# Mother Brook

Mother Brook is a stream that flows from the Charles River in Dedham, Massachusetts, to the Neponset River in the Hyde Park section of Boston, Massachusetts. Mother Brook was also known variously as East Brook and Mill Creek in earlier times. Digging the brook made Boston and some surrounding communities an island, accessible only by crossing over water, making Mother Brook "Massachusetts' Panama Canal."
Dug by English settlers in 1639 to power a grist mill, it is the oldest such canal in North America. Mother Brook was important to Dedham as its only source of water power for mills, from 1639 into the early 20th century. For 300 years, it was "the industrial heart" of Dedham.
Today, Mother Brook is part of a flood-control system that diverts water from the Charles River to the Neponset River. The brook's flow is under the control of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and is used for flood control on the Charles. There are three remaining dams on the stream, plus a movable floodgate that controls flow from the Charles into Mother Brook.
The brook has given its name to the modern-day Mother Brook Community Group, the Mother Brook Arts and Community Center, Riverside Theatre Works, and the erstwhile Mother Brook Club and Mother Brook Coalition.

## Early history
### Origins

Dedham, Massachusetts was first settled in 1635 and incorporated in 1636. The settlers needed a mill for grinding corn as hand mills took too much effort. Wind mills had been tried, but the wind was too unreliable and the North End, where a windmill was moved to in 1632, was too far away. In 1633, the first water-powered grist mill was established in Dorchester along the Neponset River at a dam he erected just about the tidal basin.
By the late 1630s, the closest watermill was in Watertown, 17 miles away by boat. Small amounts of grain could also be milled into flour using labor-intensive handmills. Neither transporting the grain to distant mills nor producing small amounts in a handmill were attractive options, and so the colonists looked into creating their own mill.
Abraham Shaw who, like many other Dedhamites, came from Watertown, arrived in Dedham in 1637. He was granted 60 acres (24 ha) of land as long as he erected a watermill, which he intended to build on the Charles River near the present-day Needham Street bridge. Every man in the town was required to help bring the large millstone to Dedham from Watertown. Shaw died in 1638 before he could complete his mill, however, and his heirs were not interested in building the mill.
Although the initial settlement was adjacent to the Charles, in this vicinity it is slow-moving, with little elevation change that could provide power for a water wheel. A small stream, then called East Brook, ran close by the Charles River, about 100 rods (1,600 feet; 500 metres) from present-day Washington Street behind Brookdale Cemetery, and emptied into the Neponset River. In the spring, the Charles would occasionally flood into a swamp at Purchase Meadow between its banks and East Brook.
Additionally, East Brook had an elevation change of more than 40 feet on its 3.5-mile run from near the early Dedham settlement to the Neponset River, which was sufficient to drive a water mill. However, East Brook had a low water flow insufficient to power a mill. The drop in the first mile alone is 45 ft (14 m).

### Creation of Mother Brook

A year after Shaw's death the town was still without a mill. A committee was formed and "an audacious plan" was devised to "divert some of the plentiful water from the placid Charles into the steep but scarce East Brook. The 4,000-foot ditch was ordered to be dug at public expense by the town on March 25, 1639, and a tax was levied on settlers to pay for it. The settlers may have been influenced by the draining of the Fens in The Wash, an area in England near many of their hometowns.
The town was so confident in this course of action that the work began before they found a new miller to replace Shaw. There is no record of who dug it or how long it took. The labor pool would be confined to the 30 men who headed households in the town at the time, plus various servants and other male relatives. Tools would have included iron spades, axes, and shovels. Oxen may also have been employed. The earth, clay, rocks, and other excavated materials were then transported overland to create a dam and a mill pond. A sill was also created to control the flow of the water from the Charles into Mother Brook.
While it is unknown when exactly it was completed, there was water running through it by July 14, 1641. Originally called "the Ditch," it has been known as Mother Brook since at least 1678. There is no record of any celebration that may have taken place upon its completion. At a meeting on July 14, 1641, Jonathan Fairbanks, Francis Chickering, and John Dwight were charged with laying out a cartway from the village to the mill.
The work was completed amidst all the other work being done to establish a town out of the wilderness: felling trees, building homes, planting crops, clearing fields, and more. Its creation has been called "an inspiring expression of profound communal purpose."

### The first mill

The town also offered an incentive of 60 acres of land to whoever would construct and maintain a corn mill, as long as the mill was ready to grind corn by "the first of the 10th month"[i.e. December].
The first corn mill was erected in 1641 by John Elderkin, a recent arrival from Lynn, at a dam on East Brook next to the present-day Condon Park and near the intersection of Bussey St and Colburn St. Elderkin was given 3 acres of land next to the Brook in return. Elderkin was in high demand as a skilled builder and, in 1642, only months after opening the mill, moved out of town. He sold all of his land to Nathaniel Whiting.
This was the first public utility in the nation. Early settlers could grind their corn at the mill, and in return paid a tithe to help maintain the mill. The town relinquished rights to the brook in 1682 and placed a historical marker on the site in 1886.
In 1642, Elderkin sold half of his rights to Whiting and the other half to John Allin, Nathan Aldis, and John Dwight. They operated the mill "in a rather stormy partnership" until 1649 when Whiting became the sole owner. The town was displeased with the "insufficient performance" of the mill under Whiting's management. In 1652, Whiting sold his mill and all his town rights to John Dwight, Francis Chickering, Joshua Fisher, and John Morse for 250 pounds, but purchased it back the following year.
Whiting and his wife, Hannah, had 14 children. Five generations of his descendants ran their mill from 1641 until 1823, when it was sold. The family controlled other land along Mother Brook until the 1830s.

### Conflict with a second mill

Whiting took sole possession of the mill in 1649 and, that same year, the town began discussing the construction of a second mill. In January 1653, the town offered land to Robert Crossman if he would build a mill on the Charles where Shaw had originally intended. Crossman refused, but Whiting was so displeased by the prospect of a second mill that he offered to sell his mill back to the town for 250 pounds.
For 15 years, there were "many complaints being made by several inhabitants of much damage by deficient grinding of corn at the present mill." As Whiting's performance did not improve, the town wanted an alternative. Daniel Pond and Ezra Morse were then given permission by the town in 1664 to erect a new grist mill on the brook above Whiting's, at the intersection of present-day Maverick and High Streets, so long as it was completed by June 24, 1665. The new mill was running by 1666, with Morse as the sole proprietor. The new mill was closer to the town center than Whiting's.
Whiting was upset by the competition for both water and customers and, "never one to forgive and forget, Whiting made something of a crusade of opposition" to the new mill. Records show that the town spent "considerable time" trying to resolve the issue. After meeting with the Selectmen, both agreed to live in peace and not interfere with the business of the other. Two years later Morse was instructed to not hinder the water flow to such an extent that it would make milling difficult for Whiting.
The town resolved that "in time of drought or want of water, the water shall in no such time be raised so high by the occasion of the new mill, that the water be thereby hindered of its free course or passage out of the Charles River to the mill. The proprietors of the old mill are at the same time restricted from raising the water in their pond so high as to prejudice the new mill by flowage of backwater." At the same time, Whiting was also told to repair leaks in his own dam before complaining about a lack of water.
Trouble and disputes, including a lawsuit, continued between the two for 40 years until 1678 when the Town Meeting voted not to hear any more complaints from Whiting. Even after Whiting died in 1682, his heirs tried to sue but lost.
In 1699, with the town fed up, Morse's dam was removed, and Morse was given 40 acres of land near the Neponset River at Tiot in compensation. This seems to have been Morse's idea. He would go on to open a new mill there, in what is today Norwood, Massachusetts, next to a sawmill that Joshua Fisher and Eleazer Lusher opened in 1664.
At some point in the early 1700s, a new leather mill was constructed by Joseph Lewis, Whiting's son-in-law, at the site of the old Morse dam.

