Luther Day

Who was Luther Day?

Luther Day was a Republican politician in the U.S. State of Ohio who was in the Ohio Senate and a judge on the Ohio Supreme Court 1865–1875.

Luther Day was born at Granville, Washington County, New York, and attended common schools. His father died when Luther was twelve, and he worked until age twenty to support the family at a farm and sawmill. In 1835, he entered Middlebury College in Vermont, and studied for three years. He moved to Ravenna, Portage County, Ohio, studied law under Rufus P. Spalding, and was admitted to the bar October 8, 1840.

In 1843, Day was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Portage County, but moved to Akron in 1845 for about a year. On July 24, 1845, Day married Rufus Spalding's daughter, Emily Swift Spalding. Back in Ravenna, he was elected Prosecutor again in 1849. In 1850, he was an unsuccessful Democratic Party candidate for the United States House of Representatives. In 1851 he was elected Common Pleas Judge and served two terms.

April 10, 1852, Mrs. Day died, and Day re-married April 26, 1854 to Ellen I. Barnes of Lanesboro, Massachusetts. His second term on the court expired in 1857, and he returned to private practice.