Samuel T. Day was an American physician, plantation owner, and politician who served as the fourth

Lieutenant Governor of Florida The lieutenant governor of Florida is a statewide constitutional office in the Government of Florida, executive branch of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the second highest-ranking official in the state government. The lieutenant governor is el ...

from January 3, 1871 to June 3, 1872. Born in

Hanover County, Virginia Hanover County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 109,979. Its county seat is Hanover, Virginia, Hanover. Hanove ...

, around 1828, in 1856 Day was a candidate for the state legislature in Columbia County, Florida. Day was a Union supporter during the Civil War. After the war, he helped organize the Republican Party in the state. Day was nominated for the job of U.S. Consul in

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, Canada, by President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

in May 1870 and approved by the Senate but evidently declined because the Florida Republican Party had just nominated him in a special election to replace Lt. Gov. Edmund C. Weeks, whose legitimacy was questionable (he had been appointed by the governor). The election was marred by violence, and the Republican-controlled election board declared Day the winner over his Democratic opponent, William D. Bloxham. Bloxham was ultimately declared the winner by the Florida Supreme Court, but not until June 1, 1872. After Governor Harrison Reed was impeached in February 1872, Reed left

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

and Day declared himself governor on February 10. Reed returned to the capital in April 1872, disputed the governorship, and appealed to the Florida Supreme Court to settle the dispute. The court decided that, under the Florida constitution, the governor's powers were suspended until he was acquitted - including the power to request opinions from the court. However, Day was "in no sense governor", he was merely empowered to act as governor while the governor was impeached. A special session of the legislature dismissed the charges on May 4, and Day did not become governor. The unfriendly ''Daily Phoenix'' of

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

remarked of the struggle between Reed and Day, "They are both political adventurers of the purest dye, and are both, doubtless, unfit to fill the high office over which they are squabbling; but Reed is a confirmed and known scoundrel. ... Day is, comparatively, an honest man, and with him, therefore, is the sympathy or preference of the people."''The Daily Phoenix'' (Columbia, SC), April 19, 1872, p. 2. Day married Celeta Cook Weeks (1836 - 1905) on May 25, 1854. Weeks was the sister of William Theophilus Weeks, a Florida state representative and signer of the post Civil War Florida constitution. Samuel and Celeta had three children, including De Motte Day (1855-1944). Day later moved to Caldwell County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and died there on December 26, 1877.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Samuel T. People from Hanover County, Virginia People from Columbia County, Florida People from Caldwell County, Texas Lieutenant governors of Florida 1820s births 1877 deaths Florida Republicans Texas Republicans 19th-century American politicians