Biography of Asa E. Day of Moss Landing California

Asa E. Day, proprietor of a general mercantile store at Moss Landing, was born in Virginia City, Nevada, July 1, 1863, the son of Dania W. and Charlotte ( Hess) Day, the former an ambitious westerner who pitched his tent at Virginia City when a young man. He mined there, and in time came to California, arriving here in the late ’60s. After an active and very useful life, all in all successful, the father died, esteemed by all who knew him. The mother is still living, at the ripe old age of eighty-three years.

Attending the public schools in Santa Cruz county, while passing his boyhood in Day’s valley, where the family were the first settlers, Asa E. Day worked on the home ranch, which in time he rented from his father. Later he went to Springfield, where he spent four years, and in 1897 came to Moss Landing and bought the hotel.

Mr. Day married Miss Minnie Willis of Calaveras county, a native daughter, and their children are Asa E. Day, Jr., and Willis W. Day. Mrs. Day was the first to establish a store at the Landing, and she was also the first postmistress. This Federal office has been continuously in the family ever since, Mrs. Asa Day now administering the postal affairs of the district to the entire satisfaction to those whom she has the honor to serve. The old hotel was burned in 1914.

In addition to their other enterprises, Mr. and Mrs. Day own and manage an auto camp, which has proven a Godsend to many a traveler and has naturally been a success. The sanitary welfare, and the general comfort of the patron have been things considered from the beginning by the proprietors, and it is safe to say that in this provision for the happiness of the motor tourist, the Day Auto Camp is one of the best in Monterey county. The well kept, spacious grounds contains modern cottages, and that is far more than most camps can boast. Mr. and Mrs. Day are republicans, and this would indicate that they entertain very high ideals of a form of government most just and beneficial to all. Mr. Day is devoted to his work, but never so much so that he has not some time to give to matters of public interest, for the common weal.

Source: History of Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, California : cradle of California’s history and romance : dating from the planting of the cross of Christendom upon the shores of Monterey Bay by Fr. Junipero Serra, and those intrepid adventurers who accompanied him, down to the present day. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1925.