### New mills at the third privilege

The next mill was constructed in 1682 at present-day Saw Mill Lane. Originally requested by Jonathan Fairbanks and James Draper, the privilege was granted to Whiting and Draper instead, likely to avoid any more problems with Whiting. The fulling mill, the first textile mill in Dedham, did not require a dam, and the downstream location thus did not pose a threat to Whiting.
Whiting died on January 15, 1682, the day the selectmen granted him the privilege. A condition was attached to this permission, however, that if the town wanted to erect a corn mill on the brook, they could do so, unless Draper and Whiting did so at their own expense. Whiting's son, Timothy, signed the agreement with Draper and his son. This mill, like the one above it, was held by the descendants of Nathaniel Whiting for 180 years.
A grist mill and a sawmill were later built on the site and were powered by the same waterwheel. The sawmill was built by Timothy Whiting in 1699, but the date of the grist mill's construction was not recorded. One of Whiting's mills burned in 1700, so the town loaned him 20 pounds to rebuild.

## Industrialization of Mother Brook
### Expanding industries

Eventually, dams and mills were constructed at different times at five locations called "privileges," in Dedham and in what is now the Readville section of Hyde Park, which was originally part of Dedham. The first three privileges were granted in the 17th century for purposes that were essential to the local farming community. By 1799, there were two grist mills capable of running "in the driest season of the year," two sawmills, a wire mill, and several paper mills, with another under construction.
The fourth and fifth privileges were granted in the 18th and 19th centuries and were for manufacturing. By the mid-19th century, all five privileges had large, industrial textile mills on them.
Mother Brook provided water power at various times for industrial mills of several types, including the manufacture of cotton, wool, paper, wire, and carpets. They also produced corn, fulled cloth, stamped coins, sawed lumber, cut and headed nails, manufactured paper, wove cloth, and processed leather. The damming of the waterway affected those downstream who wanted to use the water for agriculture, livestock, or other purposes.
When the first cotton-spinning factory opened in 1808, it began a trend that would come to dominate the brook for the next 125 years. There would be three cotton mills on the Brook before the outbreak of the Civil War, and they would increasingly be owned by men who were not from Dedham.

### Rise of industrialization

When Dedham became the seat of Norfolk County in 1793, there was an influx of educated and professional men to town. They brought with them new ideas, energy, and capital, but the town had limited resources to make use of them. Like much of the Commonwealth, roads were poorly maintained, making it difficult to get raw materials in and finished products out. High Street, which connected the village to the mills, was not constructed until 1806.
Since the founding of Dedham in 1636, farming had been the dominant way of life for residents. Land and other resources were plentiful but, by the early 19th century, they were beginning to become scarce. It was said that by 1814, "some of the most respectable and enterprising young men of Dedham" were working in the mills, which marked a shift in the life of the community. Opening a mill was also "a patriotic act that supported the independence of the new nation." By the 1820s, cotton mills seemed to be a permanent feature along the Brook.
By the 1830s, the mills along Mother Brook had been in heavy use for 200 years. They were built very simply to begin with, and after two centuries had become "exceedingly dilapidated relics that attracted the attention of local artists." These artists viewed them as "picturesque artifacts of a simpler and more peaceful past," in contrast to the more modern mills that were spewing smoke and dumping pollutants into the water.
When the Dedham Branch railroad established regular service in 1842, coal could be easily transported to the nearby Stone Haven station. This powered the several steam engines located in several of the mills. The steam engines were an energy source, probably to supplement the water power when the water supply was insufficient but possibly to supplant the water power entirely. The brook may also have served for cooling the steam machinery.
From Mother Brook and the Neponset River out to Boston Harbor, it was estimated that there was between $2,000,000 and $5,000,000 worth of manufacturing property along the banks in 1886.

### Norfolk Cotton Manufactory
#### Incorporation

The leather mill was replaced in 1808 by the Norfolk Cotton Manufactory. The local men who invested the funds for the large, wooden, spinning mill, have been described as a "daring group of investors." There were 30 men, including Samuel Lowder, Jonathan Avery, Rueben Guild, Calvin Guild, Pliny Bingham, William Howe, and others, who petitioned the Great and General Court to create the company. Stockholders included Nathaniel Ames, Calvin Guild Sr., and Calvin Whiting. They were primarily professionals and tradesmen, with only two or three whose primary source of income was farming, and all but one lived in the First Parish.
Their petition was "framed in the language of patriotism," saying that by creating this local industry Americans could stop buying textiles from England and could keep the money at home. With capital of $120,000, their petition for incorporation was granted, and like other manufacturing companies, they did not have to pay taxes as the Commonwealth wanted to support the industry.
The year before it was incorporated, President Thomas Jefferson signed the Embargo Act of 1807, and then two years later the Non-Intercourse Act. This dramatically reduced the amount of trade with foreign countries, particularly France and England, and thus created a demand for American goods. It also allowed for investments that would have otherwise gone into international trade to be made on local industries.
In June 1808, Lowder, the company's clerk, placed an advertisement in The Norfolk Repository seeking bids to construct two buildings at the privilege. The first, the mill, was 60 feet by 30 feet and was designed to hold machines to spin cotton. The other, a house, was to be 33 feet by 25 feet. The plans, which builders could consult before submitting their bids, were kept in the office of Dr. Jesse Wheaton. The land had been purchased from one of the stockholders at a price of $3,900. The compound would grow to include a three-story spinning factory, four two-family homes, and other buildings for picking, dyeing, and bleaching, a machine shop, and one for weavers and foot-pedal looms. Almost all of the factory's product was sold in a two-story store on the property, but some were also sent out on consignment to selling agents.

#### Production

Cotton was shipped north from plantations in the South and divided into smaller units. These were then sent to private homes, where they were picked clean of dirt and seeds, whipped until clean and fluffy, and then returned to the mill. This work was performed primarily by children, most of whom were from Dedham, though some came from as far away as Newton and Brighton. Others were descendants of Dedham’s original settlers.
As cotton manufacturing was still new to New England, "the inhabitants felt a degree of pride in having a cotton factory in their town, and whenever their friends from the interior visited them, the first thing thought of was to mention that there was a new cotton factory in the town, and that they must go and see its curious and wonderful machinery."
The company was prosperous and highly esteemed in the community, and its annual meetings were marked by festivities. From 1808 through the next decade, the company advertised for labor in local newspapers, as the work required more manpower than the part-time grist and saw mills that had previously operated along the brook. The company also lent machines to workers so they could process raw cotton fiber from home.
As the company flourished, it introduced new products such as satinet.

#### Company fortunes

Given the embargo on trade, the economic conditions were very favorable for the new company. Prices for yarn and finished goods were high, and Ames recorded a 33% profit on his investment, recording in his diary that stock in the company was "200 dollars on a share, which they say have cost 600, but will not sell for 900, or 1000, dollars!” Shareholders put their profits back into the company, expecting high profits to continue.
The War of 1812 brought ruin to the company The British cut off the supply of raw materials, and the economy crumbled. It also suffered from lack of qualified management. Officers of the company were elected annually, and none had prior experience in manufacturing.
In May 1814, a notice was published in The Dedham Gazette that all those who owed money to the mill needed to pay. It also said that there would be "a visit from the sheriff" if those who had raw cotton to pick and clean at home did not promptly return it to the mill. Selling agents around the country had $40,000 in unsold goods, and the company store had $20,000 in stock.
After the war, imports that were both cheaper and higher quality flooded the market. The company collapsed. In 1815, the company's land was valued at $11,000 but, in 1819, it fell to only $4,000.
The mill was purchased by Benjamin Bussey, "a man of excellent business capacity," in 1819 for a sum far below cost. For $12,500, Bussey obtained the land, water rights, buildings, and machinery as the only bidder at the auction. Shareholders received $250 for every $1,000 invested. Ames wrote that it was "a most loosing [sic] enterprise for poor Country Rats."

#### Water level dispute

During this time period the owners of mills downstream also complained that the Norfolk Cotton Manufactory did not provide enough water downstream for them to use. The complaints continued, despite the creation of a committee in 1811 to look into the matter. Agreement was eventually made on the level of the water, and was marked by drill holes in rocks along the banks still visible today.

