Timeline

Thomas Day Website Timeline

1727: Dr. Thomas Stewart, Thomas Day’s maternal grandfather, is believed to have been born this year, likely to a Black father and white mother. He therefore lives his entire life as a free man and eventually as an enslaver.

1739: The Stono Rebellion begins about 20 miles southwest of Charleston, SC on September 9.  Click here for more information on the Stono Rebellion. 

1766:

  • Mourning Stewart Day, Dr. Thomas Stewart’s daughter, is believed to have been born this year as the fourth of fourteen children.
  • John Day Sr., Thomas Day’s father and a cabinetmaker himself, is believed to have been born this year.

1777: North Carolina officially bars free Blacks from testifying in court against whites:

"All negroes, Indians, mulattoes, and all persons of mixed blood, descended from negro and Indian ancestors, to the fourth generation inclusive (though one ancestor of each generation may have been a white person) whether bond or free, shall be deemed and taken to be incapable in law to be witnesses in any case whatsoever, except against each other."

For a full list of acts against rights of enslaved and free Black North Carolinians, click here.

1787: 39 of 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention sign the new U.S. Constitution on September 17. Article IV of the Constitution contains a fugitive slave clause:

“No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.”

This would not be nullified until passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865. 

For the text in the Constitution, click here.

1789:

  • Current U.S. government takes effect on March 9.
  • North Carolina entered the Union as the 12th state on November 21.

1793: The first Fugitive Slave Act, "An Act respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from the service of their masters”, is signed into law by George Washington on February 12 for the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Clause from the U.S. Constitution.

1795: NC Legislature passes law requiring free Blacks entering the state to enter bond for $200 for their good behavior upon coming into the state, with arrest, trial by jury, and sale at public auction awaiting those who fail to do so. This was apparently not enforced by whites and/or ignored by free Blacks as they gradually drifted into the state, particularly from Virginia. This was nevertheless North Carolina’s first attempt to prevent free Blacks from entering the state and restrict their movements on a statewide scale. For more information on this bond, click here. 

1796: The Town of Milton, Thomas Day’s longtime home, is incorporated.

1797: John Day Jr., Thomas Day’s brother, is born in Dinwiddie County, VA, likely in his grandfather’s home.

1800: A storm prevents the Gabriel Conspiracy from launching in Henrico County, VA on its planned date of August 30. Informants from its members lead to the conspiracy’s quick suppression. For more information on the Gabriel Conspiracy, click here. 

1801: Thomas Day is born in Dinwiddie County, VA, likely in his grandfather’s home.

1804: Dr. Thomas Stewart (Day’s maternal grandfather) promises freedom to 16 of the 27 enslaved people mentioned in the will drafted this year: 

"…my will and desire is that all my Negroe slaves not before willed or given away and named as follows: Frank, Joe, Judy, Dinah, Doll, Abby, Patty, Ellick, Burwel, little Jack, Harrison, Sally, Charlott [sic], Ben, little Judy and Old Milly be emancipated according to Act of Assembly directs and protected against the claim of all those who may in any wise claim under me....Item–my will and desire is that my execs should send the following boys to school two years each, whom I have emancipated in a preceeding clause of this my last will and then bound to some good trade…"

1807: The Day family moves to Sussex County, VA. Thomas Day and his older brother John Jr. are educated by a Baptist tutor next door. Both apprenticed as cabinetmakers under their father during their residence here.

1810: Dr. Thomas Stewart dies. His will granting freedom to 16 of his enslaved people “was presented and after hearing divers [sic] witnesses not admitted to record.”

1812: North Carolina bars free Blacks from serving in the state militia. View the legislation here.

1814: John Day Sr. loses the Sussex County farm.

1816: The American Colonization Society is formed this year. John Day Jr. would become a major part of the movement to colonize portions of west African and eventually help found modern day Liberia.

1817: John Day Sr. moves to North Carolina, leaving John Jr. and possibly also Thomas behind to work off his debt.

1818: Union Tavern is constructed in Milton, NC with Richard Ogleby as its likely first owner.

1820: The entire Day family is living in Warren County, NC by this date.

