Content Brook

Content Brook is the principal brook of East Billerica and one of the larger tributaries of the Shawsheen River. It rises at Long Pond, just over the line in Tewksbury, and runs south past Pond Street into Richardson Pond, then east along the old bed of the Middlesex Canal and the Boston and Maine railroad yard, under Gray Street by the old East Billerica station, north of Andover Road behind Newport Drive, Morningside Drive and Brookside Drive, and under Whipple Road at Pattenville, entering the Shawsheen a short distance inside Tewksbury. Henry A. Hazen described it in 1883 as it "winds toward the Shawshin, and welcomes the 'Little Content' on its way, the latter rising east of Fox Hill." The state counts 2.4 miles of brook from the outlet of Richardson Pond to the river.

Its first name was Alewife Brook. Hazen explained that "the plain beyond soon probably received the name 'Content'; then the meadow, and before long brook, meadow, and plain were all 'Content.'" The crossing of the country road was Content Bridge, the meadow above it Content Meadow, and the tributary from Fox Hill the Little Content. Because of its mills the brook was also "the mill Brooke, called content Brooke" as early as 1663, and the town reports of the 1940s still called the Whipple Road crossing Mill Brook; it should not be confused with the Mill Brook of South Billerica. Hazen dismissed as "without foundation" a Brown family tradition that tied the naming of the brook to a Baldwin marriage.

The brook appears in the first division of meadow in 1658. Eight lots began "at the pond below foxes hill, and so down Alewife brooke," from the mouth of Long Pond to John Baldwin's lot near Pattenville, and the committee was "from y^e ponde down the brook to Content bridge" to lay out the lots "crosse the meddows on both sides the brook." The country road to Andover, laid out in 1660, ran from Fox Hill to "a meadow, called Content meadow," between the lots of Jonathan Danforth and Samuel Kinsley, and the Content highway of 1661 went "ouer little content brook, and so ouer ailwife brook." In 1663 men who had lost land to Mrs. Winthrop's farm were given lots "vpon the playne beyond the mill Brooke, called content Brooke," and in 1664 a highway was ordered "beginning on y^e east of content bridge," which Hazen took to be the road from the depot to Pattenville. Lots near Content Brook closed the circuit of the great division of 1708.

Hazen thought the first mill in Billerica stood at Pattenville. John Parker owned two large lots there and "a mill-pond is mentioned there in 1664," so that "probably therefore the first mill in town was built by Mr. Parker and about 1660, on Content Brook, and not on Concord River." Thomas Patten had a saw mill there by about 1680; in 1682 the selectmen ordered a highway "on y^e East of Thomas pattins Saw mill," and the will of John Rogers (1685/6) also mentions it. Upstream, in November 1680 Samuel Manning was granted six acres of swamp on condition that he build "a good and sufficient Damm or Damms, to drowne that swamp commonly called the mill swamp," raising the water "one foot higher than at present" and keeping it flooded every winter; Hazen placed this Mill Swamp "on Content Brook toward the outlet of Long Pond," and the meadow division of 1685 included "y^e mill swamp that was drowned." A Brown family account of 1852 said that the first sawmill "was built by a company of the neighboring farmers" and stood until about 1740, and that Samuel Brown, grandson of George Brown, built the first grist mill about 1760. The Patten family held the mill through the eighteenth century, and a study of the Patten farm suggests that Whipple Road crosses the brook on an enlargement of the first mill dam.

In the nineteenth century Theophilus Manning had both a saw mill and a grist mill on the brook, and in 1825 he sold them to Deacon Aaron H. Patten, "who began, in 1845, the manufacture of cabinet-work. The business grew to considerable proportions, and Pattenville became a definite local name in town." The shops made $20,000 to $30,000 worth of work a year, much of the furniture going around Cape Horn to California, until the depression of 1874 to 1878; they were sold in 1879 to Walter J. Pettingell, who made tanks there until the mill burned in January 1882.

A second mill grew up at Content Bridge, where the old road to Andover crossed the brook on the line of Gray Street. In 1717/18 Thomas Richardson gave his son two acres of meadow on Content Brook "a little above the old saw mill," keeping the right to set up a saw mill himself. In 1739 William French Jr. bought four acres of meadow "upon & on both sides of a brook commonly called and known by ye name of Content brook lying wholly above ye Bridge & casway there (that is ye Country road)," and there, by tradition about 1764, he built a saw mill and the house now called the Richardson Homestead. He sold the mill, house and barn to John White in 1766; Thomas Richardson had the place by 1770, and in 1778 sold his 46-acre farm "near Content Bridge with one quarter part of the saw mill" to his brother Oliver Richardson. The canal was dug past the mill about 1802, and its stone Content Brook Sluiceway and Richardson's Mill Sluiceway, with flashboard grooves and submerged timbers, still stand between Gray and Pond Streets; in 1835 the Boston and Lowell Railroad was put through between the mill and the Richardson houses. John Richardson 2nd and then John O. Richardson ran the saw and grist mill, which Hazen in 1883 described as the saw mill "now owned by Mr. John O. Richardson, on Content Brook, near the railroad station at East Billerica." The little mill neighborhood also had the Peple brothers' soap works in Mill Lane, a cider mill and an ice house behind the Colby House. The water-powered mill was run by William Symmes until about 1909, when the water had fallen too low, and he then ran a motor-driven saw mill nearby until 1919.

