For years I have pondered about my great great uncle George E Day. My interest began when reading a Family History written by a distant cousin in 1994 revealed that my uncle had been shot and killed while a night watchman at the Duluth Ore docks. His death was never solved.
The memory of this uncle never left me and when I returned to Duluth in 2010 and began to look newspaper articles on his death.
Uncle George died over 99 years ago in the early hours of October 26, 1928. First newspaper articles talked about murder than a few day later hinted at possible suicide. The more I read and thought about him I realized I had been tracing some of his steps. Several times a week I would eat at Mike's diner which happened to be on the first floor of the Western Hotel. Uncle George lived upstairs of where I ate my biscuits and gravy or my patty melt. Uncle George died roughly two blocks where I attend my Thursday night auctions.
Uncle George has been haunting my thoughts never far away. Why and how did this sweet man die. I look at his pictures and wish I had known him. Wish I had sat and listened to his stories. How I wish I my grandpa Bill had stories to tell me of his father and uncles. No family stories but now is the time to start sharing those stories. After years of looking for clues and stories of my ancestors it is time to start writing. I am 70 years old, my children and grandchildren probably do not want my note books of charts , I hope they will read the stories I will attempt to write while I can. . I will start with Uncle George's last day. How did this man end up dead down by the water front all alone. Was his death murder or did he finally decide he had enough and wanted to leave his family with all he had which was a few insurance policies.
Friday October 26th 1928 Duluth Minnesota News Tribune
George Day murdered in the early hours on the D.. M. & N Coal Dock
George Day, aged 59, night watchman at the D. M. & N coal docks, Twenty Ninth ave west and the bay front , was killed early this morning by bandits, who attempted to rob the tool house in the pant transformer building.
Day was either shot in left temple or clubbed to death with a large file in a desperate fight, which resulted in the apparent wounding of one of the bandits, who left blood trails over the dock. Two empty chambers in Day's gun gave evidence of his firing on the bandits in his attempt to drive them from the dock.
Evidence collected by the police indicates that Day surprised the bandits after they had broken the lock to the transformer shed and had removed a number of tools.
Blood trails over the dock indicate that the thugs made their escape in a boat, which evidently had been left by them at the end of the dock to be used in carrying away the tools.
Police Find Clues
Definite leads may result in arrests were announced by police with the finding of two caps evidently lost by the bandits during the fight with the watchman; part of the rope which was used to tie the getaway boat to the dock, a large heavy file and the right shoe of one of the bandits. The shoe covered with blood, was further indication police believe that Day succeeded in wounding on eof his assailants. The rope was cut, giving indication of a hasty getaway in the boat.
Authorities are combing the water front seeking a boat with blood stains and other indications that may assist in locating the killers.
In Early Hours
The murder to the watchman occurred some time between 3:30 and 4: 30 o'clock this morning. Day had pulled his Western Union patrol box at 3:30 o'clock, When he failed the make the 4:30 pull, Ray Murry, round man for the Western went to the dock and found Day's dead body lying near the transformer house.
Joseph Kreisel , another watchman at the docks, whose post of duty was in the vicinity of the office buildings heard nothing of the fight or shots. He was informed of the death of Day by Murry after the latter had investigated.
The murder and attempted robbery is believe by police to be the work of the same gang that robbed the tool house of the Elliott Packing company yesterday morning. That the gang consisted of two or more was evidenced by the signs left following the killing of Day.
Dr C F McComb county corner who investigated the murder this morning that he could not determine whether Day had been shot or clubbed to death. The body was taken to the Crawford mortuary pending an investigation. Dr McComb was of the opinion that an inquest would not be necessary.
The dead watchman had been employed on the coal docks as a watchman for ten years. He is survived by his wife and two daughters who make their home in St Paul, and one son Curtis N Day, employed as a crane man at the plant of the Minnesota Steel company in Morgan Park. For several years he made his home at the Western hotel West End.
George Everett Day was born the 27th of January 1869 in Rome New York to Dwight Henry and Betsey Ann Anderson, the Seventh of Eight children. George would out live five of his seven siblings. 1877 would bring extreme sadness and fear to the Day family. George 's brother Abram age 10 and sisters Emma age 14 and Nellie 15 all would die with in 3 days of each other of Scarlet Fever. The family would remain in Rome, New York until 1884 when the family would relocate in Malta , Minnesota in Big Stone County.
