Dedham Woolen Mills

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The Dedham Woolen Mills was a company on Mother Brook in Dedham, Massachusetts.

Ownership and incorporation

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In 1824, Benjamin Bussey purchased the Dedham Worsted Company mill after its collapse, which was just three years after they opened.[1][2][3][4][5] He obtained the land, the buildings, machinery, and water rights in the purchase.[4] This was his second mill on Mother Brook, after the Norfolk Cotton Company.[4]

Bussey combined the two mills as the Dedham Woolen Mills.[6] In so doing, he established Mother Brook's first successful woolen mill, as well as the first fully integrated textile mill.[7] 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.[7] It would also be one of the first mills to produce broadcloth.[8] It was in production between 1824 and 1843.[4]

In September 1827, while John Quincy Adams was vising Massachusetts, he toured the Dedham Woolen Mills.[9] According to Adams, the profits on the mill were small and Bussey "engaged in this undertaking upon patriotic motives."[8]

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.[8] There were heavy financial losses in 1837 and 1838, but it was very profitable in other years.[10]

Facilities and production

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Once Bussey owned both the first and second privileges, he spent a large amount of money to improve them over the next decade.[11] The first thing he did was to lower the dam at the second privilege to increase the water power spinning the wheel.[11] He also expanded the buildings there, building a larger building made of brick.[11] It also burned peat for steam power, making it the most complex and most sophisticated mill ever on Mother Brook.[8]

There was a fire in the dye house in 1827.[12]

By 1832, it was the largest mill on Mother Brook and had new, cast iron machinery valued at $40,000.[8] It processed 375,000 pounds of wool and produced 150,000 yards of cloth.[8] There were 262 employees in the mill that year.[8] 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.[13]

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.[12]

Management

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Bussey's three principal assistants in the Dedham Woolen Mills were George H. Kuhn, John Golding, and Thomas Barrows.[6][2] Kuhn was Bussey's agent and treasurer.[6][a] By 1833, he was Bussey's partner in the mill.[6] He later became the executor of Bussey's estate.[6]

Golding was an inventor who received nearly 60 patents in his life.[14] 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.[11] Barrows became the superintendent, and oversaw the day-to-day operations.[11]

Female employees

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The new machines were larger and more efficient than the old, wooden looms they replaced.[15] They also required more strength to operate than a child could provide, which necessitated a move away from child labor.[15] Instead, the Dedham Woolen Mills began hiring unmarried Yankee women between the ages of 15 and 25.[15]

In 1827, there were about 60 young women working at the mill.[8] They were paid $0.60 a day, compared to the $0.90 a day men were paid.[12]

Notes

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  1. ^ Kuhn's account book is now in the archives of the Dedham Historical Society.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Worthington 1900, p. 6.
  2. ^ a b Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 39.
  3. ^ "The Dedham Historical Society & Museum's "Trivia Time"". The Dedham Times. Vol. 29, no. 41. October 15, 2021. p. 18.
  4. ^ a b c d Neiswander 2024, p. 56.
  5. ^ Wilson, Mary Jane (2006). "Benjamin Bussey, Woodland Hill, and the Creation of the Arnold Arboretum" (PDF). Arnoldia. 64 (1). Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University: 2–9. doi:10.5962/p.250991.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Neiswander 2024, p. 59.
  7. ^ a b Neiswander 2024, p. 56, 59.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Neiswander 2024, p. 62.
  9. ^ Neiswander 2024, p. 61-62.
  10. ^ Neiswander 2024, p. 65-66.
  11. ^ a b c d e Neiswander 2024, p. 60.
  12. ^ a b c Neiswander 2024, p. 65.
  13. ^ Neiswander 2024, p. 66.
  14. ^ Neiswander 2024, p. 59-60.
  15. ^ a b c Neiswander 2024, p. 63.

Works cited

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  • Neiswander, Judith (2024). Mother Brook and the Mills of East Dedham. Damianos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-941573-66-2.