Dunn Edge Tool Company

   The Dunn Edge Tool Company was the culmination of the scythe and tool manufacturing businesses of Reuben Barnes Dunn. After gaining some notoriety in the area of his birth, Poland, in Androscoggin County, by sitting as a member of the House of Representatives, Dunn moved north east and settled in an area between Readfield and Fayette in Kennebec County around 1840. At that time, he purchased the controlling stake in the failing  “Wayne Scythe Manufacturing Company” locate at the upper dam between Lovejoy Pond and Pocasset Lake near North Wayne. His business sense allowed him to succeed where the previous owners had not, and the business grew significantly. In 1851 he sold the controlling stake of that company in favor of other interests, but continued to serve as a director. Many of the investments he moved forward with regarded infrastructure, such as communication, water power, and railways, but one continued to involve the manufacturing of tools. This specific business originated from the scythe manufacturing business of Larned and Hale, noted as the first scythe company on Messalonskee Creek in 1836. That company had evolved into the business of Samuel and Eusebius Hale after Larned left the company. In 1845, Joseph E. Stevens bought the portion of that firm owned by Eusebius, forming “Hale and Stevens”. In 1853, Stevens was bought out by William Jordan, and later, Reuben B. Dunn would purchase the portion of that business owned by Samuel Hale.  The business of “Dunn, Jordan, and Company” of West Waterville was noted in late 1855 as being based on the manufacturing of scythes, axes, and other edge tools. Despite financially positive results, the company was reorganized in March of 1857, and the official incorporation of the newly formed company within the state’s legislature was noted as the “Dunn Edge Tool Company”.  The incorporators as of March 31st of 1857 were Reuben B. Dunn, N.G.H. Pulsifer, and James R. Batchelder, and the company was noted as being located at both Waterville and Fayette for the purpose of manufacturing edge tools and wood or timber boxes.    The Dunn Edge Tool Company continued through the American Civil War, growing to be one of the largest scythe and axe manufacturing facilities of its time. In 1883, the location it was functioning at in West Waterville became part of the newly named “Oakland”, separating it from the main body of Waterville. September of 1889 saw the death of Reuben Barnes Dunn, though the company continued forward under the leader ship of others, including his son Reuben Wesley Dunn, and longtime business partner, John Ayer. In April of 1890, negotiations between the newly formed American Axe and Tool Company led to the sale of the Dunn Edge Tool Company to that company. A contract laid out by H.G. Bigby and James H. Mann of the A.A.&T. Co. purchased the Oakland based company’s scythe and axe making assets and rights for around $150,000 in cash, stock, and other incentives, with an effective transfer date of August 1st. However, due to other failures within what is now known as the “Axe Trust”, the sale fell through, with the purchaser using the lack of a deed on a small plot of land used in the negotiation as an excuse to back out of the sale. Lawsuits between the two companies were pursued for a number of years afterwards due to the loss of revenue and stock.      Production by the independent Dunn Edge Tool Company continued through the turn of the century with steady decreases in profitability noted through over the first few years of the new century. In 1910 the need for reorganization were apparent. The buildings, land, and water rights owned by the company were sold to the Central Maine Power Company with contractual obligations allowing a reasonable lease to D.E.T.Co. That arrangement continued until 1921, when company sold its lines, equipment, and assets to the Seymour Manufacturing Company of Seymour, Indiana. That company spent less than two years attempting to make their new works in Oakland profitable before deciding to auction off the new portion of their business. Rather than see the entire business lost, the Maine Central Power Company purchased the assets in question, with the publicized intent of finding a company to take over production at the facility. Shortly after the auction and sale in early 1923,  a group of investors from the Augusta, Maine, area made an attempt at organizing a controlling business under the name “Dunn Edge Tool Corporation”. The formation of this company was led by President E.M. Leavitt, Treasurer L.E. Folsom, and Clerk Ernest L. McLean All were noted as directors of the organization along with S. L. Fogg and Frank E. Southard. Despite the strong push by these men to form a business from the ashes of the Dunn Edge Tool Company, the assets were purchased by the North Wayne Tool Company. The new owners forged a similar bond with the Central Maine Power Company, leasing the needed buildings and water rights for production there in Oakland. The North Wayne Tool Company continued production from that location until August of 1968, when they closed their doors for good.