Education
Susquehanna University.
Susquehanna University.
Born in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, his early life was filled with hardship. At 12, he went to work for the government stables in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and at 13, he (illegally) joined the Union Army for the remaining years of the American Civil War. In 1869, he entered the Missionary Institute in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.
Day was ordained by the Frankean Synod.
The couple arrived together in Africa only a month later, where they remained for the majority of their lives. In late 1896, Day married Anna East. Whitfield of Ontario, Canada, a nurse at a Methodist mission in Liberia.
The following year, Day contracted an illness, and died at sea en route to the United States. As per his wishes, Day"s remains were interred, along with the remains of Emily Day, at Union Cemetery in Selinsgrove, on a hill overlooking Susquehanna University.
David and Emily"s children, Florence, Gilbert, and Lily (none of whom survived adolescence) remain buried in Liberia.
David Day had the longest tenure of any missionary at Muhlenberg for the majority of the time the mission was operational. His work in Africa centered on the Muhlenberg Mission on the Saint Paul River, about 20 miles upriver of Monrovia, Liberia. The mission was founded by Morris Officer in 1860.
Day"s ministry while in Liberia focused on education as well as religious conversion.
A former school teacher, Day was an early advocate of coeducational facilities, and taught trade classes such as blacksmithing, carpentry, and others in addition to a traditional classroom education. Although his campaigning proved unsuccessful, he was, however, able to create a dry zone around the Muhlenberg Mission.
While at the mission, Day orchestrated the construction of the "Sarah Ann," a side-wheeler steam craft used to speed up travel on the Saint Paul River. He received a Doctor of Divinities (Doctor of Divinity) degree from the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg in 1893 while in Liberia.