Clinton Day

Clinton Day

Principal, Clinton Day, Surveyor and Draftsman, San Francisco, San Francisco County, California, 1871. In 1871, Day had an office at 601 California Street in San Francisco, California. He lived in Oakland at the time. (See The San Francisco directory for the year commencing April, 1871, p. 198.)

Principal, Clinton Day, Architect, Oakland, Alameda County, California, c. 1877. Day had his office at 12th Street and Broadway in Oakland in 1877. (See Business Directory of San Francisco and Principal Towns of California and Nevada, 1877, p. 53.)

Principal, Clinton Day, Architect, San Francisco, California, c. 1883. In 1883, Day maintained his office in the building at 310 Pine Street. A number of architectural firms were located nearby in that year, including those of Seth Babson (318 Pine), George Bordwell (318 Pine), William Curlett (330 Pine), B. McDougall and Son (330 Pine), W.P. Moore (330 Pine). John C. Pelton, Jr., (330 Pine), Percy and Hamilton (318 Pine), and William F. Smith (318 Pine). (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1883, p. 1106.)

A notice of his death in the Journal of the American Institute of Architects said of him: "Mr. Day was identified with many important architectural undertakings in California and his good fellowship, sympathetic kindness and high principles had made him widely beloved.” (See “Clinton Day,” Journal of the American Institute of Architects, vol. IV, no. 3, 03/1916, p. 121.)

Professional Activities

Day was admitted to the American Institute of Architects, (AIA), 1902.

In 1902, Day furnished the National Headquarters of the American Institute of Architects, Washington, DC.

Professional Awards

Honorary LL.D., University of California, Berkeley, (UCB), Berkeley, California, 1910. (See “Clinton Day,” Journal of the American Institute of Architects, vol. IV, no. 3, 03/1916, p. 121.)

Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA), 1912.

Education

College: College of California, Berkeley (UCB), Berkeley, California,1866
Graduate, College of California, Berkeley (UCB), Berkeley, California, 1868.

Clinton Day was born in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, one of six children in a socially prominent family. He was a great-grandson (via his grandmother, Martha Prescott Day Sherman) of Roger Sherman, (1721-1793), a Massachusetts born lawyer who became an important Connecticut politician. Roger Sherman was the only American to have signed the Continental Association, (1774) Declaration of Independence (1776), Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union (1777) and the US Constitution (1787).

Clinton Day was baptized on 06/06/1847 in the 2nd Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: Presbyterian Historical Society; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1907; Book Title: Register_Baptisms, Births 1822-1854; Accession Number: V F MI46 B79serb, accessed 04/10/2020.) From the birthplaces of this siblings, it can be seen that Clinton's parents, Elizabeth and Sherman Day, resided in several states before settling in Brooklyn by 1850, including Connecticut (c. 1836), Ohio (c. 1838), Pennsylvania (c. 1842) and New York (c. 1845).

In 1850, the Day household in Brooklyn had eight members, two parents and six children, and two domestic servants, Mary Callahan (born c. 1813 in Ireland) and Julia Mooney (born c. 1826 in Ireland). They resided in Ward #1 of Brooklyn as per the census. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: Year: 1850; Census Place: Brooklyn Ward 1, Kings County, New York; Roll: 517; Page: 32B, accessed 04/10/2020.)

He lived in Oakland, Alameda County, California, by at least 1865, and would make Oakland and later Berkeley his home for the remainder of this life. (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1865, p. 145.) He registered to vote in Oakland in 1867, his name listed underneath that of his father's. Presumably, the voting age in the state was 20 by this time. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 1; FHL Roll Number: 976446, accessed 04/13/2020.) Sherman was the only of his siblings still living at home with his parents when the 1870 US Census was taken in July of that year. They had a dwelling in Oakland, and a servant, Mary Dunning, (born c. 1835 in Ireland), living with them.(See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: Year: 1870; Census Place: Oakland, Alameda County, California; Roll: M593_68; Page: 187A; Family History Library Film: 545567)

Clinton worked in San Francisco in 1871, but resided in the San Francisco East Bay. He seems to have worked in Oakland again in 1877, before moving his practice back to San Francisco permanently by the 1880s. (See The San Francisco directory for the year commencing April, 1871, p. 198 and The Business Directory of San Francisco and Principal Towns of California and Nevada, 1877, p. 53.)