The move to western Minnesota would be a new adventure for the family and would include Dwight, wife Betsy plus sons William, George and James. Dwight and family are living in Malta, Minnesota In the 1885 Minnesota Territorial Census they are one of ? families. Included in those families are the Lockwoods.
George's older sister Anna and her husband Robert had left New York and settling in Renville county Minnesota. George's mother Betsey Anderson's family also made the move to Minnesota in Wabasha County. The Day family would live here in the state of Minnesota . The would live , love and die here in Minnesota and that is why my children we are in cold cold Minnesota to live love and probably die. But now back to uncle George and his story.
George is sixteen when they move to Malta, Big Stone county, Minnesota.
When he is 21 years old Selma Johnson has caught his his eye and they are married July 17,1892. By 1900 George has six children and is farming next to his older successful brother William Albert. Shortly later that year George and his family move to Mora, Minnesota. They have bought a farm and settled in. Within three years death comes to the family when daughter Edith passes away at the age of 9 of appendicitis. The next year brings some joy to the family. George is appointed as Sheriff .
Mora, Kanabec County, Minnesota paper Friday June 3rd 1904.
Sheriff Geo E Day
The above portrait is that of our fellow citizen, Geo E Day who was appointed sheriff of Kanabec county by the board of county commissioners at their last session to fill the vacancy by the resignation of Sheriff P R Gray.
Mr Day has been a resident of this county for a number of years during which time has proven himself to be an honest, industrious resident and a good citizen. He has taken a hold of the duties of the sheriff's office with an ambition to perform such duties in an able competent and trustworthy manner. The he will prove a good officer goes without saying. Mr Day will be a candidate for the republican nomination at the primary election this year.
The joy of being a temporary sheriff will not last long. Sadness and death will visit George Day's family within 11 months when son George Grover Day dies in April 1905 age 11 years. Within a few months Lloyd 1906, son Marion 1908, The year 1910 finds uncle George working in a hardware store as a salesman.
Within about 7 years George will move to Duluth and become a watchman on the ore docks. His wife Selma will remain in Mora for awhile but will relocate to St Paul , Minnesota by the time George dies. They will not divorce but will live apart maybe to much death and disappointment has visited this family.
The year is 1918 and the city directory reports George is living in Duluth at the Adelphf Hotel and is Spl Police at the Missabi Ore docks . Not sure what Spl police is but he is probably wearing a badge and not working behind a counter. Within two years he has moved to the Western Hotel within a couple blocks of his work at the ore docks. He will remain in this hotel for the next ten years until his death.
George is 59 years 8 months and 29 days old. He will walk out the door of the hotel and go to his job for the last time. He is carrying a gun and is in some form of law enforcement. I do not know what he is really feeling. He and his wife have been separated for about ten years, maybe they see each other , maybe he sees his two daughters living with or near her. His son Curtis is married with two sons Arthur and George . They are living in the Morgan Park area of Duluth.
Saturday October 27th 1928 Duluth News Tribune
BULLET FROM OWN REVOLVER
SIGNS INDICATE VICTIM FOUGHT
Three men thought to have attempted Robbery Police have clues.
George Day 59, night watchman of the D M & N coal docks, twenty ninth ave west and the bay front was found dead on the dock early yesterday morning, was killed by a bullet from his own revolver which was either wrenched from or discharged in his hand in a souffle with his his assailants, in the belief of Dr C F McComb , county corner who performed the autopsy on the body late Friday. No arrests were made up to late last night.
Resting against the inner wall of the right side of the skull was a battered bullet believed to be a .38 caliber, the same kind in the revolver carried by the watchman. The bullet entered the left side of the head near the ear and passed through the brain.
Evidence Points to Fight
The autopsy revealed several bruises about the head and face which led Coroner McComb to suspect that Day engaged in a fight with the assailants after they were discovered in the act of loading into a nearby boat a quantity of tools taken from the plant transformer building. Day, who was a stocky build, is believed to have engaged in combat with the robbers but was overpowered by superior force and killed by a bullet from his own gun.
At least three men are believed to have attempted the robbery, There are several clues which police are investigating. Robert E Donaldson , chief of detectives reported a find of two caps, one brown and the other gray and a large file near the scene of the murder.
