1129 - Day, Mahlon. Papers, 1787-1936.
Not all letters are indexed below; those selected were chosen on the basis of author and/or content.
Mahlon Day was a publisher of children's books, the greatest number relating to general knowledge, but also many moral tales. He was an active Friend, attending Meeting, serving as clerk of New York Yearly Meeting. His interests led him to serve as trustee of African Free Schools, on an Indian Committee, and as manager of the New York Institution for the Blind, among other activities.
Mahlon, born in 1790, was the son of Samuel and Nancy Day and brother of Stephen Munson, Samuel, Jr., Susan, Phoebe, Abraham, Jared, Jehiel, Ira and Nancy, Jr. In 1815, he married Mary Kerr. Their children were Mary Jr., Sarah, Anna, Susan, Edward and Jane. This latter Jane married William Thurston; thus the small collection of Thurston letters, documents and photographs among these papers.
In 1854, when Mahlon Day, his wife, Mary, and daughter, Susan, were returning from England, their ship, the "Arctic" was rammed by another boat. The "Arctic" sank, taking the 3 Days with it. There are letters of sympathy, primarily to the Day children.
The Mahlon Day Papers include his journals documenting his trip in 1839 and 1840 to the West Indies, centering on his spiritual trip with English Quaker Joseph John Gurney. There are also his letters which touch on a range of topics from religious to political to business and family. In addition, there are letters of Mary K. Day, letters and commonplace book of Susan B. Day and letters and journals documenting trips to Europe of Anna B. Day. There are also letters and notebooks of Thurston family members, especially William Thurston, Jr. There are photographs (including daguerreotypes), drawings and silhouettes of Days and Thurstons; drawings, including two by Joseph John Gurney and Amelia Mott Gummere. There is further genealogical information on Days and Thurstons in box 4.
1. Newspaper articles re wreck of the "Arctic" to P.G.
2. newspaper clippings and pamphlet of the Women's Prison Association, 1855 to P.G.
3. Obituaries of Joseph John Gurney; genealogical chart of Gurney family to P.G.
4. To Quaker Collection: 4
5. 2 colored flower drawings by Jane R. Day to 988 A-R
6. Large engravings of Joseph John Gurney and Elizabeth Gurney Fry to 989A-R
Purchased from Jeanne Dautrich, January, 1979.
[voyage from New York]
[St. Croix; copies of Gurney's poems; drawings, accounts; St. Thomas]
[Tortola, meeting at which J.J. Gurney spoke; St. Christopher's; poems; meeting with "colored population"; visit to Moravian School for children of African descent; St. John's, plea for abolition, purchase by some "Negroes" of a sugar estate, copy of letter to Elizabeth Fry, other meetings reported; Danish Islands' black population not freed, only English]
[St. Croix, Jamaica, preaching by J.J. Gurney; anti-slavery society resolutions; St. Amis Bay; Falmouth; Montego Bay, etc.]
[At sea]
[Havana, witnessed condition of slave quarters and markets at which they are purchased; Savannah.]
[Savannah; Charleston; Washington. Went to House of Representatives, met with Rep. Holmes, heard speeches in the Senate, including J.Q. Adams. Introduced to John C. Calhoun and discussed, with J.J. Gurney, the question of slavery, emancipation and its success in the West Indies. Met also with Henry Clay, President Van Buren, James Monroe and others. Travelling north, stopped at Burlington and were met by Stephen Grellet
[an incomplete summary of the above journals, lacking the return trip and visit to Washington]
[opinions on slavery based on trip to the West Indies.]
[mind occupied with business and extra military duty; feels he must serve his country; many people fleeing into countryside for fear of invasion.]
[would like to take vacation when his business (a newspaper) is partially suspended; asks her opinion of his marrying someone.]
[has attended Book Sellers' Trade Sale]
[disease (cholera) spreading causing people to flee the city, but family is healthy and are staying.]
[has been on vacation and was introduced to Pres. Jackson.]
[big fire along the Delaware River has left great destruction.]
[mentions recalcitrance of Elisha Bates in withdrawing from Society of Friends.]
[about to start on his trip to the West Indies with Joseph John Gurney.]
[has arrived at St. Croix; has forwarded his journal home; has seen sugar cane and gangs of slaves; slavery not so hard & oppressive as in other parts of the West Indies]
[emancipation of slaves in all English colonies has resulted in very good working conditions.]
[on a trip, is displeased with the city of Toronto, but enjoyed Niagara Falls.]
[the business partnership Baker, Crane & Day, has been dissolved and his son, Edward, is out of business.]
[on a trip to Cumberland which reminds him of Jerusalem; then on west to Ohio.]
[tells of arduous journey through Ohio; discusses rents of Pearl St., (N.Y.), property.]
[Friends at Meeting in Indiana very much united.]
[is keeping a journal of their trip.]
[voyage from N.Y. to Liverpool on the steamer, "Atlantic", including sighting of an ice berg.]
[travelling through Dublin and Wales; Irish Friends.]
[Dublin Yearly Meeting, people and sights.]
[met with Eli and Sybil Jones in Manchester.]
[fascinated by sights of London; tea with Bevan Braithwaite who presented him with 2-vol. journal of J.J. Gurney; attended London Yearly Meeting; does not feel John Wilbur has made much impression on London Friends.]
[letter concerning business matters.]
[in London Yearly Meeting, Joseph Sturge and Henry Pease talked about their visit to Russia and interview with the czar. John Bright also spoke.]
[2 weeks of London Yearly Meeting are over.]
[describes visit to the Crystal Palace (London); tells son about laying in provisions for the winter.]
[France hard up for fuel -- no coal, no wood; sights of Paris.]
[sights of Switzerland.]
[description of Heidelberg, Cologne, Brussels, etc.]
[business letter concerned with rents and stocks.]
[have returned to England), may take the steamer "Arctic" home, but are not yet sure.]
[will depart on the "Atlantic" on Sept. 29th destined for N.Y.]
[visited the graves of J.J. Gurney and Amelia Opie.]
[change of sailing dates means they will depart with the "Arctic".]
[touring Scotland.]
[sends extracts of letters with accounts of the decease of J.J. Gurney.]
[writing from Europe.]
[writing from Europe.]
[description of the meeting in England of Mahlon and Mary Day and Eli and Sybil Jones before the formers' fateful departure for America.]
[letters descriptive of the voyage to England on the "Arctic", travels about England and the continent and Meetings attended.] To family.
Also: Susan Day's commonplace book dated 1840.
[J(oseph?) Taylor has been with them and gone to Meetings.]
[sends drawing for Day coat-of-arms to be printed for bookplates.]
[description by one of Day daughters on May Day trip to Greenway.]
[is disturbed by the way in which he has talked about religion.]
[sorry they had so short a time to converse.]
[cannot attend Meeting, asks that Day send him and some others copies of "Remarks"].
[Days' visit to England discussed and sorrow at their loss.]
[has survived the earthquake in San Francisco, and reports some details of the disaster.]