American manufacturer and capitalist, born in Massachusetts in 1813. He acquired a large fortune, most of which he lost in speculation in the manufacture of India rubber and through his celebrated lawsuit with the Goodyears, for which Daniel Webster left the Senate in order to make the arguments in behalf of Mr. Goodyear. Mr. Day surrendered his license and his factory when he lost the case. He was the first to successfully utilize any portion of the water-power at Niagara, and completed the canal at a total expense of over nine hundred thousand dollars, which made it available. The entire work passed out of his hands through the foreclosure of mortgages. He was an inventor of great skill, and an unflinching champion of the working classes. At the time of his death, which occurred in Manchester, NH, on the 23rd of August 1878, he was engaged in large business operations near Montreal, Canada, which promised to be very successful. He was a powerful speaker and writer, devoting much of his time to the labor question.
