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David Floyd Day
and Lourania Smith
Lurania Smith Day
Grandma Day
See Article Below
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Lurania Smith Day and Husband David Floyd Day
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David Floyd
Day b 31 Mar 1875 d 2 Jul 1906 Hindman, Knott Co KY, buried
Francis - Day Cemetery, Located on Route 160 Litt Carr, Knott County Kentucky, s/o
William Henry Day and Marinda
Francis. David Floyd Day m. 21 Feb 1895 Knott Co KY to
Lourania Smith b 25 Jul 1876 (tombstone lists birth year as 1860)
d 10 Mar 1949 Hindman, Knott Co KY, buried
Francis - Day Cemetery, Located on Route 160 Litt Carr, Knott County Kentucky,
d/o
William Med Smith and Martha Ashley. Children of Lourania Smith and David Floyd Day;
 1. Lucindy
Day b 6 Sept 1893 m. Rev Willis Tolliver s/o
Melvin Burton Tolliver
and Arminda Baker. Rev Willis Tolliver was a Primitive Baptist Preacher
and lived and resided at Neon, Letcher Co KY. Children
of Lucinda "Lucindy" Day and Rev Willis Tolliver;
i. Eulah Tolliver m. M. A. Toth - live
in CA
ii. Hope Tolliver
iii. Carl Tolliver
iv. Lois Tolliver m. Male Hopkins
2. Mallie
Day b 5 Dec 1894 m. Benton Newland s/o Bud Newland and Jessie Everage. They
lived in Knott Co KY for many years and then moved to Texas. They have the
following children:
i. Rena Smith-Newland, m. Male Strong, divorced,
(Rena lives in California. She was a teacher for many years, having graduated at
Lees College at Jackson, KY. Children of Rena Smith Newland and Male Strong:
I. Wayne Strong
ii. Fred Newland m. Frances Taylor, d/o Hiram Taylor
and Cinda Francis. Child of Fred Newland and Frances Taylor;
I. Thomas Newland
iii. Virginia Newland
3. Shelley Day
(male) b 4 Mar 1896 (m. d/o Thomas Hall. )
4. Kelley Day
(male) b 25 Nov 1898 KY d Oct 1969 Phoenix, Maricopa Co AZ.
5. Cortez
Fernando Day b 20 May 1901 Hindman KY d 10 Jan 1977 Monterrey CA
m. 1 Jun
1926 to Angelia Queen Ballard b 15 Jul 1902 Buncombe Co NC d 13 Jul 1984 Calhoun Co MI. Children
of Cortez Fernanco Day and Angelia Queen Ballard;
i. Richard Cortez Day
b 1927 m. 1959 Jackson Co MI to Bonnie Schwinnen b 1932 d 1989. Richard m. 15
Jul 1985 to 2nd Jaynce Nieman.
ii.
Wayne Borden Day b 1930 m. Japan to Sumire Watanabe. Wayne m. 2nd Lesley Caryn Klionsky.
iii. Kenneth Gordon Day
b 1932 m. Clare Thurn d 1 Aug 1994 Marin Co CA. Kenneth m. 2nd Nancy Raines.
iv. Edward
"Ed" Dale Day
b 29 Jul 1933, m. 26 Jun 1954 Jackson Co MI to Rosemary Murphy b 1935.
v. Janice Queen Day
b 1939 d 18 Jun 2000 Knott Co KY m. Robert Wilkenson b 1938. Janice m. 2nd Edward Garcia
b
1932. Janice m. 3rd Allen Damron b 1934.
6. William Henry Day
b 8 Sept 1903 KY d 9 Feb 1953 KY of a heart attack at Brinkley Post Office, KY, m. 21 Nov 1925 to Herma Garret b 23 Mar 1908 d 9 Mar 1968 Lexington KY. Children
of William Henry Day and Herma Garret;
i. Robert Day
b 1925 d 13 Jun 1988 m. Easter May b 1930.
ii. Benjamin Day
b 1927 d 22 Aug 1975 Knott Co KY m. Maude Hall b 1934.
iii. Jack Day
b 1931 d Dec 1981 Broward Co FL.
iv. William Cortez Day
b 1937.
v.
James A Day b 1940 d 10 Jul 1990 Fayette Co KY.
vi.
Douglas Brownloe Day b 1945
vii. Crit Day
viii. Willis Day
ix. Lawrence Day
x. Elmer Day US Army
xi. Janice Day
7. Carl Day
b 25 Feb 1905 KY d Oct 1986 Cooper Co MO, m. Ruia Conley.
From a 1949 Article on Pages 28 and 29 of the Grit Publication
Grandma Day Photo and Article Submitted
by J B Francis for Ed Day
In this understanding account of the life of Grandma Day who passed away March 10,
1949, Mrs. Caler, long a teacher at our school in Brinkley, Ky., describes this mountain matriarch
who typified
"The Strength of the Hills"
By Alva
Caler
"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my
help." -
Grandma Day
Luraine Day, known to all the Delta girls as "Grandma Day" was born on July 25, 1861 and
died on March 10, 1949. She would b 80 years old on her next birthday. Her eldest son,
Shelley, was nine years old when his father died, and Carl, the youngest, was only one
year old.
