Issue #3 2003

Another edition and another effort at upgrading the graphics let me know if they come to you distorted or if the inserts are moved about on the page.

We are still in search of a few who will help with several aspects of the Family News and Reunion. As best I can tell there are now 114 of us descended from William Daniel and his wife Mary Gordon, 113 of us from Bo and Granny Day. This includes those who have married into the family and significant others who I have been asked to include in the family lists. I generally include all those who want to be in touch with the family in both the lists and circulation of the Family News. If there is anyone who you think we need to include just send me a note.

Reunion 2003

Our 2nd Reunion is just right around the corner and Im hearing the enthusiasm start to grow, but I must remind those of you who are sitting on the fence that the Day of reckoning (no pun intended) comes earlier this year than last. June the 1st is the last day that the State park will be holding our cabins and Lodge rooms after that the reserved rooms and cabins will go on the open market and you might not be able to get one.

The Dates again are July 11-13 and the phone for Amicalola Falls State Park 800-573-9656 (refer to the Day Family Reunion). Im just learning to pronounce the word correctly and have never been there but those of you who have been to the park have told me that this is a REALLY nice place for a reunion. The pictures are breathtaking.

Cabins (on top of the mountain) are available to share so the cost for staying can be real economical for the one, two and three bedroom cabins. Susan and I are looking for roommates now !!! (did I mention the breathtaking views for the cabins on top of the mountain ?)

I assume that I will have the same response to, everyone bring a dish, so I must ask about the Family Meal. First question is do you prefer a Lunch or Dinner time meal and would you prefer to eat together in the Lodge Restaurant or should we look for a simple meal to be brought in to the Pavilion that we now plan to rent?

Would some one volunteer to make calls to the local restaurants in Dawsonville for catering to the park? Please email me.

Next is T-Shirts or some family memento that we can have made up to remember the event. If any of you have a source or would like to handle this, please let me know. Do you prefer T-shirts or something else.

The Pavilion, which is now reserved for Sat., will cost $75.00 plus tax, which we will split or pay for with the sale of shirts. Send me your input.

Lastly, it is very important that you begin to let me know as you make reservations or final decisions on your attendance so I can keep count. I have about 20 coming now with 5 maybes. Please keep me informed with the numbers there is a lot of planning left to do.

DAY FAMILY NEWS

Shane and Shannon were recently in a car accident. Shannon may have broken an arm and Shane has some really sore bruises but over all they were very fortunate the vehicle, (not mine), however, did not make it, passing away at the scene.

Over all the experience was a good one for them. It helped to clear up a hearing difficulty and they both got revelations in a dream about the use of seat belts.

Susan's mother is also in the Hospital with Pneumonia but we expect a full recovery. She's very excited about the raft ride I promised her down the Falls at the Reunion, LOL, (arent I awful). We really think she's going to be OK and look forward to bringing her back home soon. All this has kept us busy.

I started a second job back helping a friend at IHOP managing his mess there but just a couple days a week. Pancakes anyone?

Danny said his mother's birthday party went off great. Aunt Dot turned 80 the 8th of this month, though you would never know it. I have pictures. Dot is the good-looking one in the middle, Danny Day's mother.

Rhonda's new husband is John Hammans; John and Rhonda are at the same address and email jrashmore@charter.net
So send them your congratulations. Rhonda's oldest daughter, Lindsey, is living in Statesboro now and has her own email, which Ann sent me to add to our Family mailing list. Now that Lindsey will be hearing the news please write her and say hello.LindseyCollins16@yahoo.com

Ronnie wrote me about the new additions in the Rutledge clan, Dayna is due in August and Adrian is due in Sept. and Melanie is due in August...go figure it must be the water... Dayna (Winslow) is Ronnie and Beckie's oldest. Adrian (Tiedeman) and Melanie (Loomis) are Raymond's girls. Somebody needs to write Ronnie and tell him the Truth about the water thing!

Marlys and Danny had a visit at Marlys' home last month while Danny was chasing women at the Braves games in the area (you'll have to ask him about the details). Marlys said she and Carlyn were planning a trip to Paris and Italy in June. It was the only way she knew of getting out of planning the Family Meal at this years reunion. In August she and Walt travel north for Walt's son's wedding.