### Dedham Worsted Company

The Dedham Worsted Company was incorporated principally by William Phillips and Jabez Chickering in 1822. After Chickering sold his carding factory at the fourth privilege, he moved to the first privilege to begin a factory spinning worsted. Almost all worsted at this time was imported from England and this was one of the first worsted factories in the United States, and it was possible the only one of its kind. The industry would not grow in the United States until the 1830s.
The factory included a "new through built three story brick Factory... a new wooden store, and block of two Dwelling-houses." The company initially prospered, but it collapsed just two years later when Chickering was discovered to have stolen money and run off to Michigan.

### Dedham Woolen Mills

Benjamin Bussey purchased the mill from the Dedham Worsted Company after its collapse, which was just three years after they opened. He obtained the land, the buildings, machinery, and water rights in the purchase. This was his second mill on Mother Brook, after the Norfolk Cotton Company.
Bussey combined the two mills as the Dedham Woolen Mills. In so doing, he established Mother Brook's first successful woolen mill, as well as the first fully integrated textile mill. He set up a one stop shop in which everything the carding and combing of the raw materials to the weaving, fulling, and dyeing of the finished product would be done at a single location and under common management. It would also be one of the first mills to produce broadcloth. It was in production between 1824 and 1843.
In September 1827, while John Quincy Adams was vising Massachusetts, he toured the Dedham Woolen Mills. According to Adams, the profits on the mill were small and Bussey "engaged in this undertaking upon patriotic motives."
The selling agents, A.A. Lawrence & Company, sold 20% of the textiles produced in Massachusetts and the rest around the country and as far west as the frontier. There were heavy financial losses in 1837 and 1838, but it was very profitable in other years.

#### Facilities and production

Once Bussey owned both the first and second privileges, he spent a large amount of money to improve them over the next decade. The first thing he did was to lower the dam at the second privilege to increase the water power spinning the wheel. He also expanded the buildings there, building a larger building made of brick. It also burned peat for steam power, making it the most complex and most sophisticated mill ever on Mother Brook.
There was a fire in the dye house in 1827.
By 1832, it was the largest mill on Mother Brook and had new, cast iron machinery valued at $40,000. It processed 375,000 pounds of wool and produced 150,000 yards of cloth. There were 262 employees in the mill that year. They diversified their offerings, and began producing cheaper fabrics for sale, including a less refined form of broadcloth known as cassimere, as well as satinets.
Just two years later, setbacks in the economy caused them to lay off 200 employees and reduce the amount of wool they processed by 300,000 pounds.

#### Management

Bussey's three principal assistants in the Dedham Woolen Mills were George H. Kuhn, John Golding, and Thomas Barrows. Kuhn was Bussey's agent and treasurer. By 1833, he was Bussey's partner in the mill. He later became the executor of Bussey's estate.
Golding was an inventor who received nearly 60 patents in his life. As the overseer of the machinery in Bussey's mills, he was endlessly tinkering with them and made the process of carding much more efficient, and much cheaper. Barrows became the superintendent, and oversaw the day-to-day operations.

#### Female employees

The new machines were larger and more efficient than the old, wooden looms they replaced. They also required more strength to operate than a child could provide, which necessitated a move away from child labor. Instead, the Dedham Woolen Mills began hiring unmarried Yankee women between the ages of 15 and 25.
In 1827, there were about 60 young women working at the mill. They were paid $0.60 a day, compared to the $0.90 a day men were paid.

### Maverick Woolen Mills

Following Bussey's 1842 death, his woolen mill was sold in November 1843 to John Wiley Edmands, one of the partners in the company that served as the mill's selling agent, Amos & Abbot Lawrence. The land was purchased for $30,000 while the machinery, the stock, and materials were sold for more than $45,000. In 1850, he sold half of the company to Gardner Colby. Edmands retained Thomas Barrows as the day-to-day supervisor of the mill. William H. Mann was the bookkeeper.
The partners continued to expand the physical plant and the types of fabric the mills could produce. They added "fancy cassimeres" woven in multiple colors, prints on their satinets, and doeskin. They constructed the brick building today standing next to Condon Park at 202 Bussey St. A smokestack towered high above the mill.

#### Fires

The Maverick Woolen Mill suffered two fires, one in 1854 and one in 1859. The 1854 fire destroyed a storehouse, a press room, and an office. The later fire caused $75,000 in damage when it burned down two wooden structures that housed the spinning and carding departments and a dye house. It also destroyed a four boiler engine that produced 40 horsepower along with the gas element. The Dedham Gas Company was located next door to the mill.

### Merchant's Woolen Company

By the 1870s, the Merchant's Woolen Company had monopolized all of the water in Mother Brook. In 1870, they were the largest taxpayer in town and, when the New York Times wrote about them in 1887, it described the company as "one of the largest [industrial operations] in the state." The company was no longer under local ownership during this time.
The weaving operation at the mill was overseen by George Hewitt.

### Fourth privilege

A fourth mill was established at present-day Stone Mill Drive, just downstream from the third, in 1787 by Aaron Whiting, Joseph Whiting Jr., and Paul Moses. The property was originally part of the grant that established the third privilege in 1682, but at some point, the rights to the land reverted to the town. Two days after acquiring the rights to the land and water for £6, they sold or leased a quarter of the land to Captain Joshua Witherle for £25, a profit of more than 1,500%.
Soon after, a second mill was built and connected to the same wheel as the first mill to produce wire for the new nation's nascent textile industry. The first mill on this site burned in 1809 but was rebuilt with a new raceway and foundation.
The fourth privilege was used for a variety of purposes, especially in the 19th century, including copper cents, paper, cotton, wool, carpets, and handkerchiefs. There were often multiple mills on the site, some of which lasted only a few months before going out of business. The buildings, businesses, properties, and water rights frequently changed hands. Over time, local owners sold to outside investors.
The Norfolk Manufacturing Company's 1835 stone mill still stands today and was converted into a condominium complex in 1986–87.

#### Copper cents

In 1787, the Great and General Court of Massachusetts passed a law establishing a state currency. Witherle was appointed the Master of the Mint and built a small building in his Boston backyard to use as the mint house. He then constructed a rolling mill at the fourth privilege. He took copper, primarily melted down from Revolutionary War-era cannons and mortars, and cast it into ingots. These were then taken to Dedham, where they were rolled into plates and later returned to Boston. The plates were struck in Boston and stamped into one-cent coins.
Witherle had assured the Commonwealth in May 1787 that he was "ready... immediately to proceed," but by January 1788, he had yet to produce a single coin. When the Governor's Council called him in to explain, he cited difficulties in obtaining the appropriate materials and training workers in an industry never before attempted in the area.

### Barrow's Mill

During the American Civil War, the cotton from the American South that had been the raw material for the mills along Mother Brook suddenly disappeared as the Confederate States of America refused to ship it north, and the Union Navy blockaded ships trying to reach international ports. As a result, mills throughout the North quickly switched to using wool instead. The product was in high demand as the federal government needed uniforms, blankets, flannel, and other supplies for the Army.
Thomas Barrows, who had made a small fortune working in woolen mills along Mother Brook, came out of retirement to purchase the Norfolk Cotton Manufacturing Company's mill at the fourth privilege. The mill had been idle since the outbreak of the war. What had previously been popularly called Taft's Mill then became known simply as Barrow's Mill.
Barrow's expanded the original 1835 building and installed new equipment, including a Corliss steam engine, to work with wool instead of cotton. The addition to the building stood at a right angle to the original building and was made out of the same Dedham Granite.
In 1868, the only product the mill produced was a woolen casimere. After the Civil War, however, the demand for wool plummeted amind a glut of mills producing it, and a post-war depression. Barrows sold the mill to the Merchant's Woolen Company, which was operating already on all of the other privileges along Mother Brook.

