By Ed Shannon,Tribune feature writer

From 1883 to 1958, three members of the Day family had a prominent part in the life of Albert Lea. They were Harwood Galusha (H.G.) Day and his sons, Carlyle Harwood (C.H.) Day and Howland Carroll (H.C.) Day.

The activities of these three men during those years included the leadership of a local weekly newspaper, operations of a publishing company, serving as postmasters of Albert Lea, and the creation of the city’s first real library building just a century ago.

H.G. Day was born in Jericho, Vt., on July 15, 1844. The family moved to Wisconsin a few years later. He received his early education in the Attica, Wis., schools and at the Evansville (Wis.) Seminary. After serving with a Wisconsin regiment and as a quartermaster clerk during the Civil War, H. G. studied law with a judge in Chicago. Ill., and an attorney in Webster City, Iowa. He became a lawyer in May 1868.

From 1868 to 1878, he lived in Estherville, Iowa, where he served as the Emmet County attorney and as a member of the Iowa Legislature during 1870 and 1871.

H.G.’s first real involvement with journalism came in Estherville where he and a brother published a weekly newspaper called the Vindicator.

In 1878, the Day family moved to Lanesboro where he became an attorney for the Southern Minnesota Railroad, the firm which had built the east-west route through Albert Lea in 1869. H. G. became familiar with the city and in 1883 he purchased the Freeborn County Standard. At this point in his life he moved to Albert Lea, ceased most of his legal work, and became a newspaper editor and publisher.

In 1902, H.G. was involved with a group advocating that a building should be built for the Albert Lea Public Library. The financing for this structure was hopefully based on the philanthropy of steel magnet Andrew Carnegie who was then financing new library buildings all over the nation.

H.G. decided to go to New York City at his own expense to see Carnegie personally. As a result, in 1903 Carnegie made an initial grant of $12,000 with the stipulations that the city provide a building site, and to allocate yearly funds for staff and operations.

The site selected was at the

corner of South Washington Avenue and West College Street. Albert Lea’s Carnegie Library building was dedicated in April 1904. It was to serve as the city’s library for 64 years.

H.G. Day died on April 14, 1914. His obituary said in part:

&uot;During

his 30 years as owner and directing force of the Standard he has made his paper distinguished, not only as a power against oppression but as a champion of the highest aims of the best men in Minnesota journalism, and it was as one of the progressives along such lines that he was for several years made a member of the executive committee of the Minnesota State Editorial Association and later, in 1894, president of the association.&uot;

H.G. had two sons who both served as the city’s postmasters. The oldest, Carlyle, was born on Oct. 10, 1872, in Estherville. He was educated in part in the local school system and his obituary stated C.H. Day was one of the first graduates of Albert Lea High School.

C.H. was associated with his father for 10 years in the management of the Standard. He served as an officer with the local National Guard company during the Spanish-American War (1898-99). C. H. later became involved with real estate in Nebraska and North Dakota, and even later was the assistant sales manager of the American Gas Machine Company in Albert Lea. During World War I (1917-18) he was a captain in the Albert Lea unit of the Minnesota Home Guard. And from 1916 to 1925, C.H. Day was Albert Lea’s postmaster. He died on Oct. 4, 1949.

Howland Carroll Day, the second son, preferred to be known as H. Carroll Day during his life. He was born in Albert Lea on April 8. 1888, and graduated from Albert Lea High School in 1907.

After graduation H.C. became a part of the editorial operations of the Freeborn County Standard. With the death of his father in 1914, the name of the firm was changed to Trades Publishing Company. This company continued to publish the Standard until the final issue on April 30, 1931. By this time, Trades had become involved with other publishing and stationery ventures, including the Albert Lea Community Magazine which started in 1917 with H. C. as editor.

From 1945 to 1958, H. Carroll Day was Albert Lea’s postmaster. After retiring in 1958, he moved to Laguna Hills, Calif., where he died on Feb. 17, 1982.

(Contact Ed Shannon at ed.shannon@albertleatribune.com or call 379-3434.)