Scope and Content Note
The papers of Hezron George Day span the years 1862 to 1984. The bulk of the material dates between 1862 and 1863, during which time Day served as a private in Vermont’s 16th Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. The papers are arranged alphabetically by material type.
The collection primarily focuses on Hezron George Day's service in the Union army during the Civil War and comprises weekly letters written by Day from various army encampments around Virginia and Maryland to his parents in Tyson Furnace, Vermont. Topics addressed in the correspondence include camp life, provisions, the regiment’s quarters, the surrounding area, weather, and opinions of the officers. Other subjects include Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Pennsylvania campaign, the Battle of Gettysburg, and 4th of July celebrations following the Union victory. Related to Day’s army service is a memoir dictated in 1928 describing his recollections of the Battle of Gettysburg.
These papers also contain documents related to other members of the Day family. Material includes a series of receipts recording payments made to George W. Day from the estate of Polly Leslie, photocopies of family photographs, and a letter from Hezron George Day’s daughter-in-law, Edith Robbins Day, describing her experiences at a camp in Richfield, Idaho in 1908, where her husband, Warren French Day, was running a dragline as the area’s irrigation system was developed. Several genealogical reports featuring Hezron and Jerusha Day’s children, especially George Calvin Day, who rose to the rank of rear admiral in the United States Navy, are also included in this collection.