1821:

  • Thomas and John Jr. live in Nutbush near present day Bullocksville (Kerr’s Lake, NC). The area was in Warren County at the time but is now in Vance County.
  • Thomas and John Jr. move to Hillsborough, NC.
  • John Day Jr. studies to become a Baptist minister but is denied the right to become one.

1822: The Denmark Vesey Rebellion/Vesey Revolt is thwarted before it has a chance to begin in South Carolina. For more information about the Vesey Revolt, click here. 

1824: Thomas Day is living and working in Hillsborough at this time.

1826:

  • North Carolina passes legislation barring free Blacks from entering the state. Those entering the state who did not leave within 20 days faced a $500 fine or 10 years of “servitude.” Thomas Day will battle this legislation to allow his wife Aquilla Wilson to enter the state in 1830.
  • North Carolina also outlaws “idleness or dissipation” among free Black people if they are capable of working.

1827: Thomas Day has moved to Milton by this year. He purchases a property on Main St. (now Broad St.) for $550 to serve as his workshop.

1830:

  • Thomas Day marries Aquilla Wilson in Halifax County, VA on January 6. He petitions against North Carolina legislation barring free Blacks from entering the state. 61 neighbors of Caswell County (Romulus Mitchell Saunders among them) vouched for him to bring Aquilla over state lines. The North Carolina Legislature approves Aquilla’s entry into the state on December 23.

    ^The Western Carolinian, January 1831
  • Thomas Day owns two enslaved people at this time.
  • North Carolina makes it illegal to teach reading and writing to enslaved people on November 15.
  • North Carolina makes it illegal for free Blacks to leave the state for more than ninety days and then seek to reenter: 
  • "If any free negro or person of colour who may be a resident of this State, shall migrate from this State and go into any other State, and shall be absent for the space of ninety days or more, it shall not be lawful for such free negro or person of colour to return to this State."
  • Titled “An Act to Prevent the Circulation of Seditious Publications,” North Carolina’s first law banned bringing into the state any publication with the tendency to inspire revolution or resistance among enslaved or free Black people; a first violation of the law was punishable by whipping and one-year imprisonment, while those convicted of a second offense would “suffer death without benefit of clergy.” A free Black person would face a fine, imprisonment, or between 20 to 30 lashes; an enslaved Black person convicted of teaching other enslaved people to read or write would receive 39 lashes.
  • John Day Jr. moves to Liberia.

    ^ “North West Part of Montserrado County, Liberia: In Ten Square Miles” from Library of Congress, 19th century but otherwise undated. John Day Jr. did much of his missionary work in this region.

1831:

  • Nat Turner Revolt begins on August 21 in Southampton County, VA, about 20 miles from the North Carolina state line. Turner, an enslaved preacher, is executed on November 11. North Carolina would pass several laws further restricting the rights of enslaved Blacks and free Blacks such as the Day family. For more info on the revolt and NC, click here. 
  • North Carolina outlaws free Black people marrying enslaved Black people:

"It shall not be lawful for any free negro or free person of colour to intermarry or cohabit and live together as man and wife with any slave; and any free negro or person of colour so intermarrying or cohabiting and living as man and wife with a slave, shall be liable to indictment, and upon conviction shall be fined and imprisoned or whipt at the discretin of the court; the whipping not to exceed thirty-nine lashes."

  • North Carolina outlaws free Black people from selling goods outside the county in which they lived without an annual court-issued license:

"It shall not be lawful for any free negro, mulatto, or free person of color, to hawk or peddle within the limits of any county in this State, without first obtaining a license from the court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of the county in which they propose to hawk or peddle; which license shall be granted for one year only, and only when seven or more justices are present, and upon satisfactory evidence of the good character of the applicant, to be approved by said court; and for issuing such license the clerk shall be entitled to demand and receive from such applicant the sum of eighty cents."

  • North Carolina outlaws free Black people from teaching or preaching in public: 
  • "It shall not be lawful under any pretence for any slave, or free person of colour to preach or exhort in public or in any manner to officiate as a preacher or teacher in any prayer meeting, or other association for worship where slaves of different families are collected together; and if any free person of colour shall be thereof duly convicted on indictment before any court having jurisdiction thereof, he shall, for each offence, receive, not exceeding thirty-nine lashes on his bare back; and where any slave shall be guilty of a violation of this act, he shall, on conviction before a single magistrate, receive not exceeding thirty-nine lashes on his bare back."

