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