Day, Thomas, approximately 1801-approximately 1861
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Personality
- Lyons, M. Master of mahogany, c1994:CIP t.p. (Tom Day) text (b. 1801 in Halifax Co., Va.; believed to have died at age sixty in 1861; African-American cabinetmaker)
- LC database, 3/1/95(hdg.: Day, Thomas. ca. 1801- ca. 1861; usage: Thomas Day)
- His Thomas Day, cabinetmaker, 1975:p. 1 (1850 and 1860 federal censuses for North Carolina lists Virginia as his birthplace and suggest that he was born about 1801)
Thomas Day (c. 1801–1861) was an American furniture craftsman and cabinetmaker in Milton, Caswell County, North Carolina. Born into a free African-American family in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, Day moved to Milton in 1817 and became a highly successful businessman, boasting the largest and most productive workshop in the state during the 1850s.: 1, 8, 21, 23 Day catered to upper-class white clientele and was respected among his peers for his craftsmanship and work ethic.: 27 Day came from a relatively well-off family and was privately educated.: 2, 5, 7 Today, Day's pieces are highly sought after and sell for high prices; his work has been heavily studied and displayed in museums such as the North Carolina Museum of History. Day is celebrated as a highly skilled craftsman and savvy businessman, specifically in regards to the challenges his race posed to his success in the Antebellum South.: 35, 58
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