Ann (Ashmore) is planning to spend most of the summer in St. Simons to be near Sarah Margaret (Matthews) especially while Rick is away on business. Sarah is expecting their second child.

Thanks to each of you who sent news Im waiting to hear from the rest of you?

Blountsville Rediscovered

Some time ago Carlyn sent me the name of a Blount Relative she said she had spoken with around the time of her mothers death. The address was North Carolina, a few phone calls and a little surfing on the net and I had a chance to talk to Frank Blount Jr and a little later that day to Frances Davis in Bradenton.

For those of you who do not know, Our Granny Day, (her maiden name was Blount), had a brother who lived in Bradenton, Florida near Tampa and St Pete. His name was Frank Blount. Most of us knew Auntie who was Mattie Blount Lowe of Eastman but Frank and his family were further away and we saw and heard less of them. Uncle Frank died in 1986 of prostate cancer and we just lost track of our cousins there.

He and his wife had two children, Frank Jr., b. 1921, who lives now in State Road, NC (336-874-2777); And Frances (Davis), b. 1921, still living in the old house on Manatee Ave. in Bradenton, Fl. (941-749-1958) and email Grandflake@aol.com

They would like to hear from you all and were very excited about having heard from us after so long.

Their children: Harwood and Jerome and Pickle are all still in Bradenton. Judith (Fowler) and Charmaine (Mathis) are in North Carolina.

In Search of Days

Some of you are aware that while Rob was about the country raising support for his Missionary work in London, he spent a day in Martin County North Carolina digging for clues to our lost roots.

Martin County is the birthplace of our ancestor William Daniel Day born 1832 who married Mary Gordon in 1869 in Houston County, Georgia to begin our Day Clan. Though we have long known the initials of W D Days father we have been unable to prove his connection to any of the Day families of North Carolina.

Last year, from an 1840 census record we believe we discovered his fathers name, M C Gilbery Day or McGilbery Day. The operative word in genealogical research is prove and we have yet to find any document, which establishes this for sure. Yet the circumstantial evidence is fairly strong and I think, as does Rob, that we can assume this conclusion is true.

The next generational jump requires me to go out on a thread of circumstantial evidence, (but I wont bore you with that unless you are really interested). I believe that McGilbery is likely the son of William and Nancy (Wheatley) Day of Martin County, North Carolina. William is the son of John and Mourning (Wheatley) Day and from here I have an unconfirmed, (by me), genealogy back to our first American Day immigrant, John Day who sailed to Virginia with his wife in 1620 on the London Merchant.

I can send the complete tree to those of you who would want it with the understanding that it is not confirmed as accurate and may have future corrections. I am busy now verifying the sources as I have time. Just thought you might want to keep up with the progress.

Thanks

Much thanks to those who sent your memories about stories told by those who have passed on and to those of you who answered questions about relatives that are no longer with us. I hope these replies will jog other memories.

Some time ago Carlyn wrote about a story she remembered hearing from Granny Day about two brothers born of a wealthy or prominent father. One son gave up his inheritance to come to America while the other stayed behind. One would think this related to the Blount line or a related family who passed the information down to Granny. But as I have looked at the lines that are related most have ties to family, which first arrived in the early 1600s. In fact, the only lines Ive found that seem to be of recent past (comparatively) is that of the Benders and Gordons and these families are related to the Days not Grannys family, the Blounts.

John George Bender arrived with his wife Catherine and children John and Catherine in July of 1832 from Germany. Catherine Bender eventually married John Gordon the father of Mary Gordon. Mary married W D Day and thus came ALL of us.

Carlyn seemed to remember that this son came from England/Ireland according to Grannys story so this would not likely have been the Benders.

The Gordon connection begins in 1807 with the birth of John Gordon, mentioned above, in South Carolina and he settled in Houston County in 1846. Some time around that move or maybe just before he fell in love with a younger Catherine Bender and you know the rest.