Robbery was the motive, according to investigators, who believe that there had been no intention of murder until the watchman discovered the men in making their getaway.
Found by Rounds man
The murder occurred sometime between 3:30 and 4:40 am police point out. Day, in fulfilling his duties as a watchman , reported hourly to the Western Union up to and including the 3:30 report. , When no report was received at 4:30 , Ray Murray, rounds man for the Western Union went to the dock and found Day's body near the transformer house.
The murder and attempted robbery is believed to be the work of the same gang that robbed the tool house of the Elliot Meat Packing Company early Wednesday morning. Day was completing his tenth year of employ of the dock.
Survivors include a wife and two daughters living in St Paul and one son Curtis N Day, employed as a cranes man at the plant of Minnesota Steel company in Morgan park. Day moved recently from the Western hotel and was due to check in at the Rex Hotel Thursday morning.
October 27th 1928
DAY MET DEATH FROM OWN GUN
Corner and Police Come to the Same Conclusion in Dock Tragedy
That George Day, night watchman for the Duluth, Mesabi & Northern coal dock, twenty ninth ave west and the bay front, was killed by river and bay pirates probably with his own gun is the conclusion of police corner C F McComb, after an autopsy, found that a battered bullet, believed to be of .38 caliber, probably from Day's own gun, was resting against the inner wall of the right side of the edge of the skull.
Evidence was brought out that Day had been struck about the head and face, giving every indication that he fought with his assailants. It is thought possible that during the struggle Day's gun discharged while wrestling with him and the bullet intended for the bandits, struck the watchman instead. This could be possible if the bandit, seeing Day leveling his gun at him was quick enough to grab Day's arm or wrist and attempt to take the gun from him or defect the bullets course, authorities say.
Systematic Robbery
Through the killing, authorities have brought to light what may develop into a systematic looting of dock property and i, besides freight trains shunted onto docks by what is termed water front and bay pirates. It developed yesterday that a watchman at one of the docks was shot at from the bay several nights ago when he surprised what authorities believe to be a similar attempt to rob a warehouse.
Yesterday afternoon police Chief E H Barber and an officer of the D, M, & N, accompanied by newspapermen, made a sixty - two mile tour of the bay and river front, in a speed boat piloted Jimmy Dalton, seeking possible leads as to the method of escape of the killers. But the search proved fruitless.
Every agency for crime detection at the city's command is being used in efforts to run down the killers.
COAST GUARDSMEN DRAG SLIP FOR PIRATE SLAYERS
Dragging of the slip waters around the D, M, & R docks began today in an effort to locate one of the band of river pirates who are believed the murderers of (Charles wrong name ) George Everett Day, watchman, who was killed early Friday morning in a battle with wharf robbers.
United States coast guardsmen started dragging this morning when it was decided that possibly one of the bandits, wounded by the watchman before he was killed, according to blood stains found on the dock, might have fallen into the slip while attempting to gain the boat the bandits were using, and drowned.
If a body is found, it may give a lead to the possible murderer. Police are convinced that Day wounded one of the bandits in his desperate fight to thwart their efforts to rob the dock house. The bandit may have only been slightly wounded, or he may have been so seriously wounded that he fell into the bay slip while attempting to the boat they believe.
If such was the case, his body might be recovered through the dragging operations. In the meantime police are also working on several other leads which seem to indicate who the bandits might be, they intimate.
LAST MINUTE NEWS
" BLOODY SHOE" CLUE ELIMINATED
Finding of a mate to the show discarded on the D, M, & N coal dock in a West Superior Street second hand store today has eliminated the " bloody shoe" clue to the killing of George Day, watchman at the docks, who was found dead Friday morning, following what was believed to have been an attempt to rob the dock tool house.
The shoe found on the dock, it was learned , had not been worn recently, a new shoe string in the shoe never having been tied.
Police are still following the clues left two caps found on the dock and the cut end of a rope believed to have been used to tie a boat, thought to have been used by thugs in carrying away loot from the dock.
Coast guards dragging the bay near the dock today found nothing to indicate that a man had been shot by the watchman and fallen into the bay.
Duluth News Tribune Tuesday Morning October 30th 1928
CHIEF OF DETECTIVES PUT FORTH THEORY OF SUICIDE IN DAY DEATH
Clues hint at attempt to make killing look like murder
The discovery of additional has led Robert E Donaldson, chief of detectives to believe that George Day, watchman at the D. M & N coal dock, who was found dead last Friday morning made an elaborate attempt to effect the appearance of a murder and then committed suicide.