### Dedham Manufacturing Company

In 1814 a fifth privilege was granted in what was then Dedham, but is today the Readville neighborhood in Hyde Park at the corner of Knight and River Streets. James Read, along with several other partners, opened the Dedham Cotton Manufacturing Company, a wooden, three-story, cotton spinning mill.
The company was incorporated by President David S. Greenough, Samuel Dexter, William Gray, Aaron Davis, Charles Davis, John Grew, and John Guild. These were, for the most part, men from outside of Dedham who were looking for good investments, not local boosters or entrepreneurs. They invested $500,000 into the mill, a sum almost unheard of at the time.
The mill, which was 36' by 170', stood perpendicular to the Brook. On the end facing the street was a gable that housed a bell to signal the start and end of the work day. A dam was constructed and a mill race ran under the mill, powering the wheel. The wheel carded and spun the cotton, which was delivered to the factory by people who picked, whipped, and weaved it in their homes.
The firm's manager, James Richardson, was from Dedham and was also an original corporation member. The first superintendent was Frederick A. Taft. Taft's brother, Ezra Taft, succeeded him as the mill's agent.
The company struggled at first, but eventually prospered. In 1817, Mother Brook's first power loom was installed in the mill. In 1833, the equipment was upgraded again so that it could produce finer print fabrics. By 1827, it had 70 employees and produced 6,000 yards of cloth each week. By 1832, it had machinery valued at $10,000, had 45 employees, and used 75,000 pounds of cotton each year. The fabric they produced were sold throughout New England. Women were paid $0.45 a day, about 1/3 less than what men were paid.
In 1840, shareholders received a semi-annual dividend of 10%. Read, who was the treasurer and largest stockholder in the company, bought out the other investors sometime before 1847. Through the firm of Read and Chadwick, he was also a selling agent for the company's products, as well as those of five other cotton mills in the state.
The company closed in 1861 when the high price of cotton, which rose as a result of the Civil War, made production unprofitable.

## Conflict with Charles River mills and farmers

As Dedham became industrialized and its economic activity increasingly depended on its water power, so did other communities in the Charles River valley. From time to time, mill owners deepened and widened the channel along Mother Brook, pulling in more water from the Charles River. This led to conflict between the mills on Mother Brook and those using the Charles River downstream from the diversion. It also upset farmers on the Brook, as well as landowners on the Charles and Neponset Rivers, where waterways were altered for mills. They saw land used for grazing and agriculture submerged and their topsoil washed away. Farmers and landowners were also upset that manufacturers were exempt from taxation, as the Commonwealth sought to encourage industry and reduce dependence on British goods.
As early as 1767, mill owners in Newton and Watertown petitioned officials for relief from the Mother Brook diversion. A sill was installed to determine the percentage of water diverted into Mother Brook and the percentage that would remain in the Charles. By 1797, mill owners in Needham, Roxbury (today's West Roxbury), and Newton were so upset by the water diverted into Mother Brook that they petitioned the state to restore the Charles to its natural flow. In 1809, mill owners on the Charles formed a trade corporation to advocate for their rights. They argued that diverting the flow of the Charles "from its natural course" into Mother Brook violated their rights and that the river, as a public resource, deserved state protection.
Dedham's mill owners countered that the Charles was simply too shallow and that dams and other diversions on the river diminished its flow. Because water diverted through Mother Brook increased the flow in lower sections of the Neponset River, mill owners on the Neponset joined with those on Mother Brook in defending the diversion. After a special act of the Great and General Court, the mill owners incorporated as the Mother Brook Mill-Owners Association on September 1, 1809.
The Mother Brook Mill-Owners Association and their counterparts on the Charles petitioned the Supreme Judicial Court in March 1809, requesting the appointment of Commissioners of Sewers. The commissioners were tasked with determining the proper amount of water to be diverted into Mother Brook. However, the 1767 sill could not be located, so a new method was established. The Court ruled that one-quarter of the Charles River's flow could be diverted into Mother Brook. Dissatisfied with this solution, the Mother Brook mill owners successfully petitioned the Court to stay its order limiting the flow.
The Sewer Commission did not present its findings to the Court for 12 years. When it finally did, the Mother Brook owners objected, and the report was set aside. In 1825, after another court battle, it was determined that the previous agreement was no longer viable due to the long delay in filing the report and the failure to consider new evidence. Work on the issue resumed from 1829 to 1831, and the dispute was finally settled by an agreement among the mill owners on December 3, 1831. This agreement established that one-third of the Charles River's flow would be diverted to Mother Brook, while two-thirds would remain in the Charles for use by downstream owners. This agreement, reaffirmed in 1955, "brought peace to the valley" after decades of conflict. It remains in effect as of 2017.
In 1895, it was said that Mother Brook was:
   the most audacious attempt of robbery ever recorded in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It was the effort made by Dedham ... to actually steal the river Charles. ... The bold pirates built a canal from the headwaters of the Charles across to the Neponset River, and by widening and deepening this 'Mother Brook' they were gradually robbing their neighboring town of its beautiful waterway.
In 1915, it was estimated that one-third of the water of the Charles River ran through the brook, while in 1938, it was said to be one-half. In 1993, an average of 51 million gallons per day flowed from the Charles into Mother Brook, though this flow could be adjusted depending on water levels further downstream.

## Life along Mother Brook

In the 1800s, as the region and country became more prosperous, mills began to be used for the first time to produce goods not used solely by Dedhamites and those in the immediate area. They were so profitable that by the 1820s, landowning farmers were worried about losing control of town politics. The growth of the industrial part of the town was so great that it was said that the factories, dye houses, dwellings, and other buildings associated with the operation of just one privilege "of themselves constitute a little village."

### Mill Village

Initially, the mills that sprouted up along Mother Brook only employed two or three people each and were largely run seasonally. The grist mills would be busiest in the autumn after the harvest, and the sawmills in the winter and spring when leafless trees could be cut down and transported by sled over snow.
The development of industry spurred the production of housing in the area for the mill workers, and churches, shops, and other businesses followed. For over 100 years, what is today known as East Dedham was one of the most productive and populous areas of town. Maps from the middle of the 19th century show a thickly settled area with a commercial center, homes, stores, and churches.
In 1799, there were three inns, several "elegant mansion-homes," and a number of other houses "very decent in appearance." The population of this Mill Village was growing, and the people, about 10 of whom had "the advantage of a learned education," were described as "industrious, affable, and charitable."
The East Dedham Firehouse was built in 1855 to protect the area. In 1837, Benjamin Bussey underwrote part of the cost of a library above Boyden's Store, which was also the mill store. It was known as the Bussey Social and Circulating Library and was only open to paying members. It failed after a few years for lack of support.
During times of peak production, Merchant's Woolen Company employed about 1,000 people, almost all of whom were immigrants.
In the mid 1800s, a small traveling circus would come to town once a year. It was popular with those who worked in the mills, "surpassing in its manifold attractions even Independence day," but the mill owners and town officials worried that it took too much money out of the town.

### Boarding houses

Every mill on Mother Brook built homes in the area that they rented to employees. As the mills became larger and employed more people, more boarding houses were constructed. In total, by the mid-1800s, there were 33,000 acres of land in East Dedham that were owned by the mills.
Benjamin Bussey built a number of boarding houses, including what is today 303-305-307 High Street, 315 High Street, and 59 Maverick Street. The two buildings on High Street were originally connected by an ell, which remained at least until 1910. They first appear on insurance maps in 1855.
The houses located at 73-75 Milton Street and 81-83 Milton Street were built by Isaac Whiting on land that had been in his family since the early 17th century.
Two other tenements were constructed on Bussey St, just north of Mill Lane, by the Maverick Woolen Company. Unlike the detached and semi-detached buildings that were constructed earlier, these were block-style dormitories in which six to eight girls would share a single room. They may also have housed families of immigrants who were recruited by the mills to come to the United States to work in the mills. To pay for the costs of their passage, both parents and children would work in the mills. The company also owned six houses near where Gould Street intersects with Curve Street, and additional tenements on Bussey and Milton Streets.
In 1870, the Merchant's Woolen Company owned two houses on High Street, five on Maverick, ten on Curve, and two "long houses" on Bussey Street. Several of the homes built during this time to house workers still exist as of 2020. They include what is today 235 and 241 Colburn Street, two "long houses" that were constructed before Colburn Street was laid out and when much of East Dedham was still "open country."
In 1829, the ten men who lived in one such boarding house paid $1.50 per week, and the 15 "girls" each paid $1.25.

