SOL DAY Community

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 09: Biography – Community, Guests and Visitors
Sol Day (1882 – 1955)

SOL DAY Community
Member of the Pine Mountain Community 


TAGS: Sol Day, “Black” Sol Day, Solomon Day, land donors, miners, Nolan Cemetery, genealogy, family tree, Mary Sue (Susan) Day


Sol Day is remembered as one of the original donors of land* to Pine Mountain Settlement School and an acquaintance of several of the School’s earliest directors. (*This information is unverified. The source of the information is being determined.)

SOL DAY Community: Genealogy

Sol Day’s father, William B. Day, a Kentucky farmer, was born 29 October 1824 in Perry County, Kentucky, to John N. (Nathan) Day and Letitia Blair. On 31 December 1876, he married Mary (Polly) Ann Shell (born 05 February 1845), Sol’s mother. William died 14 May 1911 in Letcher County, Kentucky.

Born in March 1882*, Sol Day was one of William and Mary Ann’s four children, the others being Louisa, Josiah (Joseph), and Jasper. (*Sol Day’s estimated birth year varies from 1877 to 1882 in the U.S. censuses of 1910 through 1940.)

Louisa Day was born on 6 December 1879; married Bige Blevins on 23 February (or July?) 1900; died 01 May 1951. (Bige Blevins was born on 14 April 1878; died 15 December 1940.) Louisa and Bige had 7 children: Mary who married Lillie Williams; Jim; Boyd, who had 16 children, including 2 sets of twins and 1 set of triplets; Lawrence, who married Mary and was a conductor on a train that hauled logs; Ethel; Martha who never married; William (Will) who was born in 1901 and married Lucy Cornett in 1920.

Josiah (Joseph) Day was born on March 1882; married Nancy Browning on 19 December 1901. Both died in Laurel County, Kentucky. Josiah and Nancy had 9 children: Rebecca A. (born 1903), Henry (1905), Abner (1907), Floyd (1908), Kellis (22 October 1909; died September 1987), John D. (1911), Riley (1914), and Louisa (January 1916).

Jasper Day was born 15 July 1886 in Leslie County, Kentucky; worked on the railroad and as a miner and logger; married his first wife, Nancy A. Shepherd, on 20 June 1907 in Harlan, Kentucky. Nancy Shepherd was born about 1892 in Leslie County, Kentucky.

Jasper married his second wife, Delphia (or Delpha) Cress, on 12 April 1928. He died 9 November 1975 in Cumberland, Kentucky.

Jasper and his first wife, Nancy, had 8 children.

Three of Jasper’s children died very young: Ernest (born about 1909 in Lower Poor Fork, Harlan, Kentucky and died about 1911 in Harlan, Kentucky), Martha A. (born 13 March 1911 at Pine Mt.; died 05 November 1914 in Harlan, Kentucky), and George Washington Day (born 03 August 1921 in Harlan, Kentucky; died 06 April 1922 in Harlan, Kentucky.) Jasper and Nancy’s other children were:

Willard Day – Born 06 December 1912 in Harlan, Kentucky; married Sally Harris on 15 October 1937 in Harlan, Kentucky; died 25 December 1941 in Harlan, Kentucky.

Joe Sar (Josiah) – Born 11 April 1913 in Harlan, Kentucky; died 10 February 1966 in Orange County, CA.

Clara Day – Born 12 December 1915 in Harlan County, Kentucky. Clara was adopted through Pine Mountain Settlement School by Jim and Margaret Clark who lived on Withrow Road in Oxford, OH. She married Basil Ailes and had 3 children: Shirley, Sharon, and Richard.

Ella Day – Born in 1918.

Rachel – Born 08 March 1923 in Harlan, Kentucky. Rachel was adopted through Pine Mountain Settlement School by Jim and Ester Works of Michigan.

SOL DAY Community: Sol and Mary Sue Day

“Black” Sol Day and wife, Mary Sue (Blevins). [VI_51_friends_neighbors _1711_mod.jpg]

In 1902, on either February 1 or 4, Sol Day married Mary Sue (Susan) Blevins (born 1874 according to a genealogy from a family member). They had 12 children: Ethel, Coy, Elza, Delphia, Della, Alice, Lilly, Polly, Jane, William, Blanche, and Shirley. (*Mary Sue’s estimated birth year varies from 1880 to 1883 in the U.S. censuses from 1910 to 1940.)

Ethel Day married Brown Boggs in 1933. They had 5 children: Alice, Marie, Wilma, Virginia, Richard, and David.

Coy Day married Novilla and had 2 daughters, one named Dorothy. (The name of the other is not known.)

Elza Day married Ava Boggs and had 3 sons: Jerry, Wayne, and Elza.

Delphia Day married Steward Taylor and had 2 children: Glenna and Sol.

Henry Turner married his second wife, Della Day, in 1921. They had 12 children: Henry, Bobby, Stacy, Phillip, David, Loraine, Elsie, Alford, Ora, Elexine, Edna, and Mary.

Alice Day married Herbert Dilback and had 2 children: Berdine and Ralph.

Lilly (or Lillie) Day married Floyd Napier in 1925 and had 3 children: Sol, Nel, and Delphia.

Polly Day married Jeff Nance in 1925 and had 4 children: Earl, Clayburn, Betty Joe, and Barbara Jean.

Jane Day married Monroe Turner in 1927 and had 7 children: Ophie, May, Mary Lou, Bertha Sue, Opal, Walder, and Turner.

William Day married Willa Turner. They lived in Totz, Kentucky.

Blanche Day married Willard Williams in 1928 and had 3 children: Methis, Rita Mae, and Goldie Jean.