1832:

  • John Day Sr. dies, still in ownership of a functioning cabinet shop.
  • Union Tavern is advertised as a boarding house owned by N.J. Palmer and Charles L. Cooley.

1833: Devereaux Day is born as the first child of Thomas and Aquilla.

1835:

  • Thomas and Aquilla Day’s other children Thomas Jr. and Mary Ann are born. It is unknown if the two are twins.
  • Thomas Day attends a Colored People’s Convention in Philadelphia in June. He likely stayed with other Black abolitionists. 
    For more information on Thomas Day’s visit, click here.
    For more Colored Conventions documents, click here.
  • Thomas Day and all other free Black North Carolinian men lose their right to vote after North Carolina’s 1835 Constitutional Convention: 
  • “No free negro, free mulatto, or free person of mixed blood, descended from negro ancestors to the fourth generation inclusive, (though one ancestor of each generation may have been a white person,) shall vote for members of the Senate or House of Commons.”

To view the full journal of the convention and full text of the1835 Constitution, click here.

1837:

  • Thomas Day builds the walnut pews for Milton Presbyterian Church on the condition that he and his family may sit in front of the sanctuary as part of the main congregation. Accounts vary on whether he included his enslaved people in this agreement.

1841: Thomas Day officially joins Milton Presbyterian Church by April 22 of this year.

1844: North Carolina revokes the right of free Black people to sell spirituous liquors.

1846: Dred Scott v. Sanford begins when Dred and Harriet Scott, an enslaved couple, sue for their freedom in St. Louis Circuit Court. The legal battle would last 11 years and resolve against them on March 6. The ruling stated that enslaved people were not U.S. citizens and therefore received no protection from the federal government or the courts. It also stated that Congress did not have the authority to ban slavery from a federal territory. 

For more information on Dred Scott v. Sanford, click here. 

1847:

  • John Day Jr. is among the signers of Liberia’s Declaration of Independence on July 26.
  • Thomas Day wins the bid to build shelves and furniture for UNC in November. Read the letters between Day and UNC President David Swain by clicking here.

1848:

  • Thomas Day purchases Union Tavern from Samuel Watkins and converts it into his residence and workshop.
  • Thomas Day continues to work with UNC, now working with the Dialectic and Philanthropic Society to produce cushions, drapes, and blinds in addition to the furniture he previously built. Access the Philanthropic Society UNC Records (search for Thomas Day) by clicking here. 

1849: Mary Ann and Thomas Day Jr. begin attending Wesleyan (Wilbraham & Monson) Academy and are there until 1852.

1850:

  • Thomas Day has the largest cabinet shop in North Carolina by this point. He is listed as owning 14 enslaved people in this year’s census records.
  • Devereaux Day begins attending Wesleyan (Wilbraham) Academy.
  • Five congressional bills that would make up the Compromise of 1850 are passed. This includes the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 (a strengthened version of the original 1793 law) which requires authorities of all levels to arrest fugitive enslaved people, even in northern states. For more incormation on the Compromise of 1850, click here. 

1852:

  • The last documented mention of Devereaux Day is his name listed among the student body of Wesleyan Academy (now Wilbraham Academy) this year.
  • Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin is published on March 20.

1854:

  • Lincoln University, the first degree granting Historically Black College & University (HBCU) in the U.S., is chartered as the Ashmun Institute in Pennsylvania on April 29. For more information on Lincoln University, click here. 
  • North Carolina revokes formerly enslaved Black people’s right to remain in the state upon attaining their freedom: 
  • "Any emancipation, granted to any slave or slaves, as herein directed, shall be upon the express condition that he, she or they will leave the State within ninety days from the granting thereof, and never will return within the State afterwards."

1857:

  • The New York City branch of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company fails on August 24, triggering the financial Panic of 1857, one of the most severe economic crises in U.S. history. This is compounded by the sinking of the S.S. Central America, which carried multiple tons of gold. More information on the S.S. Central America, click here or here.