### Immigrants

The mills began to attract immigrants from Europe and Canada who came to America seeking employment and a better life. In 1827, it was clear that the industrialization of the waterway was going to attract new workers to the mills. The Irish came beginning with the Great Famine in the 1840s, and the Germans followed in the 1850s. Italians and other immigrants began arriving in large numbers at the end of the century.
Entire families of immigrants would be recruited from abroad by the mill owner's agents to come and work along Mother Brook. Many of these immigrants were Catholic, and attended St. Mary's Church, which was fundraising to build a new building. The mills shut down frequently and for months at a time, putting many out of work and hindering fundraising efforts.

### Working conditions

Working in harsh conditions, many of those who came to Dedham only stayed for a short period of time and then moved on. Large families, often from unproductive farms, were recruited to come and work in the mills. These "family mills" employed adults and children alike, and the workers were often destitute. They had few rights, few alternatives, and were "entirely subject to the control of management." If a mill needed to close temporarily, or if an employee was injured on the job, they could lose not only their jobs but also their company-supplied housing.
Mill employees worked six days a week, 12 hours a day on average, starting at first light. Employees worked for 13 hours a day in the summer and 11 hours a day in the winter. Later, they would work 12-14 hours a day from Monday to Friday, half days on Saturdays, and had Sundays off.
Employees, who were known as "operators" because they operated the machines, were summoned to work in the morning and sent home in the evening by the sound of a bell that could be heard throughout the neighborhood. If they were not inside the mill by the time the bell rang, the gates would be shut and the employee would lose a day's pay. They were given 30-minute breaks in the morning and at midday to eat.
They worked in deafeningly loud rooms full of clattering machines. The work was dull but required constant vigilance to ensure the yarn did not break. The rooms were stuffy, with small windows that were hardly ever open, and with the air thick with lint. The windows did not let in enough light, so small whale oil lamps were hung by pegs on the mechanical carding and spinning machines.
In the early part of the 1800s, there were only two holidays a year: the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving. When Catholics began arriving, they refused to work on Christmas. At first, Protestants performed the dirty tasks such as cleaning the privies that the Catholic employees typically did, but around 1860, it became a holiday for all.
Overseers wielded tremendous power over their employees. An employee could be fired for sitting, talking, or reading while on the job. There was typically a list of other young women who were ready to take any open position.

### Child labor

The vast majority of employees who worked in the mills were children under 16. Newspaper ads specifically sought families with multiple children or children alone to come and work in the mills. The machines were simple to operate, and a single adult could monitor the work of many children working the machines.
When Josiah Quincy III visited a similar mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, he reported "a dull dejection in the countenances of all" the children working there and thought that they should instead be given "air, space, and sports." In 1842, a state law capped the number of hours a child under 12 could work in a mill at 10 a day.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts mandated that every child under the age of 15 attend school for three out of the preceding 12 months before they could be employed in 1836. In Dedham, students in Mill Village were attending eight weeks of school annually by 1807 or 1808. By the 1860s, the summer session lasted for 20 weeks, but when large numbers of children began being hired, the neighborhood school was shut down.

### Female labor

Women, who had fewer employment options, could be paid less than men. At the Dedham Woolen Mills, they were paid $0.60 per day, compared to the $0.90 a day men earned.
With the advent of mills producing large amounts of textiles, these young women were no longer needed at home to weave their own cloth for clothing. They typically only stayed in the jobs for a few years before they got married and, if there was ever a layoff, they could always go home to their families.
Working in a mill provided a level of independence to young women who grew up living on an isolated farm. They could live with other young women, and earn their own wages which they may choose to spend on themselves or perhaps help support their families. Most heard of job opportunities through word of mouth, and came to work with friends who proceeded them.
To attract educated women from good families who had respect for authority, mill owners in the region had to assure their families that they women would be well cared for. They took pains to distinguish themselves from the poor living conditions in Britain for factory workers.
The boarding houses in which the women would live were supervised by a married couple of a matron, and there was a "strict system of moral police." Many boarding houses provided opportunities for the women living in them to engage in cultural enrichment and education, including book clubs, lectures, recitals, and group outings, though it is unclear to what extent these existing in the boarding houses along Mother Brook.
The cost of room and board was deducted directly from paychecks and paid directly to the boarding houses themselves, providing an incentive for matrons to skimp on the provisions. There were strict house rules, including curfews. A single bed would typically be shared by two or three women, and there was no privacy afforded to them. Women living in the boarding houses were required to attend church on Sundays.
After the steam engine made it possible to place factories away from water power, they began proliferating. The increased competition drove owners to cut the amenities that they offered to female employees in the boarding houses. As a result, by the mid-1840s, a few years of independence working in a mill was less attractive to American women from middle class families. They began to leave the mills and were replaced by immigrants.
By the 1850s, women working in the mills considered themselves lucky to earn $2.50 a week. There was no regular pay day; instead, women would go to the mill's counting room when they needed money and it would be given to them from what they had in their account. They were served the same meals, always with small portions and of poor quality, every day. One day a week their dinners consisted of bread and milk only. They sat on benches, as chairs were considered a luxury, as were rugs.

## 20th century and the decline of industry

In 1900, and even 1915, after "275 years of constant usefulness," the brook made up "the source of the principal business of the town [of Dedham]." Though the mills remained open into the 20th century, they were not immune from the larger economic forces at play. In the late 1800s, they began "losing ground in the national economic picture, inexorably sliding into an increasingly marginal sort of operation, and finally succumbing entirely to the slump which followed the First World War." Beginning in the 1910s and 1920s, they began to close as the textile industry was in decline, and by 1986 the cotton mills and brick factories that once lined the brook were "long gone."
In the 1960s, the pond at the fifth privilege had been drained, and the landowner wanted to build a strip mall on the site. The Department of Conservation and Recreation purchased the land instead. They cleaned up a junkyard, dredged out silt and fill, rebuilt the dam, and published a plan to promote boating, hiking, and other outdoor activities on the site. It also spoke about building a bathhouse, assuming the water quality improved. When the Dedham Mall was built in the 1960s, part of the brook was piped underground.
The sill placed at the mouth has since been replaced with a mechanical floodgate that can be raised or lowered depending on water levels in the Charles. There is a small brick building on the site with the floodgate controls. It was proposed in 1978 to use the three remaining dams on the brook to generate hydroelectric power. In 2009, the Dedham Selectmen proposed designating the brook as a historic waterway to better qualify for grants.

### Pollution

During the early 1900s, the state Board of Health began enforcing pollution regulations that prevented additional manufacturing enterprises from setting up along the brook, having "resolutely set its decision against the pollution of this stream." One plant was required to install an expensive filtration system to clean its liquid waste before dumping it in the waterway.
In 1910, the water being pumped by the Town of Hyde Park at Mother Brook was deemed unsafe for use without first boiling, and in 1911 that town applied to be hooked up to the metropolitan water system. By 1944, the Neponset was said to be "loaded with putrefaction."
When marshlands were reclaimed in the 1960s, it was partially for the purposes of flood control. One of those reclaimed areas was where the Dedham Mall now stands, very near the headwaters of the brook. The runoff from that 150-acre (61 ha) development, however, flowed into the brook and then the Neponset, which could not handle the extra water during heavy rains.
By the mid-20th century, "after over 300 years of industrial use, the Mother Brook was intensely polluted." Gasoline, PCBs, and even raw sewage had been dumped into the brook over the years. An oil spill of 1,300 gallons was discovered near Milton Street in 1975, and gasoline was discovered bubbling into the brook in 1990. L. E. Mason Co. was fined $250,000 by the Environmental Protection Agency for dumping trichloroethylene into the brook from 1986 to 1994. The company was also known to dump zinc, fats, oils, and greases into the waterway.
During the 1990s, a science teacher at Dedham High School and her chemistry students ran water quality tests on the brook. She found that water quality is good, though fecal coliform counts allow only partial body contact. While great progress has been made, in 2017, Mother Brook remained one of the most polluted tributaries to the Neponset River. Unlike most waterways in the Neponset watershed, Mother Brook is less polluted during heavy rains than during drier times, due to the abundance of clean Charles River water flowing into it.