Shirley Day married Walter Webb and had 2 children: Ralph and Nell.

SOL DAY Community: Matt Boggs’ Recollections

Sol Day

“Black” Sol Day and family.[VI_51_friends_neighbors_1718_mod-300×300.jpg]

According to Debra Callahan’s interview with Matthew Boggs, (both longtime employees of Pine Mountain Settlement School),

Black Sol built the house where Asbel Browning lives now, just below PMSS going toward Big Laurel. Sol sold it to Matt’s uncle George and then George sold it to Asbel’s father, Marsh Browning. 

Sol’s wife’s name was Mary Sue and Matt remembers seeing her plowing a mule in the garden. They had a bunch of girls, one’s name was Delphia and another was married to Brown Boggs. Black Sol worked for Intermountain Coal and Lumber Co. and he dug house coal from a mine just above where he lived. Matt said that he himself had dug coal from there for his house coal.

Matt said Black Sol was baptized in a hole of water between Brownings Grocery and Nolan’s Store out on Laurel. 

According to the U.S. censuses from 1910 to 1940, Solomon and Mary Susan Day lived in Harlan, Kentucky, throughout those years. The 1910 and 1920 censuses record their location as Lower Poor Fork in Harlan.

**********

Sol (Solomon) Day died in 1955 and was buried in Nolan Cemetery near Pine Mountain, Kentucky, where most of his family was buried. He was 73 years old. Sol’s wife, Mary Sue, died in 1973. If Mary Sue’s birth date of 1874 is correct, she would have been 90 years old at her death.

Title

Sol Day

Alt. Title

Solomon Day

Identifier

SOL DAY

Creator

Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY

Alt. Creator

Ann Angel Eberhardt ; Helen Hayes Wykle ;

Subject Keyword

Sol Day ; Solomon Day ; Pine Mountain Settlement School ; Perry County, KY ; Letcher County, KY ; Laurel County, KY ; Leslie County, KY ; Harlan County, KY ; Cumberland, KY ; Lower Poor Fork, KY ; Orange County CA ; Oxford, OH ; Michigan ; miners ; loggers ; railroad ; Nolan Cemetery ; William B. Day, John Nathan Day, Letitia Blair Day ; Mary (Polly) Ann Shell Day ; Louisa Day Blevins ; Mary Sue Blevins Day ; Josiah (Joseph) Day ; Nancy Browning Day ; Jasper Day ; Nancy Shepherd Day ; Delphia (Delpha) Cress Day ; Bige Blevins ; Ethel Day Boggs ; Coy Day ; Elza Day ; Delphia Day Taylor ; Della Day Turner ; Alice Day Dilback ; Lilly (Lillie) Day Napier ; Polly Day Nance ; Jane Day Turner ; William Day ; Blanche Day Williams ; Shirley Day Webb ; Lucretha Day Scoch ; Pine Mountain, KY ; Totz, KY ; Notes from the Pine Mountain Settlement School ;

Subject LCSH

Day, Solomon, — 1882 – 1955.
Pine Mountain Settlement School (Pine Mountain, KY) — History.
Harlan County (Ky) — History.
Education — Kentucky — Harlan County.
Rural Schools — Kentucky — History.
Schools — Appalachian Region.

Date

2010-03-10

Publisher

Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY

Contributor

n/a

Type

Text ; image ;

Format

Original and copies of documents and correspondence in file folders in filing cabinet

Source

Series 09: Biography – Friends and Visitors at the Pine Mountain Settlement School.

Language

English

Relation

Is related to: Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections, Series 09: Biography – Friends and Visitors at the Pine Mountain Settlement School.

Coverage Temporal

1824 – 1973

Coverage Spatial

Pine Mountain, KY ; Perry County, KY ; Letcher County, KY ; Laurel County, KY ; Leslie County, KY ; Harlan County, KY ; Cumberland, KY ; Lower Poor Fork, KY ; Orange County, CA ; Oxford, OH ; Michigan ; Totz, KY ;

Rights

Any display, publication, or public use must credit the Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. Copyright retained by the creators of certain items in the collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Donor

n/a

Description

Core documents, correspondence, writings, and administrative papers created by or addressed to Solomon Day ; clippings, photographs, books by or about Solomon Day ;

Acquisition

n/d

Citation

“[Identification of Item],” [Collection Name] [Series Number, if applicable]. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY.

Processed By

Helen Hayes Wykle ; Ann Angel Eberhardt ;

Last Updated

2013-11-11 aae ; 2014-09-12 aae ; 2018-11-05 aae ;

Bibliography

Sources

Genealogy provided by Lucretha Day Scoch, family member. Archival material.

Harlan Co Kentucky Research. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kyharlan/research.html (accessed 2014-09-12). Internet resource.

“Kentucky Marriages, 1785-1979,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FW5W-M6K : accessed 14 Sep 2014), Soloman Day and Mary Susan Blevins, 01 Feb 1902; citing Harlan, Kentucky, reference Pg 227; FHL microfilm 1876465. Internet resource.

“Kentucky Marriages, 1785-1979,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FW5V-1X7 : accessed 14 Sep 2014), Solomon Day and Mary Susan Blevins, 04 Feb 1902; citing Harlan, Kentucky, reference pg 154 ln37; FHL microfilm 834238. Internet resource.

Memories provided by Matthew Boggs in interview with Debra Callahan, PMSS Operations Manager, 18 November 2013. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. Archival material.

“United States Census, 1940,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K7TW-5W9 : accessed 14 Sep 2014), Sol Day, Magisterial District 4, Harlan, Kentucky, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 48-33, sheet 9A, family 128, NARA digital publication of T627, roll 1314. Internet resource.

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