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OCCU Framer, Soft Drink Bottling Business
Leicester Day
1823-1897He was born in Vermont in 1823. When he was eleven years old he moved with his family to Ohio. He married Christine Curley Dec. 31, 1844. In 1855 he took his family and left Ohio and moved to Ellenboro, Grant Co., Wisconsin. He was a farmer.
In 1861 he enlisted in Co. F 7th Reg. Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry in McDowell's Construction Corps. He was at Gettysburg. He was underfire a number of times while constructing bridges and laying pontoons in most of the engagements from second Bull Run to Petersburg. He helped carry General Reynolds off the field when Reynolds was killed by Rebel sharpshooters at Gettysburg. In the advance of General Grant's army, he was at the front laying bridges for the artillery.
He was mustered out near the Weldon Railroad below Petersburg onSept. 3, 1864. His discharge papers describe him as 5' 6" tall, darkcomplexion and blue eyes. When he applied for a pension in 1889 he was described as 5' 6" tall, light complexion and hazel eyes.
He moved his family to Kansas and located on a farm near Burrton onJune 30, 1871. The farm was located in section 20. The nearest housewas four miles away. They had to haul supplies from Peabody which wasthe end of the railroad at that time. They lived for quite a time in his wagon until he got a home built
His place was on a direct route between Newton, where the railroadwas just completed, and Hutchinson which was just being settled. Hekept a stage station called the Half-Way House which was intermediatebetween Hutchinson and Newton. His stage station was a popular place andhe had as many as 38 teams there overnight. His property narrowlyescaped being burned out by a prairie fire which destroyed a great dealof property in that area. He was a carpenter and when the town ofBurrton was laid out he erected a number of the buidings. He served onthe school board in Wisconsin for two terms. He was the secondtreasurer of Burrton Township. He also participated in founding thefirst school in Burrton.
He and his wife, Christine Curley Day, had eight children; MelvinaAnn. Elmina, Catherine, George Riley, Pluma Jane, William, Hannah Ida,and Giles Leicester.
Christine Curley Day #5-8
1823-1901Christine Curley was born in Sparta, New York. She moved with her family to Ohio where she married Leicester Day on December 31, 1844.They were married in Johnstown, Trumbull Co., Ohio. She and her husband later moved to Burrton, Kansas, where they were among the early settlers.
The town of Burrton had 255 residents at the time of it'sincorporation and there were no Doctors. However, Christine Curley Dayacted as midwife and general practitioner for all the settlers. It was said that she was one of the most valuable members of the community. One account reports that a resident who had acute indigestion was cured in 15 minutes by Mrs. Day's medicine.
Christine Curley Day was also responsible for the cooking at their Stage Station.. One traveler, after finishing lunch, commented on the delicious odor coming from the oven. He asked Mrs Day what it was and she told him it was a wild goose. He said, "Well, I'll be coming back for supper. Save some of the goose for me." That evening shere luctantly had to tell him that it was a skunk she was rendering for the oil she needed for some of her medicines.
Christine Curley Day was apparently an unusual person in other respects as well. One picture of her -probably taken when she was in herlate 40's-shows her wearing large hoop earrings. I don't recall seeingany other pictures of women in that time period wearing large hoop earrings. Also, the tombstone for Leicester and Christine is a bitun usual. It is set at a 45 degree angle to the alignment of other tombstones in the Burrton Cemetery. Since Christine died a few years after Leicester, she must have been responsible for this unusual alignment. Perhaps all these things were a calculated effort to contribute to the aura of the Burrton "Medicine Woman."