### Cleanups and maintenance

After centuries of industrialization and dumping, Mother Brook became quite polluted. Cleanups have been organized by a number of groups in recent decades.
In 2007, the brook was redirected under Hyde Park Avenue by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to clean up the PCBs that had previously been dumped into the water. That cleanup led to a federal lawsuit over who would pay for the cost of the remediation. Ten years later, in 2017, the Department of Conservation and Recreation unveiled plans to remove several trees and overgrown vegetation close to the diversion point at the Charles River in order to stabilize and protect the dam controlling the flow of water from the river into the brook.

## Modern day

Today along the banks of the brook are walking trails, a picnic area, a canoe launch, Condon Park, a handicapped accessible playground, and more. The Mother Brook Community Group won a grant from Dedham Savings to turn the old Town Beach at the intersection of Bussey and Colburn Street into a passive park with an observation deck, benches, landscaping, and a stone path. Mill Pond Park opened on July 12, 2014. The Community Group has also opened more areas of the Brook back up to fishing, and the catches are safe to eat in moderate amounts.
In 1961, an incinerator was opened at the site of the old bathhouse. It was eventually converted into a trash transfer station, but was shut down in 2019. After closing, the Town's Department of Public Works used it for storage and, in 2024, a survey was taken of Town residents of what they wanted to see in a future use of the site.
At the 2015 Fall Annual Town Meeting, the town established the Mother Brook 375th Anniversary Committee. Serving on it were Dan Hart, Nicole Keane, Brian Keaney, Vicky L. Krukeberg, Charlie Krueger, Gerri Roberts, and Jean Ford Webb. An historical district consisting of the mill pond along Colburn Street and 12 nearby properties was created as the Mother Brook Lower Mill Pond Historic District on March 12, 2025. It is being submitted to the National Park Service for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

## National Register of Historic Places

In the 2010s, the Mother Brook Community Group, the East Dedham neighborhood association, began a campaign to get Mother Brook listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The results of the first phase of the effort, an architectural study of the Brook and adjoining areas, were completed by Heritage Consultants and presented in January 2020. The consultants discovered over 70 buildings, areas, and structures still standing that relate in some way to the history of the mills. They include:
* 202 Bussey St., which was originally built circa 1855 as the Merchant Woolen Company's Factory Mill Number 2. It originally housed a carpenter's shop with spinning machines on the upper floors.
* Two private homes on Maverick and High Streets that were built as boarding houses for workers of the Maverick Woolen companies circa 1825. Room and board at these establishments cost $1.50 a week for men and $1.25 for women in 1829, when there were ten men and 15 women living there.
* Brookdale Cemetery, which was built to accommodate a swelling population that moved to town to work in the mills.
The consultants' research was submitted to the Massachusetts Historical Commission, which will determine whether Mother Brook qualifies for the National Register listing.

## Accidents and floods
### Floods

In 1886, waters flooded their banks and put the dams, especially the one at Merchant's Mill, in danger of breaching. There were fears that a dam in Dover would give way, and the resulting rush of water would destroy the Dedham dam. Prior to this, Merchant's Mill was considered impregnable. It was one of the greatest floods Dedham Center had ever seen.
Streets in the Manor section of Dedham had water two to three feet deep when the brook flooded in March 1936. Rain and melting snow caused the Charles and Mother Brook to flood their banks in 1948, putting some parts of Dedham underwater.
Ice chunks at two of the dams caused flooding in 1955. Firefighters sprayed high-pressure water at the ice jam off Milton Street, and a crane scooped out debris from the dam and broke the ice at Maverick Street. The water level dropped two feet that day as a result.
Later that year, during the worst floods in New England's history, 150 people in Hyde Park had to evacuate their homes after floodwaters from Mother Brook and the Neponset River collapsed preventative embankments. Mayor John Hynes led an inspection party to survey the damage. Roads, including the V.F.W. Parkway, were flooded in Dedham. That fall, the state approved $2 million for flood control in Mother Brook and the Neponset. Another $2 million was approved by the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1960.
A team of 120 men descended on Hyde Park at the junction of the Neponset and Mother Brook with 1,200 sandbags to prevent flooding in March 1958. The water was already threatening homes and roads in January of that year. At least "a couple hundred" residents along the Charles, Neponset, and Mother Brook had to be evacuated when those rivers flooded in 1968. The worst area in town was along Bussey St., along the brook.

#### 1938 flood

In 1938, while much of the Charles and Neponset Rivers were flooding their banks and causing $3,000,000 in damage, the area around Mother Brook was unharmed in the early days of the surge. Dams along the brook controlled the heavy flow of water, which was said to be 15,000 cubic feet per second. It was close to the level of the 1936 flood but six inches below the flood of 1920.
Scores of homes in low-lying areas eventually had their basements flooded, and the wooden bridge at Maverick Street was threatened. Sandbags, an oil truck, and granite slabs were placed on the bridge to keep it from washing away. The Boston Envelope Company, located next to the bridge, had its first floor flooded.
Three young men who tried to canoe down the Charles during the 1938 flood were overturned in a whirlpool and were swept down the swollen Mother Brook. They were saved after an East Street rescuer ran 500 yards and tossed them a garden hose.

### Drownings and rescues

Over the years, there have been a number of accidents on the brook, including some resulting in drownings. In December 1905, a 12-year-old boy named James Harnett drowned while skating across ice only half an inch thick on Mill Pond. His brother William, 17, rushed to save him, but both ended up in the water. The older brother was saved by a human chain of other skaters, while the younger boy's body was recovered by police an hour later.
An 8-year-old boy fell through the ice and was underwater for 20 minutes in 1980. A passing motorist and three others dove into the brook but were not able to locate him. A WHDH radio traffic helicopter broke the ice with its pontoons, allowing Boston firefighters to spot and recover David Tundidor's body. He was in a medically induced coma, but died four days later.
Others have been more fortunate and were able to be rescued. After sneaking out of the house in July 1899, 13-year-old William Dennen dove off a bridge near his house on Emmett Ave to save the life of 7-year-old Mary Bouchard, who had fallen in. John F. McGraw, a 33-year-old Scottish immigrant, attempted suicide by drowning in the brook in 1916. After going over a dam and landing in shallow water, the father of three climbed onto shore and was taken to the psychiatric hospital for evaluation. Paul Flanagan, 23, survived for 3.5 hours in the water after his car plunged into the brook in February 1983. He was brought to Norwood Hospital with hypothermia and was later released.
Two boys claimed to have found a human leg in the brook in 1937, but police could not find either the leg or the body.

### Other events

In April 1878, a "balky horse" sent six people into the brook, but none were injured. A similar incident occurred in 1837 when a thirsty horse brought himself, the teamster driving him, and the load of paper he was carrying from the mills in Dedham to Braintree into the brook.
Moments after leaving Dedham Square for Forest Hills in 1911, a streetcar jumped the track on Washington Street and dangled 35 passengers over the brook. Only two minor injuries were reported. A cat was saved from a flooded culvert in 1938 by a team of neighborhood boys after the Dedham Fire Department was unable to do so. A 13-year-old boy, William Sullivan, was kneeling on a raft in 1956 behind Brookdale Cemetery when his friend accidentally shot him in the leg with a .32 caliber gun.

