Verse

So the Lord isn't the God of the dead, but of the living. This means that everyone is alive as far as God is concerned. Jesus, Luke 20:38 CEV

Thursday, June 1, 2023

Day

Dora Day Photo

Phedora Alice Day
1 Jun 1864 – 7 Aug 1918
Great-grandmother

Dora Day and her family were members of the Broad Ripple Methodist Episcopal Church, later Broad Ripple Methodist Church, where I was baptized as an infant. Currently, the same church is a fully inclusive, affirming, and justice-seeking congregation which became St. Luke’s Midtown in 2022. The church is still located at the original address of 6185 Guilford Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana, and is a campus of the St. Luke’s United Methodist community. As a pastor of an inclusive, reconciling congregation, this historical connection gives me an added sense of confirmation that I am being faithful to the open, inclusive, and welcoming family, church, and community of my ancestral heritage.

The article, “W.C.T.U. Calendar,” in the 17 Mar 1917 Indianapolis Star includes an item about Dora Steger leading devotions on the subject of “Charity Extolled” at a union meeting (the Broad Ripple Union of the WCTU, Woman’s ChristianTemperance Union, of which my mother and her mother were also active members. As a child, I was a member of the LTL, Loyal Temperance Legion, a remnant of this heritage). The meeting was hosted by her daughter, my grandmother, Mrs. Elmer [Inez] Tridle. Their pastor from Broad Ripple M.E. Church, Rev. O.E. Allison, spoke on “Prohibition, Progress, and Prosperity.” 

Phedora Alice Steger was born during the Civil War. She was married to George Thomas Steger on 05 Jan 1882 at the age of 17. They were parents of 7 children. Dora was a homemaker. She died on 7 Aug 1918 at the age of 54 and was buried at Union Chapel Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Children of Phedora Alice Day:
  1. Mollie Bell Steger 1883-1959
  2. Lenore Inez Steger 1885-1983
  3. America May Steger 1886-1888
  4. Jessie Hazel Steger 1889-1976
  5. Louise Ocal Steger 1891-1979
  6. Olive Icy Steger 1893-1974
  7. Neva Esther Steger 1895-1950

Day Surname Lineage

My known ancestors in the Day lineage are from my great-grandmother, Phedora Alice Day, who lived from 1864 until 1918, back to my 5th great-grandfather, William Day, who lived from 1730 until 1790.

William Day 1730-1790, father of Richard M Day Sr 1755-1813, father of Richard M Day Jr 1782-1859, father of David Day 1822-1880, father of Phedora Alice Day 1864-1918, mother of Lenore Inez Steger 1885-1983, mother of Barbara Lou Tridle 1929-2001, mother of the author.

Day Migration

England > North Carolina > Maryland > North Carolina > Indiana

William Day married Elizabeth Cooke in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England, and they had five children together, of whom my 4th great-grandfather, Richard M. Day, Sr., was their second. They immigrated to North Carolina, USA. Richard M. Day, Sr. married Deborah from North Carolina, where they both returned after living in Maryland, where their son and my 3rd great-grandfather, Richard M Day, Jr., was born. Richard and his first wife, Hannah Kendall, moved to Indiana. After the death of Hannah, Richard married Mary Worth. Their second son and my 2nd great-grandfather, David, married Marilda J. Thompson, also of Morgan County, Indiana. Their sixth daughter and my great-grandmother, Phedora Alice Day, married George Thomas Steger who had moved to Boone County, Indiana from Owen County, Kentucky, with his mother. They moved to Broad Ripple in Indianapolis, where my grandmother, Lenore Inez Steger, was born. She married George Elmer Tridle. After my mother, Barbara Lou Tridle, was born, they moved to a farm near Home Place, between Broad Ripple and Carmel. She and my father, William Harris Lawson, Sr., grew up about a mile apart and began their married life in Broad Ripple, where I was born.

Acknowledgments

Family Photo. "Phedora Alice Day," ca. 1910. 

Bibliography

Ancestry ®.  “Indiana Death Certificates, 1899-2011.” Phedora A. Steger, 1918. Indiana Archives and    Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Death Certificates; Year: 19  18; Roll 14. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Ancestry. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/4325150:60716?ssrc=pt&tid=10075800&pid=-70132298431 May 2023.

---. “Indiana Marriages, 1810-2001.” Phedora A. Day, 1882. Provo UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Ancestry. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1057189:60282?ssrc=pt&tid=10075800&pid=-701322984 31 May 2023.

---. “Public Member Trees Database.” © 1997-2023 Ancestry ®. AncestryWeb. Lawson-Robertson Family Tree person record for Phedora Alice Dayhttps://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/10075800/person/-701322984/facts  User profile for William Harris Lawson, Jr., user Livingweb. 31 May 2023.

Bloom, Linda. “Reaction Continues on Indiana Religious Freedom Law,” 2015. United Methodist News Service. https://www.umnews.org/en/news/reaction-continues-on-indiana-religious-freedom-law 31 May 2023.

FamilySearch. “Family Tree Database.” © 2023 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Family Search. https://www.familysearch.org/en/. Person record L6X-YX7  https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LK6X-YX7 for Phedora Alice Day. User William Lawson. 31 May 2023.

Find a Grave, database and images. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/201601169/phedora-alice-steger  Accessed 31 May 2023), memorial page for Phedora Alice “Dora” Day Steger (1 Jun 1864–7 Aug 1918), Find a Grave Memorial ID 201601169, citing Union Chapel Cemetery, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, USA; Maintained by HSB (contributor 46982770).

Indiana Album. “Broad Ripple Methodist Episcopal Church,” ca. 1912. Riley Case Collection. Indiana Album. https://indianaalbum.pastperfectonline.com/photo/2C7B9947-A8B2-40D0-94DC-298691638220 31 May 2023.

Indianapolis Star Editor. “Speaks at Zion Park” The Indianapolis Star, 05 Aug 1916, page 24. via Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/image/39561741  Accessed by user Livingweb 31 May 2023.

---. “W.C.T.U. Calendar,” The Indianapolis Star, 17 Mar 1917, page 7. Via Newspapers.com  https://www.newspapers.com/image/119701131 Accessed by user Livingweb, 31 May 2023.

St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. “Midtown.” St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. https://www.stlukesumc.com/midtown 31 May 2023.

Wikipedia Contributors. “Woman’s Christian Temperance Union,” 2023, May 27. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman%27s_Christian_Temperance_Union 31 May 2023.

Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. “About the WCTU.” Woman’s Christian Temperance Unionhttps://www.wctu.org/about 31 May 2023.

---. "Loyal Temperance Legio." Woman’s Christian Temperance Unionhttps://www.wctu.org/about 1 Jun 2023.

Miscellanea

The original date of this post: 1 June 2023, the 159th birthday of Phedora Alice Day.
Most recently updated: 12 March 2024.




No comments:

Post a Comment