When her husband died, Grandma Day was left with seven children, two girls and five boys,
and debts amounting to nine hundred dollars. Things looked so hopeless that some of her
friends urged her to forget her debts and not try to pay them, but she would not listen to
such advice. She worked hard and paid off her debts.
Bill, her son, has lived with his mother all of his life. He says that he does not believe
that any woman in Kentucky has done more hard work than his mother has. After her husband
died she would break up the corn ground, lay it off, plant it with a corn planter, and
cultivate it. She would always make enough corn to furnish bread for the family, feed
their horses, cattle, sheep, hogs and chickens, and sometimes have corn to sell. She would
hitch the team to the wagon and haul wood, corn, go several miles to market, and do what
other wagoning had to be done about the farm.
Grandma Day did a good deal of carding, spinning and weaving. She raised the sheep,
carded, spun, and wove the cloth to make the first suit of clothes that her eldest son
ever wore.
Grandma Day was house mother at the dormitory at Caney Creek Community Center more than
twenty-five years ago. She was the "Mother" and chief character in Lucy Furman's story,
"Mothering on Perilous." Her youngest son, Carl, lived with Miss Furman in her cottage at
the Hindman Settlement School while he was a student there.
Grandma Day, when she was able, visited the sick almost all over Knott County.
Sometimes
she would visit a sick neighbor or relative and nurse them for days or even weeks at a
time. Bill thinks that she has done more of that kind of service than anyone else in the
county. He says that if she had been up and able to be about during the last years of her
life, that her neighbors would have missed her as much as her own family. She had been in
bed for fourteen years. Most people who visited her remarked about her cheerfulness, and
how little attention she required.
Grandma Day's eldest son lives near Lexington, Ky. Kelley, the second one, lives in
Phoenix, Ariz., where he runs a theatre. The third son, Cortez, is an electrical engineer
in Jackson, Mich. Bill, the fourth, lives on the farm at the old Day home adjoining the
Delta Theta Tau School farm, where he took care of his mother until her death. Carl, the
youngest son, is employed by the Federal Government, teaching vocational agriculture in
Missouri. One of her daughters, Mallie, lives in Texas, and the other, Cindy, lives in
Neon, Ky. All of the children were at home for the funeral except her daughter Mallie who
lives in Texas, and was too ill.
Floyd Day, one of the first grandchildren, was raised by Grandma Day after she had reared
her own family. Floyd's mother died when he was an infant of only three months. Floyd was
one of the first students of Delta Theta Tau High School.
The Delta Theta Tau School School was originally on the Day farm. Grandma Day deed the
ground for the school, to be used as long as it was desired for that purpose. It went back
to the Day farm when the Sorority purchased the present site, and built the school on it.
The old school building was remodeled for a residence, and Grandma Day has been living
with Bill and his family in it for several years. She was on hand with a basket of food at
the dedication of the new school building in 1928.
(Editor's note: All the Deltas who visited the school remember the help, tempered by
knowledge and wisdom of her people, that Grandma Day gave, especially at the beginning of
our educational program in the mountains.)
Grandma Day seemed a part of our project," wrote Helen Baird Arnold, one of our earliest
philanthropic secretaries when she heard of the old lady's passing. "You just didn't think
of going to the school without a visit on down the trail to see Grandma.
"When we were trying to decide just where to build the new school and we agreed on the
location upon the hill, she said, 'That will be fine. It is a place we should always look
up to for we are so proud of Delta Theta Tau.'
"On another visit she was quite ill but said 'I am going to get well. I am going to live
to see many changes around here.' When Helen answered that we needed her help to see this
through she laughed and said, 'It wouldn't be decent to die now with so much to do. Now
don't you go back and tell the women I'm going to die.'
"Shaking her hand in parting it seemed all the strength she had was in that hand, but you
knew she would keep her word. This was Grandma Day," explained Helen.
Many of our Deltas remember the buttermilk biscuits and home made apple butter Grandma Day
brought to the school dedication in 1931. Only last summer, following the Cincinnati
convention, many of our Deltas visited her.
"Tell the women I am very sorry," Grandma told Pat Thayer when she went to see the old
lady this past Christmas, taking the customary annual gift, an outing flannel nightgown.
In the mountain verbage, "sorry" means "ill." She was yet talking about the visits the
girls had made last summer.
As long as Grandma Day was able to walk she made regular visits to the school cottage.
After she became an invalid, Bill moved to the Blue Grass, near Lexington, where they
stayed for almost a year. She was never satisfied there where neighbors do not visit as
they do in the mountains. She insisted on being brought back. The only other time that she
ever left the mountains was about twenty years ago, when she visited her son, Cortez, who
lived in Covington.
Besides the seven children who are all still living, Grandma Day has thirty-six
grandchildren and twenty-two great grandchildren. Several grandchildren and
great-grandchildren are attending Delta Theta Tau School now.
Grit for Summer, 1949
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