I recently featured this axe in the "It Followed Me Home" thread. Here it is all cleaned up and with a few surprises. As I got down through the rust patina, more markings appeared. I found "D. SIMMONS" and "WARRANTED" hiding in plain sight. I found lots of info about Daniel Simmons but very little about J. Underhill. I found no link between the two names, and the other Simmons marks I saw had "& Co" included in the mark. Can anyone shed light on the double marking?
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I can't say that the handle is original, but it appears to be very old. It would take someone with more muscles than I have to swing this beauty all day long! T-A
Hi Steve,
I’m Catskiller, very old chronologically but very new to my D. Simmons ax hobby. I too, am interested in the connection between Daniel Simmons and Jesse Underhill. I have several axes with J.U. Impressed on the poll. You however, have the Rosetta stone with the name, “Underhill” on it!
I wish I knew the precise connection, but I can only speculate. Here’s my take.
Daniel’s first independent ax making venture was in Berne, NY, beginning around 1824 on a smallish stream called the Foxenkill. He had a good fall of water when conditions were favorable, but there must have been frequent periods where they weren’t. He may have sought others to help fulfill the demand for his axes. How he was able to meet and establish a relationship with Jesse Underhill in faraway Auburn, New Hampshire may never be known.
So, I’m in agreement with others who have chimed in on your thread (I just learned what a thread is today!) that the Simmons Axes marked “Underhill”, or “J.U.” were probably made in Auburn, NH and then marketed by Simmons via his distribution network. My “J.U.” axes are mostly from central NY or west of Lake Michigan. Many Simmons axes went west on the Erie Canal and through the Great Lakes, possibly off loading at Green Bay, Wisconsin.
I think that this occurred before Daniel Simmons abandoned Berne and relocated to Cohoes, N.Y. After this occurred he had consistent water power, canal delivery of coal, grindstones, and raw materials, plus convenient distribution for finished products. He proudly embossed his axes with “Cohoes, N.Y.” after that so l’m guessing that axes that don’t say “Cohoes” were made before 1833, either in Berne, N.Y. or Auburn, N.H.
Many of these axes also have an eagle on them. This may have started in 1826, the golden jubilee of our nation (50th anniversary), when patriotic celebrations were held throughout the land.
