Aaron Day and his wife, Anne Ely, gave birth to six children. The four sisters who lived the longest are remembered by the Ramapogue Historical Society. From left to right in the picture below sits Lucinda Day (1810 - 1897), Lydia Day Oakes (1817 - 1902), Amanda Day Munsell (1812 - 1903), and Eunice Day Bliss (1823 – 1913).

Each Day Sister had an adventure of her own, beginning with Eunice at just sixteen years old. In the middle of the night, a man snuck into a second story window where Eunice was sleeping. The story goes that the man stuffed her into a canvas sack, escaping off towards the town common with the stolen child. It was her screams who awoke her parents and allowed them to chase the man down so closely that he dropped the sack and Eunice was saved. To this day, the captor is suspected to be a strange physician who shortly left town after the incident. Eunice’s adventures were not all bad, however.[1] She would go on to marry Rev. Isaac Bliss and spend many years in Turkey as a missionary. The Quran she brought back is still in the Josiah Day House.

As a child, Amanda planted the woodbine on the front of the Day House. Amanda married farmer Guy C. Munsell in Amherst and lived until 1903.[2] She had five children, three of whom outlived her: Marion Elizabeth Munsell Breese, Esther Ely Munsell Thompso, & Ellen Mariah Munsell. She did not live to see the Day House opened as a museum.

Lydia joined in on the adventures as well. She spent many years in Turkey with Eunice and in New Haven with her husband, Charles Oakes, only returning to West Springfield upon his death in 1883. Lydia was born and died in the Day House, and was a prominent member of Park Street Church while she lived in the Day House.[5]

Lucinda Day was the only one of the Four Day Sisters who never married, remaining in the house until her death. She only left for one year to attend school in New Haven. Just because she never left home doesn’t leave her life short of adventure, however. Shortly after her death, an article was published in the Boston Journal titled, Of the Stormy Sea and Of the Cruel War, Two True Romances. This article details the rumored lover of Lucinda Day, whom she left a candle lit in the window for every night. The story goes that Lucinda and her lover were engaged in 1827, but he got lost at sea.[3] In truth, there is no evidence of the lost lover and it is more likely that she lit the candle in the window due to Park Street being raised for trolleys coming over the North End Bridge from Springfield. Lighting this candle lit the walkway below for nighttime visitors so they could see the step down.

Despite the adventures these sisters had together, all good things come to an end. Lucinda was the first of the Four Day Sisters to pass away in 1897 and Lydia followed shortly after in 1902. After Lydia's death, Amanda and Eunice decided to sell the house. They were nervous about the fate of the house and the family gradually splitting up more and more. Ultimately, the house was sold to twelve residents of West Springfield who raised the money to purchase the house for use as a museum.[4] The house opened in the spring of 1904 and, in 1975, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. To this day, it remains the only National Historic Site in West Springfield.

For more, check out the Josiah Day House!

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[1], [3] Of the Stormy Sea Two True Romances of the Cruel War. (1897). Boston Journal. Genealogy Bank.
[2], [4] Bagg, W. S. (2022). Brief History of the Day House. Ramapogue Historical Society.
[5] Death of Mrs Lydia Day Oakes, One of West Springfield's Best-Known Residents. (1902). Springfield Daily Republican. Genealogy Bank.