The Day Family remained at 2747 Bancroft Way in Berkeley, California, from at least 1900-1925. The Days lived next door to the noted physician, naturalist and University of California, Berkeley (UCB) Professor Joseph Le Conte (1823-1901). Le Conte, who served on the Board of Directors of the new Sierra Club between 1892 and 1898, died during a 1901 excursion in Yosemite. A polymath accomplished in optics, botany, natural history, biology and religion, Le Conte was also raised in GA, and retained outspoken views on the racial superiority of whites. His racist views came to light in the 2000s, and proved a difficult legacy for the Sierra Club, who previously had celebrated the professor's environmental activism and teaching accomplishments at the UCB. This location on Bancroft Way was situated nearby to the reisdences of many other UCB professors and professionals. In 1900, the Days employed two household servants, Jeu Sing (born c. 1860 in China) and Josephine Mongelas (born c. 1865 in France). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Berkely Ward 2, Alameda, California; Page: 17; Enumeration District: 0396; FHL microfilm: 1240083)

In 1910, their daughter Caroline, (born c. 1885 in CA) continued to live at home, as did a servant, Assunta Basetian, (born c. 1875 in Italy). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: Year: 1910; Census Place: Berkeley, Alameda, California; Roll: T624_72; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 0047; FHL microfilm: 1374085, accessed 04/10/2020.)

Day passed away in Alameda County, California, at the age of 68.

Parents

Clinton Day's grandfather, Jeremiah Day (1773-1867), was an educator, later becoming President of Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, between 1817-1846. Jeremiah's service to education would be continued by both his son and grandson in California.

Day's father, Sherman Day, (born 02/11/1806 in New Haven, Connecticut–d. 12/14/1884 in Berkeley, California), grew up in Connecticut and graduated from Yale College in 1826. He came to California in 1849, during the Gold Rush, working as a civil and mining engineer and surveyor for the State of California; before entering public service and politics. He was named California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction on 09/07/1853. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information: Graden, Debra, comp. California State Roster, 1911 Government and Military records [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. Original data: California Blue Book or State Roster 1911. Sacramento, California, USA: State Printing Office, 1911, accessed 04/13/2020.) He also served as a State Senator in Sacramento, California, during Sessions 6 and 7, between 1855 and 1858, representing Alameda and Santa Clara Counties. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information: Graden, Debra, comp.. California State Roster, 1899 Government and Military records [database on-line]. Provo, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001. Original data: California Blue Book or State Roster 1899, Sacramento, California, USA: State Printing Office, 1899 or 1900, accessed 04/13/2020.)

Day was an original Trustee (one of twelve) of the College of California chartered on 04/16/1860. In 1863, Rev. W.C. Anderson, (d. 1870), Pastor of the 1st Presbyterian Church of San Francisco (and President of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, between 1849 and 1855), served as President of the College of California's Board of Trustees (now expanded to 22 people) that also included the noted orator, Rev. Thomas Starr King (1824-1864). The private College of California became known as the "University of California, Berkeley," when it combined with the state-subsidized Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College between 1868-1870.

Working as a civil engineer in San Francisco, Sherman Day earned $6,200 in 1863, a significant sum, and paid a 5% tax ($310) that year. He had an office in Room #57 of San Francisco's Montgomery Block in 1865, and paid a special tax of $10 that year. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information: U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: Records of the Internal Revenue Service. Record Group 58. The National Archives at Washington, DC, accessed 04/13/2020.)

Day also served as the U.S. Surveyor General for California, between 1868 and 1871, for which he was paid $3,000 in 1869. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information: U.S., Register of Civil, Military, and Naval Service, 1863-1959 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of the Census. Official Register of the United States, Containing a List of the Officers and Employees in the Civil, Military, and Naval Service. Digitized books (77 volumes). Oregon State Library, Salem, Oregon, accessed 04/13/2020.)

Clinton Day's mother was Elizabeth Ann King, (born 07/13/1805 in Hartford, Connecticut d. 09/25/1873 in Oakland, California). She wed Sherman Day on 09/06/1832 in Westfield, Massachusetts. She and Sherman had six children: Harriet King Day, Palmer (born 1836 in Connecticut d. 1902), Roger Sherman Day, (born 1838 in Ohio d. 1898), Martha E. Day, (born 1842 in Pennsylvania d. 1851), Jane Olivia Day Palmer, (born 1844 in New York d. 1910), Clinton and Mary Day, (born 1848 in New York d. 1851).

Two of his sisters, Martha and Mary, died young in 1851.

Spouse

He wed Grace Wakefield (born in Massachusetts d. ) c. 1877. Her parents were Caroline Huldah Wakefield and Enoch Hemingway Wakefield.

After Clinton's death in 1916, Grace continued to reside in the family home at 2747 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, Californi, from at least 1917 until 1925. (See Polk-Husted Directory Company's Oakland, Alameda County, California, City Directory, 1917, p. 401 and Oakland, California, City Directory, 1925, p. 567.)

Children

Grace and Clinton had one daughter, Caroline Day, (born 08/1882 in California).

Biographical Notes

Architectural historian Richard Ellison Ritz in his biographical entry on Day, indicated that Day had been born in 1846. (See "Day, Clinton," Richard Ellison Ritz, Architects of Oregon, [Portland, Oregon: Lair Hill Publishing, 2002], p. 99-100.)

• Sherman Day Family Tree
• Noe Hill Architects - Clinton Day
• Clinton Day Wikipedia Page
• Clinton Day (Architect), Pacific Coast Architecture Database (PCAD)