Nathaniel Whiting (mill owner)

He owned several mills on Mother Brook and is said to have dug the canal, the first man-made water way in America.

[9] 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.

[11][12][13] 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.

[10] 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.

[10][14][15][16] The 4,000 foot ditch was ordered to be dug at public expense by the Town on March 25, 1639,[17][14][12][10][16][b] and a tax was levied on settlers to pay for it.

[14][10][12][c] 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.[14][19][12] This was the first public utility in the nation.

[5] In January 1653 the Town offered land to Robert Crossman if he would build a mill on the Charles where Abraham Shaw had originally intended, before the construction of Mother Brook.

Daniel Pond and Ezra Morse were then given permission by the Town to erect a new corn mill on the brook above Whiting's, so long as it was completed by June 24, 1665.

[28] Two years later Morse was instructed to not hinder the water flow to such an extent that it would make milling difficult for Whiting.

"[10] At the same time, Whiting was also told to repair leaks in his own dam before complaining about a lack of water.

[21][29][10] Trouble and disputes, including a lawsuit,[30] continued between the two until 1678 when Town Meeting voted not to hear any more complaints from Whiting.

[10] A condition was attached to this permission, however, that if the Town wanted to erect a corn mill on the brook that they may do so, unless Draper and Whiting did so at their own expense.

[35][28] 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.

[10] For a short period of time it produced copper cents, and then was used to manufacture paper.