| Notes |
- From the History Monona County:
Franklin Augustus Day was bone July 9, 1809. in Kennebec County, Me. At the district school, the academies of Monmouth and Hallowell and the Wesleyan Seminary at Readfield, he gained an excellent practical education. He started out in life for himself at the age of eighteen by working on his uncle’s farm for $8 per month and board. Investing his wages in a watch and clothing he taught a district school the following winter. He continued to teach for three winters and one summer, a part of the time at the large town school.
In 1831 Mr. Day went into a general store in company with Laban Lincoln, at Hallowell, remaining about five years. During the next two years he was a member of the firm of Day & Jackson. The following year was spent in North Carolina, where he learned to detest that ‘‘peculiar institution” which John Wesley pronounced "the sum of all villainies.” Returning to Hallowell he went into the mercantile business again. Two years later his brother, Francis J., became a member of the firm, assisting him to carry on the business about eight years. During all these ten years F. A. Day served as Collector and Treasurer of the old town of Hallowell, having been elected to that office in 1845. After living one year at Middlefield, Conn., and one year at Perth Amboy, N. J., he moved with all his family to Monona County, in 1855.
F. A. Day married Miss Harriet Proctor Squire, who was born in Somerset County, Me., March 31, 1809, and who died in Monona County, January 28, 1876, having been the mother of four children, of which the following is a record :Franklin Augustus Lincoln was born July 1, 1832; Joseph Bowles Proctor, May 31, 1834; Francis Jerome Preston, June 28, 1836; and Harriet Elizabeth Consuelo, July 9, 1841. These four children all became school teachers, are all married, all are now living' in Monona County, and there are twelve grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Shortly after coming to this county our subject lost the greater part of his property by going surety for a friend. He fitted out at St. Charles, Ill., and came through with six oxen and a span of horses, camping on the Little Sioux River, in December of the coldest winter ever known in Iowa.
He bravely and energetically bore the hardships and privations of pioneer life. He was elected a member of the County Board of Supervisors for a number of years, and by his honest labors earned the gratitude of the people, and served as Postmaster at Areola, and also at his store in old Castana.
His occupations were various until 1878, when he became a member of the widely known mercantile firm of F. A. Day & Co. Five years later he sold out to Wm. T. Day & Co., and since then has been leading a retired life, aiming only to settle up his past business affairs.
Although our subject is the son of a Baptist deacon, he has never been a member of any church, or indeed of any society, secret or otherwise. Religiously he is, and has been, a persistent Free-Thinker. While of a domestic nature and habit, fond of games and amusements, he has opposed the use of intoxicating liquors and tobacco, and has never failed to bear testimony against saloons and all betting and gambling.
Mr. Day was a member of the old Whig party. His last vote as such was cast for Gen. W. II. Harrison, in 1840. From that time until 1856 he was a Garrisonian Abolitionist, and did no voting. There were twelve votes thrown in Kennebec Township on that year by himself and others, all of them for John C. Fremont. Since that eventful date he has been a warm and devoted Republican, taking a deep interest in the public affairs of both Nation, State and county.
Mr. Day has travelled the rough and thorny road of a wide experience, especially since coming to Monona County; his present position and success in life have been achieved by persistent hard knocks. Despite the fact that he has been a vehement advocate, a rough-and-ready controversialist, his opponents have not failed to give him credit for honesty, ability and sincerity. Kennebec Township, or in fact Monona County, contains but few citizens who are more widely known or more respected and esteemed than the gentleman of whom this annal is written.
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The Stanwood Family
1809 - 1890 (81 years)
[1, 2] 
