Obit: Damon, Jabez Pike (1869 - 1941)

Contact:  stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Damon, Wendell, Kuehnau, Thayer

----Source: Spencer Record, Spencer, Wis.) 11/27/1941

Damon, Jabez Pike (15 MAR 1869 - 13 NOV 1941)

J. P. Damon Killed In Auto Accident

Came to Spencer in 1875 and Married Minnie E. Wendell in 1890; Is a Brother of Mrs. J. R. Kuehnau of Unity; Visited Here Often

Mrs. John R. Kuehnau of Unity received the sad news Friday of last week of the death of her youngest brother, Jabez, in Brunswick, Ga., on Nov. 13 1941.  He was struck by an automobile driven by a woman of St. Simons Id., Ga.  It threw him against an electric light pole and he lived only a few minutes.  The woman was exonerated by a coroner’s jury as she claimed she did not see him until he was only a few feet away.  A niece from Madison, Wis., had come to visit him and wanted to see the Atlantic ocean, so they had gone to Brunswick, and intended to visit the historic St. Simons Id. the next day.  He had probably gone out to call on old neighbors in the evening and was walking on the road, in the suburbs of the city when he met his death.

OBITUARY

Jabez Pike Damon, the youngest son and fourth child of Joseph S. and Susan Clark Damon, was born in Lubee, Maine, March 15, 1869.  At the age of 8 months, he came with his mother and her three other children, Fred, Andrew A. and Florence, to Strongs Prairie, Adams county, Wisconsin, where the father had a home on a farm ready for them; Mr. Damon having come west in 1868.  The family lived on the prairie until November, 1875, when they moved to Spencer.  Jabe received his education in the Spencer school and was a member of the first brass band started by P. A. Thayer, and usually a member of the ball club, etc.  When he was 26 years old he was a brakeman on the Wisconsin Central railroad.

On Nov. 22, 1890, he married Minnie E. Wendell of Spencer.  They soon moved to Marinette, Wis., where he was head sawyer in one of the large mills there.  When the lumbermen at Marinette moved south Mr. Damon and family moved also, settling in Laurel, Miss. and continued his lumbering activities and also was conductor of the Laurel City Band, he playing a cornet.  The Damons moved to Lumber City, Ga. and finally settled in Brunswick, Ga. and lived there many years.  Mr. Damon became a contractor and built several of the largest sawmills in Georgia.  He received injuries in the lumber business which caused him to retire from that line of work and then he and his son, Wade, had a garage in Jacksonville, Fla., for a while.  The last years of his life was spent at Claxton, Ga., to be near his son, Wade and family.

He had born to him and his wife, three sons, Paul Wendell, who died the same day, Dec. 13, 1838, as his uncle, Andrew A. Damon; Jabez Wade of Chattanooga, Tenn. and Joseph Frederick of Charleston, S. C.  He was buried at Brunswick, Ga., beside his wife who died in 1936.  Besides his immediate family he leaves to mourn his loss, his sisters, Florence Ackerman of Milwaukee, who sent last winter with him, and Maude D. Keuhnau, and numerous nephews and nieces.  Jabe was always of a happy disposition and could always see the humorous side of any situation and had many friends wherever he lived.  The last time he visited Wisconsin was in 1931 when he and his wife spent about a year hear among old friends and relatives.