DAY, John S. (1830-1894) and Ruth D. (1831-1892)

Originally from New York, John S. Day settled in Monterey, Michigan, in 1851 and became a Sabbatarian Adventist in 1856 together with his wife. Besides his work as a farmer, John Day served his township as justice of the peace and school inspector at various times, as well as being an active leader in his local church and beyond.1EGWLM 821.3

Ellen White regarded John Day highly, and there are several records of the Whites’ visiting the Day family while in Monterey. “His interest is in the truth and he considers nothing too dear to sacrifice for the truth,” she wrote in 1860. When Day hit a spiritual low in 1869, she entreated him to awaken to his precarious condition: “I wish to alarm you. I wish to arouse you to action. I wish to entreat of you to seek God while He invites you to come to Him that you may have life.”1EGWLM 821.4

See: Obituary: “John S. Day,” Review, Apr. 17, 1894, p. 255; obituary: “Ruth Day,” Review, Nov. 8, 1892, p. 703; Anonymous, History of Allegan and Barry Counties, Michigan: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Their Prominent Men and Pioneers (Philadelphia: D. W. Ensign & Co., 1880), p. 288; Ellen G. White, Ms 4, 1860 (Dec.); Ms 5, 1859 (various entries); Ms 6, 1859 (various entries); Ms 8, 1859 (various entries); Ms 9, 1862 (Nov.); Testimony for the Churches at Allegan and Monterey (Battle Creek, Mich.: Seventh-day Adventist Pub. Assn., 1869), pp. 10-15; 1860 U.S. Federal Census, “John S. Day,” Michigan, Allegan County, Monterey, p. 141.1EGWLM 821.5