    Thomas Day’s own fortunes are profoundly affected by the panic.


    ^Harper’s Weekly illustration of a bank run during Panic of 1857, image from National Park Service.

1858:

  • Thomas Day declares insolvency/bankruptcy with R.G. Dunn & Co. of Boston. He sells most of his assets at auction including six enslaved people.
  • Thomas Day Jr. marries Mary Virginia Washington on April 21 in Washington D.C.

1859:

  • The Day family bible states that Thomas Day dies this year at the age of 59. However, Day appears in the census the following year. The author of the bible entry may have confused Thomas Day with his brother John Day Jr. who died of heart issues on February 15 of this year.

1860:

  • Thomas Day is one of only eight free black people who are listed in the 1860 census as owning slaves. He reportedly owns three enslaved people, two who are listed as in-residence, and one who is listed as fugitive.
  • Thomas Day Jr. sells all of his father’s property and equipment, and the debt is retired in 1864.
  • South Carolina secedes from the Union on December 20 in response to Abraham Lincoln’s election as President of the United States.

1861:

  • Thomas Day is believed to pass away this year.
  • The American Civil War, caused by sectional tensions regarding slavery and its spread, officially begins on April 12 at 4:30 a.m. While remaining the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history to date, it nevertheless sets in motion the final abolition of American slavery.

1862: John D. Day is likely born this year in January.

1863: The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect on January 1.

1864:

  • The first Emancipation Day celebrations in North Carolina take place in Beaufort, New Bern, and Plymouth this year. For articles featuring the first Emancipation Day celebrations, click here. 
  • Thomas Day Jr. stays in Union Tavern (which he had previously purchased along with his father’s business) until January of this year.
  • Annie Day, later Annie Day Shepard, is born, possibly in November.
  • Aquila Wilson Day transfers her church membership to a church in Wilmington, NC in October.

1865:

1867:

  • Mary Ann Day marries James Chresfield, a graduate of Lincoln University, on February 28.
  • Virginia Washington Day passes away this year.

1868: The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified on July 9, extending citizenship to all those born or naturalized in the United States. For more information on the 14th Amendment, click here. 

1870:

  • Thomas Day Jr. sells Union Tavern to the Raleigh Cooperative Land and Building Association on February 29.
  • Aquila Day is listed as living with Mary Ann and James Chresfield in Lexington, NC on the 1870 census.
  • Mary Ann and James Chresfield have a daughter named Mary and have started a church and school for recently free Blacks by this time.
  • Mary Ann Day Chresfield passes away.
  • The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified on February 3, extending voting rights to all men in the United States. For more information on the 15th Amendment, click here. 

1880: Thomas Day Jr., mother Aquilla, daughters Annie and Minnie, son John W. (John D.) and granddaughter Cordie W. are all seen on the Asheville census. Minnie is working as a house servant, and John as a cabinetmaker.

1883: Aquilla Wilson Day is not listed with her family in the Asheville city directory for this year, meaning she has likely passed by this point.

1886: Thomas Day Jr. marries Sarah Johnson in Guilford County.

1895: Thomas Day Jr. is murdered is Franklin, WA on September 28. At the time of his death, he had a $2,000 life insurance policy and 10 acres of land in Zillah, WA.

1910: The National Religious Training School and Chautauqua for the Colored Race, later North Carolina Central University, opens its doors on July 5. Its chief founder is listed as Dr. James E. Shepard, whose wife (and Thomas Day’s granddaughter) Annie Day Shepard provides considerable influence and assistance in establishing.

1918: John D. Day dies on December 7 of complications from Spanish Influenza.

1922: Thomas Day Sr.’s great grandson W.A. Robinson writes an article on Thomas Day in the Negro Journal.

1947: Annie Day Shepard dies on February 8.

1976: The Thomas Day House/Union Tavern is designated as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service.

1989: The Thomas Day House/Union Tavern building suffers a catastrophic fire. The next day efforts are already underway to restore the building.

2024: The Thomas Day House/Union Tavern becomes a State Historic Site under the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resource's Division of State Historic Sites and Properties.

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