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 Samuel
Mills Damon (1845-1924)
 Samuel
Mills Damon was born in Honolulu on March 13, 1845. He was the son
of Reverend Samuel Chenery Damon and Julia Sherman Mills both of
Massachusetts. His father served as chaplain of the Seamen's Institute
(1842-1882) that became Bethel Chapel and merged with Fort Street
Church to eventually become Central Union Church. He was educated
at Punahou Preparatory School and Punahou Academy in Honolulu.
In
September 5, 1872, he married Harriet M. Baldwin and had four children,
Samuel Edward, Mary M., Henry F and Douglas W.
He became a banking partner of Charles Reed Bishop in 1881. In 1895,
he buys Bishop's ownership share. Bishop and Company, the commercial
bank, is First Hawaiian Bank today. He was a member of King Kalakaua's
privy council in 1884. He was Minister of Finance during various
dates from 1889-1900. He was a member of the advisory council of
the Republic of Hawai'i. He received the order of the Golden Treasure
(Japan), the Knight Order Christ (Portugal), and the Victoria Jubilee
medal (England).
He
was an executor and trustee of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate
from 1884-1897 and 1898-1909.
From the Honolulu Advertiser, Wednesday, November 10, 2004:
Death
of Damon heir signals the end of trust
By
Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Joan Damon Haig, the
last living grandchild of Samuel Mills Damon, died yesterday in
New Jersey, triggering a winding down of the Honolulu-based Damon
Estate.
About 20 beneficiaries
in the Damon line stand to receive millions of dollars each in proceeds
from liquidating the trust's assets, though an appeal is pending
in state Supreme Court over how to divide such proceeds.
The Damon Estate, which
until recently was Hawai'i's fourth-largest private landowner, has
been preparing to wind down operations in recent years. Last year,
it sold its most valuable land holdings, 224 acres of commercial
property on O'ahu, for $480 million, and moved the proceeds into
more liquid investments in anticipation of distribution needs. Some
property would likely still need to be sold under an orderly termination
process.
The trust was created
upon the death of Samuel Mills Damon in 1924, and was designed to
end upon the death of his last grandchild. Haig was in her 80s.
Damon was the son of
a missionary, and a partner in First Hawaiian Bank forerunner Bishop
& Co.
The trust's property
at one time included Kahuku Ranch, more than 100,000 acres of Big
Island land, 7,000 acres on O'ahu and a large stake in First Hawaiian
Bank.
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