## Mills
### First privilege

The first privilege was located next to present-day Condon Park, at the corner of Bussey St and Colburn St.
| Year | Owner | Manager | Product | Notes | Image |
| 1641 | John Elderkin | John Elderkin | Corn | | |
| 1642 | 50%: Nathaniel Whiting, 50% John Allin, Nathaniel Aldis, John Dwight | | Corn | | |
| 1649 | Nathaniel Whiting | Nathaniel Whiting | Corn | | |
| 1652 | John Dwight, Francis Chickering, Joshua Fisher, John Morse | | Corn | Sold for 250 pounds | |
| 1653 | Nathaniel Whiting | Nathaniel Whiting | Corn | | |
| 1821 | Dedham Worsted Company | | Worsted | | |
| 1824 | Benjamin Bussey | Thomas Barrows was superintendent and George H. Kuhn was treasurer. | Wool | Bussey erected machine shops, dye houses, and dwellings at both of his mills. Privileges 1 and 2 were under common ownership during this time. | |
| 1843 | J. Wiley Edmunds | | Wool | Bussey erected machine shops, dye houses, and dwellings at both of his mills. Privileges 1 and 2 were under common ownership during this time. | |
| 1843 | Maverick Woolen Company | Thomas Barrows | Wool | Bussey erected machine shops, dye houses, and dwellings at both of his mills. Privileges 1 and 2 were under common ownership during this time. | |
| 1863 | Merchants Woolen Company | | Wool | Bussey erected machine shops, dye houses, and dwellings at both of his mills. Privileges 1 and 2 were under common ownership during this time. | Map showing the mill from 1885 |
| 1895 | Edward D. Thayer | | Wool | Bussey erected machine shops, dye houses, and dwellings at both of his mills. Privileges 1 and 2 were under common ownership during this time. | Map showing the mill from 1897 |
| 1909 | Hodge's Finishing Company | Fred H. Hodges | Bleach and Finish Cotton Pieces; Metal and Rubber Faced Type | Employed 50 people, had six boilers, produced 35,000 yards per day, and had an office in New York City at 320 Broadway. | Map showing the mill from July 1909 |
| 1938–Present Day | Condon Park | | N/A | After closing, the Hodges' factory sat empty for 20 years. The walls of the Hodge's factory were knocked into the foundation, and Condon Park was constructed over it. As of 2020, Mill #2 at 202 Bussey St is all that remains of the complex. It housed the carpentry shop on the first floor and spinning frames on the upper levels. | |

### Second privilege

The second privilege was located at present-day Maverick Street.
| Year | Owner | Manager | Product | Notes | Image |
| 1664 | Ezra Morse | Ezra Morse | Corn | Removed in 1699 | |
| Early 1700s | Joseph Lewis | | Leather | | |
| 1807 | Norfolk Cotton Manufactory | | Cotton | Ruined by War of 1812 | |
| 1819 | Benjamin Bussey | Thomas Barrows was superintendent and George H. Kuhn was treasurer. | Wool | Bussey erected machine shops, dye houses, and dwellings at both of his mills. Privileges 1 and 2 under common ownership after 1824. | |
| 1843 | J. Wiley Edmunds | | Wool | Bussey erected machine shops, dye houses, and dwellings at both of his mills. Privileges 1 and 2 under common ownership after 1824. | |
| 1843 | Maverick Woolen Company | Thomas Barrows | Wool | Bussey erected machine shops, dye houses, and dwellings at both of his mills. Privileges 1 and 2 under common ownership after 1824. | |
| 1863 | Merchants Woolen Company | | Wool | Bussey erected machine shops, dye houses, and dwellings at both of his mills. Privileges 1 and 2 under common ownership after 1824. | Map showing the mill in 1892 |
| 1895 | Edward D. Thayer | | Wool | Bussey erected machine shops, dye houses, and dwellings at both of his mills. Privileges 1 and 2 under common ownership after 1824. | Map showing the mill from 1897 |
| Between 1909 & 1917 | Dedham Finishing Company | | | | Map showing the mill from September 1917 |
| 1936 | Boston Envelope Company | | Envelopes | Could produce 800,000 envelopes a day when it opened. The company owned and maintained a park on the other side of Maverick Street, at the corner of High. Mill Pond, which sits downstream from the factory, would become colored when the factory dumped dye into the water. | |
| Present Day | AliMed | | Medical products and supplies | | Mill Pond with Canada geese as seen from Bussey St. AliMed can be seen in the background. |

### Third privilege

The third privilege was located at present-day Saw Mill Lane.
| Year | Owner | Manager | Product | Notes |
| 1682 | Nathaniel Whiting and James Draper | | There were several mills on the site. The first was for fulling, which by the mid-1800s was partially used for cabinet making and possibly hat making. Later were added a grist mill and, around 1700, a saw mill. | Whiting died on the day the selectmen granted him the rights to erect a mill on the site. Whiting's descendants owned the mill for over 180 years. |
| 1682-1863 | Descendants of Nathaniel Whiting | | There were several mills on the site. The first was for fulling, which by the mid-1800s was partially used for cabinet making and possibly hat making. Later were added a grist mill and, around 1700, a saw mill. | Whiting died on the day the selectmen granted him the rights to erect a mill on the site. Whiting's descendants owned the mill for over 180 years. |
| 1863 | Edmunds and Colby | | | |
| 1864 | Thomas Barrows | Between 1868 and 1885, first Charles C. Sanderson then Goding Brothers | | |
| 1872 | Merchants Woolen Company | Between 1868 and 1885, first Charles C. Sanderson then Goding Brothers | | |
| 1875 | Royal O. Storrs & Company | Between 1868 and 1885, first Charles C. Sanderson then Goding Brothers | | |
| 1883 | Merchants Woolen Company | Between 1868 and 1885, first Charles C. Sanderson then Goding Brothers | Saw and grist mill | When they went out of business, it was the first time in 240 years there was no grist mill on Mother Brook. |
| 1885 | | | | The old mills were torn down, the dam removed, and the privilege merged with the fourth privilege. |
| 1894 | J. Eugene Cochrane | N/A | Closed and merged with the fourth privilege. | Third and fourth privileges under common ownership. By this time, there was little left of the former mills except the raceways and a few wheels left standing in the water. |
| 1897 | Cochrane Manufacturing Company | N/A | Closed and merged with the fourth privilege. | Third and fourth privileges under common ownership. By this time, there was little left of the former mills except the raceways and a few wheels left standing in the water. |
| Present day | Strip mall and Dunkin' Donuts | | | |