We know now that John Gordons parents were born in Ireland and its my suspicion that Johns father is the young man who gave up his inheritance. Granny Day and Clyde (Bo) both lived for some time with their children in the Home of Mary Gordon Day in Perry and Granny likely learned that story from Mary.

Any of you remember this?

I also got some answers about Franklin Clyde Day (Bo). Bo, as he was called married Granny Day in 1911. I have a letter written by Grannys mother which indicates this was a surprise marriage and perhaps not one that was well received by Grannys mother, Loulah Frances Holt and father, Harry Percy Blount. (I am including pictures of both of Grannys parents below) It seems Bo was not a participant in WWI but the stories I heard from Granny Day were probably about her brother Will Blount who was a Veteran and died in 1926 from complications and pneumonia due to mustard gas exposure in the War. There still remain a lot of questions about Bo. Does anyone remember the Railroad he worked for or what his injuries were that caused him not to be able to work? How about school? Other details? Thanks to Ronnie for sending a copy of his obituary. I understand that Bo died of Colon Cancer.

I had several responses to my Questions about R. L. Day. Most of you know that there were three Rupert Legare Days. The first R L Day was the youngest son of W D and Mary Gordon Day. He was born Feb 7th 1887 and he married Alice Ione Smoak in Houston County, Georgia October 16th 1907. Both are buried in The Evergreen Cemetery in Perry.

R L and Alice were later divorced (I think) and Alice remarried Walter D Murry about 1919 having at least one child, Walter Jr. Her gravesite in the Smoak section of the cemetery lists her as Walter Murrys wife.

R L Sr. and Alice had one son R L Jr. born in 1909 and a daughter Margery born in 1911. I have found nothing more on this child, Margery. Do any of you know anything about her? I think Alice and Walter moved to Alabama. R L Sr. lived with other family members; he was in the house or next door to Bo and Granny Day in 1930 and later lived with Uncle Morgan and Aunt Maggie, his sister. R L Sr. died 4/8/1954.

His son R L Jr. married Jane Bruce Jones. I know very little about R L Jr. and Jane. Aunt Dot believes R L worked for Peeler Hardware, the same company for which Uncle Morgan Yates was a traveling salesman. He died May 7th 1963. Jane and her sister, Eugenia Kleckley, ran a kindergarten at Mulberry Street United Methodist Church. Marlys attended the Kindergarten. Their son R L the 3rd was the writer for the Macon Telegraph. He lives in Acworth, Ga.

The Day Website

Our Family Website is slowly developing and we would like to add current pictures of family members. If you have some that you can email Danny Day at wdd1146@juno.com, please do. We are not looking for glamour shots here, guys, just some fun pictures to add faces to the names.

If you dont have scanning abilities with your computer, (I dont either) then go buy one of those disposable cameras, take me some shots and when you have it developed ask to have it put on disk as well then you can email the pictures we need a lot of help here!

Please visit the web site from time to time to see the changes send in your suggestions, Danny would love the help.

Visit these family sites

May Birthdays

Please take time out of your busy schedule to wish family members a Happy Birthday. It does not matter if you know them or not, contact is an important step in us becoming a closer family.

A Note To Cousins

About five years ago a few of you inspired the first Day Family News Letter and the positive feed back of emotions from so many of you inspired the continuing effort by all of us to bring together a family splintered by time and distance and other circumstances too complicated to enumerate in this short editorial. All this culminated in our first Family Reunion last year. And what a great gathering it was; so many of us together again after so long!

But now it is time for a renewal of commitment to the Idea of Family, our family, and time to get involved in the efforts to bring us all together. We have an obligation to the generations which follow us to give them opportunity know their extended family and their roots.

We can no longer use the excuses of the past to explain to our children and ourselves why we are not a close family. The opportunity is before us and we must all, seize the Day, and get involved.

We have a Web site, a reunion, a complete contact list and a Newsletter, even sporadic Birthday announcements. How many families do you know with all this??

Perhaps Im a little gung ho, maybe so, but I know most of you and I think youre worth a little foolish enthusiasm. Family is worth the effort.