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Damon Brothers

Carmel, Maine

    The more prolifically referenced of the Damon brothers, Sumner Townsend Damon was born on October 31st of 1856 in Charleston, Penobscot County, Maine to Edwin Damon and Sarah Lovejoy. Unlike his brother, George, Sumner was noted as living with his father after his parent’s divorce, and the 1880 census notes him living with Edwin in Etna, about 20 miles south of Charleston. Both were listed as “House Rights” at that time. Later that same year he would marry Ms. Flora E. Barrett. The building of homes alongside his father would establish a lifelong love of erecting buildings, especially barns, which would be a primary occupation during the early to mid-1880s. During the end of 1888, and the winter beginning of 1889, Sumner was noted as producing a limited number of axes (around 300) from a shop there in Etna, most of which were noted as for use in the local community. The popularity of those axes spurred a new business for Sumner and by 1893 he was producing enough axes to have established trade in Foxcroft through the hardware dealership of “J.H. Steward and Son”.     Sumner’s sale of axes, along with continued work at building barns and work in the milling and grain business, led to enough financial success to allow for a relocation and the erecting of a proper shop. In February of the year 1900, Sumner purchased the home and mill of Lindlay Dinmore in Damascus, just to the east of Etna. He was noted as producing axes from that location in 1901, and the local media reported that his grist mill was renovated and up and running around October of 1902. Shortly after his move to Damascus, his brother, George, began wintering with him and would assist in the manufacturing of axes during his times there. This resulted in the business of the “Damon Bros.”. Reports noted that the brothers were producing axes from Carmel by 1905, though the distance from Carmel to Etna is around 3.5 miles, with Damascus in between. As most reference to the Damon Bros. early work from Caramel note deliveries of steel and coal to that location, the association is likely due to the presence of the local railway depot being at that town. The Carmel station was the local depot for the Maine Central Railroad Company and would have been the main shipping and receiving hub for the local area, including Damascus, though there was a smaller stop at Etna as well. The work at the Carmel related facility was a winter event, as Sumner continued to build barns and run his grist mill during the “hay season”, or during the warmer months. This limited production of the number of axes, but as the business grew, it was noted as producing around 25 dozen axes per week during the time the shop was running.      The continued success of all of Sumner Damon’s businesses led to his popularity and notoriety in the local community, as well as the ability of obtain some of the “modern conveniences” of the time. In May of 1910 it was reported that he had purchased a new automobile. The car was noted as being the 5,673rd registered automobile in the state of Maine, and was a red, 12 horse-power “Runabout”. His love of cars was apparent, as in 1914 he purchased another, a Maxwell noted as the 9,211th licensed in Maine, and another in 1915, a Maxwell Runabout registered as the 9,766th in the state. He was noted as taking friends and associates on long hunting trips as far north as Nova Scotia in the cars, and led to him being noted as a local “celebrity”.     The Damon Bros. company was listed in national business registries through the mid-1920s, and was sold to the Emerson and Stevens company of Oakland toward the end of that decade (reported as 1928 by some sources). By 1930, around the age of 75, Sumner moved in with his daughter Cora Cloutier and her husband Joseph. Though aged, he was noted as still building barns and taking lengthy hunting trips. In 1936, while building a barn, Sumner fell about 9 feet from a gable onto a carriage house, rolled off that structure and slammed into a silo, severely damaging that structure with the impact. He was noted as breaking an arm and straining his back, though he was back to work shortly after. His daughters family made a move to Winterport soon after, and Sumner, and his brother George, moved along with them. On October 19th of 1939, Sumner T. Damon would pass away there in Winterport, Waldo County, Maine at the home of his daughter. His body would be transported to and buried at Highland Cemetery, Carmel, Penobscot County, Maine, a few days later.





Damon Brothers
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