his
ancestors. What we have is the following.
James Day, born sometime before 1776. Not sure where.
In the 1880 census, one of his children said he was from
England, another child said he was from New York, and a third
said he was from Virginia....
What we know is that sometime before 1815, he shows up in
Mississippi, in Amite/Marion/Pike county area. He served
for a period in the War of 1812, in Nixon's Brigade.
In 1815 he married a Mary Ann "Polly" Brent. Polly Brent had
come with her family from South Carolina sometime around 1810
to Mississippi. We suspect that James may have been married
previously since in the 1820 census, he is over 45 years old,
and there appear to be children living with him and Polly who
would have been born prior to their marriage in 1815.
James and Polly Day lived in Pike county, near a town called
Holmesville, MS. Together they had seven children. We think
that it is possible that at least two of these may have
been children of James and his first wife. In 1825, for some
reason, James and his family left Mississippi and moved north.
There is reason to believe that they stopped for a time
in Tennessee. Their last child, James S. Day, was supposedly
born there according to census records. In 1827, they settled
in southern Indiana in Washington county. Shortly after
arriving, both James and Polly Day died from illness and left
the seven orphans as wards of the state. Several were
indentured to local citizens in Washington county.
Who was James Day and were did he come from?? How did he
get to Mississippi and why there? Was he married and
did he have children before he married Polly Brent?
Why did they travel to Indiana and leave Mississippi??
These are the questions we have been looking for answers
for many years. A lot of early records have been destroyed
by the British in the War of 1812, and we have been hitting
the "brick wall".
James and Polly Day's children are:
Susan California Day(b.1813)
John Wesley Day (b.1814)
Jacob L. Day (b. 1818)
Nancy Day (b. 1820)
Mary Ann Day (b. ~1822)
Lenisy Day (b 1823)
James Day Jr. (b. ~ 1824)
I have information on some of the descendents of
James and Polly Day, but any help that Anyone can give us in
answering the questions on James Day would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Richard O. Day
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