Joseph H. Day, an enterprising and successful farmer and stockman, residing on his estate of two hundred and forty acres, four miles north from Morrow, has also achieved success in the work of the educator and is one of the substantial and influential men of this section.
Joseph H. Day was born in Washington County, Oregon, on October 5, 1864, being the son of George C. and Sarah J. (Painter) Day. The father, a farmer and stockman, was born in Ohio, crossed the plains in 1850 with ox teams and settled in Oregon City. He put the first boat on the river above the falls, then farmed and taught school and in the sixties was sent to the legislature. He was a strong and influential Republican and did much to mould affairs in early days. He was also active in the Indian troubles in the fifties. The mother of our subject was born in Missouri and crossed the plains in 1851, with her parents. Her grandfather, Robert Moore, crossed the plains in 1838 and started the town of Linn City across the Willamette from Oregon City, which was later washed away. W. C. Painter figured prominently in the Indian wars. Joseph C. Painter and two brothers were members of the Washington legislature.
Our subject grew to manhood in his native place and was educated in the common schools and Business College in Portland. Then he taught two years and removed to Kittitas County, Washington, where he taught four years, after which he went to Walla Walla, Whitman and other counties and worked with engineering corps fur the Northern Pacific. In 1896 Mr. Day came to his present place and since that time has been engaged in farming and raising stock. He was nominated by the Democrats for County surveyor in 1898 but suffered the defeat of the party that year.
On October 7, 1888, in Ellensburg, Washington, Mr. Day married Miss Orlena, daughter of Casper B. and Elizabeth A. (Enochs) Fetters. The father was an artist as well as a farmer, and died in 1898. One of his wood engravings among others attracted considerable attention in the World’s Fair in Chicago. The mother was born in Illinois and still lives in Ellensburg. Washington. Mrs. Day was born in Illinois in 1869, and has five brothers and two sisters, Carl B., Horatio, Freeman, Estella Elliott, Flora Dyer, Joseph, Ernest. Mr. Day has the following brothers and sisters, William R., Margaret Barstow, Jessie M. Adams, George P., Robert, Anna Andrews, Grace Schuster, Josephine Ford, John, Benjamin, Chester, Walter, Francis E. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Day, Jean, George C, John and Lydia M.
Mr. Day is a member of the I. O. O. F. at Moscow, and the A. O. U. W. at Ilo.
Back to: Nez Perce Biographies
Source: An Illustrated History of Northern Idaho, Embracing Nez Perce, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone Counties, Western Historical Publishing Company, 1903