Fred

 

Chicago Chronicle. 7 Feb 1897.

Using the hint on Frederick E. Day in the 1880 US Census in Detroit, and a lot of newspaper sleuthing, I found the story most likely for the young musician who married Agnes Atherton in Indianapolis in 1881, and sought a divorce in Nashville in 1887 so that he could marry again days later. An article in the Chicago Chronicle in February 1897 on the city's noted masters of the double bass violin contains a short paragraph on Fred E. Day, "a first class musician" who had come to the Chicago Opera House after five seasons in Nashville, among other theatres. From the city directories, it looks like he moved from Nashville in 1889, and arrived in Chicago by 1890.

Chicago Chronicle. 7 Feb 1897.

In the 1900 US Census, Fred appears in Chicago, working as a musician, and married of four years to wife Rosa. This census entry shows him born in August 1860 in New York, with Rosa born in May 1872 in Missouri. The Cook County marriage index shows Fred and Rosa Majors were married on 3 December 1896.

Looking back at the 1880 US Census in Detroit, Fred appears living in the household of his mother Eliza E. Day, and older brother Brayton Day. This family appears in the Detroit City Directories in 1877-1879, with Fred listed as a student during those years. There is more on the family's time in Detroit, and I'll have that in another post.

Ancestry. 1880 US Census. Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan.

It isn't yet clear to me what happened to Rosa, or Fred's previous wife in Nashville, Clara Boyce Day, but Fred married again in Chicago to Theodosia Hardy on 11 April 1912. By 1914, Fred and Theodosia (listed by her middle name Ada) were living in Los Angeles. The couple appear in the 1920 US Census in Long Beach, California. Fred is listed as a violinist in an orchestra. In the 1930 US Census, they were living in Los Angeles. Fred is listed as a musician in a "picture studio", possibly as part of a film score orchestra.

Fred died on 7 November 1935 in Los Angeles at the age of 75. It does not appear that he and Theodosia had children.

Los Angeles Examiner. 9 Nov 1935.

I dove into Fred's story for the possibility there may be descendants who could have inherited photos, and the long shot chance some record of Agnes' life might have been preserved from his side, even among all Fred's multiple wives.