### Fourth privilege

The fourth privilege's first mill was located at present day Stone Mill Drive. There were multiple mills at this location over the years, sometimes with multiple mills operating simultaneously.
| Year | Owner | Manager | Product | Notes | Image |
| 1787 | Captain Joshue Witherle | | Copper blanks to be turned into pennies | Joseph Whiting, Jr., Paul Moses, Aaron Whiting were granted the land by the town, and they either sold or leased a portion to Witherle. | |
| ~1789-1807 | Joshua Witherle | | Wire for wool cards | | |
| April 1799-April 1801 | Herman Mann and Daniel Poor | | Paper | The partnership between Mann and Poor only lasted six months. Poor ran the mill alone until 1801 when it was auctioned off in a sheriff's sale, presumably for defaulting on the lease. | |
| 1804 | George Bird | | Paper | Bird purchased the mill at auction after Poor lost it. Burned and rebuilt in 1809. | |
| ? - 1814 | | | Wire | | |
| 1814-1819 | Arnold Wells | | Nails | | |
| 1819-1826 | Jabez Chickering | Mr. Miller | Wool carding | This was done in the former nail factory. |
| 1819 | | | | Bird had been quietly buying up land along Mother Brook. In 1819, he bought all of the waterpower, buildings, and land at the fourth privilege for $8,000. For a time, he leased one building there to Jabez Chickering for a carding mill. | |
| 1823 | George Bird and Frederick A. Taft, Norfolk Manufacturing Company | Calvin Guild | Cotton | Taft was an experienced cotton manufacturer from Uxbridge, Massachusetts. He consolidated several properties at the site in the 1820s using investors from Boston and gave control to his brother, Ezra W. Taft, a Dedham resident. By 1827, between 200 and 300 workers produced 50 to 60 bolts of cloth each week. The machines ran 14 hours a day. Used the machinery of the Norfolk Cotton Factory at the first privilege. | |
| 1830 | Norfolk Manufacturing Company | John Lemist and Frederick A. Taft | Cotton | The paper mill burned again in 1832 and 1843. It was the fourth mill to burn on the same site. | |
| 1832 | Norfolk Manufacturing Company | John Lemist and Ezra W. Taft | Cotton | In 1835, the stone mill which now stands upon the site was erected using Dedham Granite and was supplied with new machinery for the manufacture of cotton goods. The original building stood three stories high and measured 100' long by 40' wide. It had a gable roof with a clerestory monitor that brought light into the attic. The stone bell tower was capped with columns supporting a domed cupola. The Corporation prospered under Mr Taft's management. By the middle of the century it was producing 650,000 yards of cotton a year. Ezra W. Taft continued to be the agent and manager of the corporation for about 30 years. An unused building nearby was used by Edward Holmes and Thomas Dunbar beginning in 1846 for their wheelwright business using steam power. Taft's paper mill mill burned on July 17, 1846. | |
| ~1835 | Norfolk Manufacturing Company | James Reed and Ezra W. Taft | Cotton | In 1835, the stone mill which now stands upon the site was erected using Dedham Granite and was supplied with new machinery for the manufacture of cotton goods. The original building stood three stories high and measured 100' long by 40' wide. It had a gable roof with a clerestory monitor that brought light into the attic. The stone bell tower was capped with columns supporting a domed cupola. The Corporation prospered under Mr Taft's management. By the middle of the century it was producing 650,000 yards of cotton a year. Ezra W. Taft continued to be the agent and manager of the corporation for about 30 years. An unused building nearby was used by Edward Holmes and Thomas Dunbar beginning in 1846 for their wheelwright business using steam power. Taft's paper mill mill burned on July 17, 1846. | |
| 1863 | Thomas Barrows | | Wool | Barrows enlarged the mill and installed turbines and a steam engine. | |
| 1872 | Merchants Woolen Company | | Wool | | |
| 1875 | Royal O. Storrs and Frederick R. Storrs | | Wool | Went out of business | |
| 1882 | Merchants Woolen Company | | Wool | | |
| 1894 | J. Eugene Cochrane | | Carpets and handkerchiefs | Third and fourth privileges under common ownership | |
| 1897 | Cochrane Manufacturing Company | Norfolk Mills | Carpets and handkerchiefs | Third and fourth privileges under common ownership | Map showing the mill from 1903 |
| After 1917 | Closed | | | | Map showing the mill from 1917 |
| Before 1927 | United Waste Company | | Wool, reclaimed fabric, and cloth recycling | This was the final industrial use of the property. | |
| 1930s | United Waste Company | | Shoddy wool | This was the final industrial use of the property. | |
| 1986 | Bergmeyer Development Co. | Re-purposed for 86 condominiums | | Purchase price was $1.6 million. A 25' waterfall runs through the complex. Fires burned various sections of the complex in the 1980s. | |
| Present day | Stone Mill Condominiums | | | | Mother Brook with Stone Mill Condos Centennial Dam and Stone Mill condos Stone Mill condos |
The fourth privilege's second mill was located at present day Stone Mill Drive.
| Year | Owner | Manager | Product | Notes |
| ~1787 | | Ruggles Whiting | Wire | |
| 1814 | | Ruggles Whiting | Nails | |
| 1819 | George Bird | | Paper | Bird already owned the first mill at the fourth privilege |

### Fifth privilege

The fifth privilege was located at the corner of Knight St. and River St. in Readville.
| Year | Owner | Manager | Product | Notes |
| 1814 | Dedham Manufacturing Company | | Cotton | Original buildings made of wood |
| 1867 | Nine men | | Cotton | |
| 1875 | Smithfield Manufacturing Company | | Cotton | Built brick mills, and lost them to the mortgager |
| 1879 | Royal C. Taft | | Cotton | |
| 1879 | B.B. & R. Knight Cotton | Manchaug Company | Cotton | Rebuilt the dam, put in new wheels, and made other improvements. |
| 1922 | Francis W. Smith | | The mill was expected to be closed and leveled. | The main building of the plant is of brick, measuring 331 feet long by 59 feet wide on average. The sale included several other parcels and buildings, including tenements and a superintendent's house. |
| | Condominiums | | | |
| Present day | Part of Stony Brook Reservation | | | |

## Bridges

Today, after diverting from the Charles, Mother Brook immediately runs under a bridge on Providence Highway. When it was constructed, a tablet was erected on the bridge commemorating the brook. Shortly thereafter, it runs under a culvert at the Dedham Mall before appearing again at the transfer station and running to the Washington Street Bridge. It then crosses under Maverick Street, Bussey Street, and Saw Mill Lane, sites of three old mills. Within the Mother Brook Condominium complex, just downstream from Centennial Dam, the brook runs under a small bridge that connects North Stone Mill Drive and South Stone Mill Drive. After entering Hyde Park, it runs under bridges at River Street and Reservation Road before merging with the Neponset.
Various improvements to the bridges have been proposed and carried out over the years by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Town of Dedham, the City of Boston, and private interests.

## Recreation

For many years, Mother Brook was a popular boating, bathing, and ice skating destination. According to one contemporary, in the winters of the 1870s and 1880s the "youth then gathered on the ice [to ice skate] must have numbered in the hundreds."

### Swimming

A public bathhouse was constructed in 1898 at a cost of $700 on what is today Incinerator Road at the Dedham Mall. The Brook would be dredged in this area occasionally to create better swimming conditions, and the Town maintained the beach area.
While Dedham had a Commissioner of Mother Brook, during the early 20th century, the Planning Board was responsible for the recreation aspects of the brook, appointing a special police officer and life-saver, and running swimming and diving competitions.
In 1907, afternoons on Tuesdays and Fridays were set aside for women's use. Girls 16 and under were allowed in free, while those older were charged 5 cents. The youngest member of the Parks Commission, J. Vincent Reilly, taught crowds of more than 200 how to swim.
While the Town provided a dock in the water for bathers to jump off, some would jump off the New York, New Haven, and Hartford railroad bridge that ran across the Brook on its way to Dedham station.
The bathhouse burned down in 1923, and a proposal in 1924 to rebuild it was expected to receive an unfavorable recommendation from the Warrant Committee. A new one was constructed in 1925.
By the 1940s, games and swim meets were held at the bathhouse at the end of the summer. The swimming competitions drew crowds of 800. The bathhouse closed at the end of the summer of 1952 out of concerns that the water was too polluted.
The swimming area at present-day Mill Pond Park was considered a perk of working at the Boston Envelope Company in 1936.

### Boating and fishing

A canoeist in 1893 wrote of his trip down the brook that upon entering from the Charles, he:
   bid adieu to the flat marshlands and broad views of the farther river, for the little brook carries us through varied scenery—now by a barnyard with its lowing cattle, ducks splashing and dibbing in the water, and a dilapidated old carryall backed into the stream, left to wash itself, and then into the cool woodlands, where we can almost touch the banks on either hand. And the green alder bushes arch over our heads, forming a cool and shady tunnel.
   The water is so shallow that we see plainly the brilliantly colored pebbles on the bottom and daintily hued little fish darting hither and thither. It is a busy, brawling stream and hurries on to join the Neponset, industriously turning the numerous mills on the way.
In at least the 1930s and 1940s, the state Division of Fish and Game stocked the brook with trout for fishing. The banks were lined with fishermen during parts of 1941.

### Open space and parks

Future Supreme Court justice Louis D. Brandeis wrote to William Beltran De Las Casas, the Chairman of the Metropolitan Park Commission, in 1905, asking him to consider including the brook in the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston. He said, "unique in the metropolitan district. It is quite like the Maine woods." He added that if it was added, though it is separated from the rest of the parks, "the future interests of our metropolitan park system would in my opinion be greatly subserved." De Las Casas agreed with Brandeis, but the mill owners in the area threatened to sue to prevent the action, and the costs of taking it by eminent domain were high.
In 1915, it was said that well-kept gardens could be seen along both sides of the length of the brook.
In 1968, the Metropolitan Park Commission applied for an "Open Spaces Grant" from the federal government, during which time part of the area near the headwaters was being drained to build the Dedham Mall. The Boston Natural Areas Fund conserved a lot along the brook in 1980 as "green relief from massed buildings and pavement." The City of Boston built a new park on Reservation Road in 1999, shoring up the banks of the brook while they worked. The project on the six-acre site included a skateboard park, a landscaped nature area along the brook, and a cleanup of contaminants.