Background
Luther Day was born at Granville, Washington County, New York, United States. He was the son of David and Rhoda (Wheelock) Day.
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Luther Day
Edit ProfileEducation
His father was a farmer and sawmill proprietor in a small way, and he barely obtained the rudiments of an education, being required to assist on the farm at the age of twelve years. Iin 1835 he entered Middlebury Academy, Vermont, where he was able to spend two years by teaching and doing other odd work in his spare time.
Career
In 1838 Day went to Ravenna, Portage County, Ohio, and entered the law office of R. P. Spalding, defraying his expenses by undertaking clerical work for the clerk of the common pleas of Portage County. On his admission to the bar he rapidly acquired a reputation for competence and reliability.
In 1843 he was elected prosecuting attorney for Portage County and, with an intermission of one year which he spent at Akron, held that position till 1851.
In the election of 1850 he was unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the representation of the district in Congress, but in 1851 he was elected judge of the common pleas for the united counties of Portage, Trumbull, and Mahoning, and remained on the bench for six years.
For a short time in 1862 he acted as judge advocate general on Gov. Tod’s staff, with the rank of colonel. The following year he was elected as a Republican to the state Senate, but resigned on being elected a judge of the supreme court of Ohio in 1864.
On the supreme court bench, if not brilliant, he was efficient.
A sound lawyer, familiar with Western customs of life and business, and exercising great care in the consideration of all cases which were brought before him, he procured the confidence of the bar and the public alike.
Reelected in 1869, he was for four years acting chief justice, but in the elections of 1874 he met defeat, the Democratic ticket sweeping the state. On his retirement in 1875 he was appointed by Gov. Allen a member of the commission to revise and codify the state statutes, but resigned in February 1876, having been appointed by Gov. Hayes to the first supreme court commission, a position which he occupied for three years, during one of which he Hon. Roger Sherman and Rebecca Prescott, who died in 1806; and on September 24, 1811, Olivia, daughter of Major Daniel and Olive (Tinker) Jones of Hartford, Connecticut.
For sixty-nine years he was officially connected with Yale College. On April 22, 1817, he was appointed president, succeeding Timothy Dwight, and was both installed and ordained to the ministry on July 23. In 1835 he had been urged to become head of Andover Theological Seminary, but had declined. Never strong, and after 1836 subject to attacks of angina pectoris, he prolonged his life by self-knowledge and moderation in all things.
Outside of Connecticut he was known principally through his text-books.
In 1814 he published An Introduction to Algebra, which went through many editions.
This was followed by works on trigonometry, geometry, and the mathematical principles of navigation and surveying.
After 1820 he taught mental and moral philosophy, and in 1838 published An Inquiry Respecting the Self-determining Power of the Will; and in 1841 An Examination of President Edwards’s Inquiry on the Freedom of the Will.
He also contributed numerous articles to periodicals, and published a few sermons.
Achievements
Politics
Day was a stanch supporter of the Lincoln administration in the pre-war period and on the outbreak of the conflict left the Democratic party.
Personality
Although, as described by Timothy Dwight, the younge, “he was a wise disciplinarian, a judicious governor, a thorough and accurate scholar, a valuable teacher, and a man of intelligent and penetrative mind, ” his influence was due chiefly to his goodness and his reputation for deep wisdom.
He combined serenity, self-control, modesty, and unselfishness in such a degree that all of the 2, 500 students who had been under him, according to President Woolsey, would have unquestionably declared him the best man they had ever known.
He was a man of dignity and extreme reserve.
Connections
On July 24, 1845 Day married Emily Spalding, daughter of his old principal, R. P. Spalding, and after her death, was married in April 1854 to Ellen Barnes. William Rufus Day was his son by his first wife.
References
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Born
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Died
March 8, 1885 (aged 71) -
Nationality
American -
Political Party
Republican