Alfred Bertram Day II (1912-2001) was a student at the University of Idaho from 1931-1935, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. Alfred, known by Al, was the only son (and only surviving child) of Alfred Bertram Day and Emma Jones Day of Idaho City, ID. Emma was the youngest child of Nancy and Heman Jones, the editor and business manager for the Idaho World newspaper. Heman, an early pioneer, was a lover of music, keeping a diary of songs that he learned on his journey west. Emma’s brothers Egbert W. (known as E.W.) and Charles E. (sometimes seen as Chas) were musicians; Egbert performed with the “War Eagle Minstrels,” a Silver City group that toured southwest Idaho and Charles was a “fine” violinist. It’s unclear, based on research, whether Emma, her sister Amelia, or her mother Nancy were musicians, but their names appear on many materials within this collection.

E.W. Jones served in the first Idaho State Legislature and as the fifth Idaho state auditor becoming known as “Wagon Wheel Jones” for his efforts to raise funds to build wagon roads.

Charles learned violin from Edward Maloy, an Irish miner and fiddler in the area. Much of the contents from the collection have Ed’s name on them. Charles’ manuscripts were for violin, and in many cases are the only remaining manuscripts of some of the old gold rush melodies of the times. One item in the collection, Septimus Winner’s Tunes of the World (1863) contains the “Captain with His Whiskers” manuscript written by Charles.