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DITUS DAY, FARMINGTON. 
The subject of this sketch, whose portrait was given in the Sep- 
tember Horticulturist, was born in Wilbraham, Mass., Oct. 10, 1817, 
making his present age seventy-eight years. He comes from good 
old Puritan stock, his first ancestor in this country, Robert Day, 
having come across the ocean in the bark Elizabeth from Ipswich, 
England, in April, 1634,and settled in Cambridge, Mass. From this 
ancestor Mr, Day is in the eighth generation. 
His parents started for the then undeveloped West in the winter fol- 
lowing his birth, travelling by ox team for forty-two days,and settled 
in Portage county, Ohio, where his earlier years were spent. In1836 
he was engaged in teaching in his neighborhood, which pursuit he 
followed successfully until he came to Minnesota. 
Mr. Day came to Minnesota in the fall of 1855 and purchased the 
claim in Farmington, Dakota county, on which he now resides. The 
spring following, on his return from a visit to his old home, he 
brought back a quantity of seeds, cuttings, etc., which he planted, 
and the same spring boughta few seedling apple trees, one of which 
bore a few apples about 1862. He has always been very much inter- 
ested in horticulture from that time to the present, and is strong in 
the faith that Minnesota can and will raise as good fruit as can be 
found anywhere. He is especially interested in the State Horticul- 
tural Society, in which he has been an earnest working member 
since 1868. He says that “he feels proud of it, and intends to retain 
his membership and attend its meetings as long as the infirmities 
of age will permit.” Mr. Day has been treasurer of the society fora 
good many years, until the date of the last summer meeting, when 
he deemed it best not tocontinue the responsibilities of the office 
longer. His resignation was accepted with sincere regret on the 
part of his co-laborers in the work. 
Mr. Day has been twice married. His first wife, Cordelia Bissell, 
to whom he was married August 26, 1840, died December 19, 1844. He 
was married again August 16, 1849, to Clarissa Harris, who survived 
until January 13, 1889. There are three sons and two daughters now 
living. 
An indication of the esteem and confidence bestowed upon Mr- 
Day in the neighborhood where he resides, is the fact that he has 
been elected town clerk there for thirty-four years consecutively: 
with the exception of two years at one time, and still retains that 
office. 