Basing his conclusion on the finding of the mate of the shoe discarded on the dock in a West Superior Street second hand store. Mr Donaldson declared late Monday that " it is not logical that any person intent upon burglary of the transformer tool house wore but one shoe and lost it up there. The shoe is no longer indicative of a murder theory.
Other Hints Hinted
Explaining that the probable motive of the suicide was to leave his wife and other relatives a volume of insurance totaling several thousands of dollars, Chief Donaldson intimated that police were in possession of other clues pointing to suicide theory. The investigation will be continued, he said.
The watchman was known to have been a frequent visitor at the second hand store and Chief Donaldson thinks he may have secured the shoe there with the intention of using it to befuddle police into believing a murder had been committed. The shoe, it was said, had not been worn for some time previous to the time it was found.
Detective Donaldson pointed out that the shoe found on the dock was laced with a new shoe string which showed no evidence of having been tied or knotted. The shoe found in a second had store was without a lace.
The shoe found on the dock was splattered with mud. It is the opinion of police that the mud was placed there by a human hand because of the fact that suction holes in the rubber heel of the shoe did not contain any mud.
Coast guardsmen dragged the bay in the vicinity of the bridge yesterday but found nothing to indicate that a man had been shot.
POLICE SLEUTHS STILL PROBING DAY MURDER CASE
While believing that George Day watchman at the D. M & N coal dock, who was found dead there last Friday morning may have committed suicide after arranging details to make it appear he was murdered during a struggle with river pirates, police today continued their investigation of the affair on the murder basis.
R E Donaldson detective chief gave the opinion that Day may have committed suicide to secure large insurance sums going to his wife, after arranging the scene to make it appear he was murdered. Donaldson decision came after the locating of the mate to the bloody shoe found on the dock and believed lost by one of the bandits in the fight, and found in a West Superior street second hand store. It had been there for many months. The shoe found on the dock had been stolen recently from the second hand store, police were told by the proprietor. The shoe found on the dock had a lace that had never been tied, evidence that the mud on it had been smeared on, and other indications that it had not been worn in many months, Donaldson says.
Day, Donaldson says hung around the second hand store where the shoe was found. It is believed by police that he stole the shoe to aid in his attempt to make his suicide appear a murder.
POLICE HOLD TO SUICIDE THEORY IN DAY DEATH
Having no longer an interest in living because his wife desired to reside with his two daughters in St Paul, is the motive advanced by Robert E Donaldson, chief of detectives, which might cause George ( once again he is called Charles by newspaper writer) Day 59, who was found dead one week ago this morning on the D. M. & N coal dock, to commit suicide.
Strengthening his theory on the fact that Day, a watchman on the dock, took out $7,000 in insurance last April, Chief Donaldson concludes that Day desired to have his family benefit by his death. The watchman also carried $2,000 life and $7,000 employee liability insurance or a total of $16,500 in insurance.
It is very evident that a man making $1,500 a year could not keep up such a volume of insurance without additional income, which Day was not known to have, Chief Donaldson points out. " This is only minor evidence of suicide but we are in possession of other information which is almost conclusive that the watchman attempted to mislead police into believing the suicide was a murder he declared.
Detective Donaldson plans to take the shoe found on the dock to Minneapolis this week for an analysis of the red spots found on the toe caps and side to determine if the spots are blood. The mate of the shoe was found in a West End Second hand store Day was know to have frequented for years.
When Day was found on the dock evidence of a struggle was noted by the police. A pile of tools arranged on the dock gave the appearance that robbery had been attempted. At the time it was believed that the watchman had surprised the robbers at their work and was attacked, overpowered and shot by his own gun, wrested from him by one of the robbers
Friday February 15th 2019
Dear uncle George how did you end up dead down by the water? Cold and dead what happened?
You are on my mind often and as I walk in or out the back door of the old Western Hotel building to have breakfast, I will touch the banister and feel your presence.
TO BE CONTINUED. THIS IS JUST THE START OF A ROUGH DRAFT OF THE STORY OF MY GREAT GREAT UNCLE GEORGE... SO MUCH TO SEARCH AND LEARN ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO , HIM AND WHY.
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