The railroad and canal changed the brook's course. The canal was carried across the Little Content Brook, near Harvard Road, on a culvert, and south of High Street the National Register nomination of the canal describes the canal water as "diverted into Content Brook, which runs from the north side of the Boston & Maine Railroad railshop complex around the yard to the south." The rerouting of the brook near the landfill between Gray and Pond Streets left the old canal in a deep, watered cut. The banks were also a place of much older settlement: a 1973 Historical Commission site form recorded an Indian site along the brook between Andover and Whipple Roads, and the canal survey of 1999 found the Content Brook 1 Site. In 1986 the town engineer wrote that "the state was involved historically with some of the actions that have caused the problems we now have in the Content Brook basin."

The town's records of the brook in the twentieth century are mostly about fish, bridges and drains. In December 1903 the town paid for "conveying fish to Content Brook," and in the drought of 1930 the fish warden moved fish from drying ponds and brooks into larger waters, among them "Content Brooks." In 1942 the town meeting declined to spend $4,000 on "a new cement bridge over Mill Brook on Whipple Road" and voted to charge repairs to the highway account; in 1943 it appropriated $2,500 for a concrete bridge, and in 1946 "the wooden bridge on Whipple Road was removed and replaced with a permanent structure" of metal pipe. The 1947 town meeting refused to accept the Board of Public Works report on "the construction of a bridge over Content Brook on Whipple Road" and appointed a committee to look into it with the District Attorney, which reported in 1948. The house lots of Morningside and Content Brook Farms were laid out along the brook from 1959 to 1969, the Brookside Drive plan reserving a five-foot right of way on each side of the brook. In 1980 the flood plain map was raised on "portions of Content Brook and the Middlesex Canal," and the culvert at Whipple Road was redesigned in 1986 and rebuilt with drainage improvements in 1987. Sewers reached the area under contract 31A, "Glen Arden/Content Brook," in 2001 and 2002, after a deep excavation on Whipple Road in 1998 had made a pumping station in "the Content Brook water shed area" unnecessary.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection found in 2000 that the whole brook supported swimming and other contact recreation, but the 2022 list of impaired waters names it for poor benthic life and E. coli bacteria. Tewksbury counts it among the brooks of its Shawsheen watershed, and its upper course still links Long Pond, Richardson Pond and the watered remains of the canal.

Title References

Date	Type	Grantor	Grantee	Summary	Recorded
December 2, 1709	Gift	Jacob French of Billerica and Mary his wife	His son-in-law Thomas Baldwin of Billerica and Sarah his wife	Jacob French to Thomas Baldwin: five acres of meadow on Content Brook and upland on Content Plain, 1704	15/99 (South)
	For "the Love and affection wch I Do beare to my Son in Law Thomas Baldwin ... and to my Daughter Sarah his wife, and as part of theire portion in my Estate," a parcel of meadow "on Content Brooke, Containing by Estimation five acres," west by meadow granted to John Rogers Sr. and partly by John Sheldon, east "by the said Baldwins own meadow"; and "a Lott of upland lying on Content plaine, by Estimation Twenty and five acres," east by Capt. Jonathan Danforth and west by a lot granted to Nathaniel Hill, with "allowance made for Content high way to pass through this Lott." French kept the use of the meadow for life; the land was valued at 20 pounds. Dated Feb. 14, 1704; recorded Dec. 2, 1709. The earliest record found of the Baldwin holdings on Content Brook from which the later Allen farm came; the deed does not name a house. Billerica town book 1, pages 445-447 (Southern Registry Book 15 Page 99). Related: 1748 Will: Thomas Baldwin of Billerica, gentleman to His son David Baldwin, executor and residuary devisee; widow Sarah for life (Probate #868) (Thomas Baldwin's Content Brook land, left to David)
March 27, 1738	Gift	Thomas Richardson of Billerica	His son Jonathan Richardson of Billerica	Thomas Richardson to son Jonathan: meadow on Content Brook "a little above the old saw mill," 1717/18	39/1 (South)
	"For the Love and affection which I have and do bear unto my son Jonathan Richardson," several parcels: "one parcel of land lying on the northward of said Jonathan's house containing about seven acres ... which I bought of the Town"; one acre of swamp or meadow "lying between Thomas Ross his Pasture and my own land on the north side of my house"; meadow at the mouth of Strong Water Brook on both sides of the Shawshin bought of Capt. Joseph Tompson; his swamp and meadow in Heath Swamp (reserving seven acres); and two acres of meadow on Content Brook "a little above the old saw mill," reserving to himself liberty to set up a saw mill; valued at 57 pounds "in part of his portion in my Estate." Dated 1717/18; recorded March 1738. Billerica town book 4, pages 180-181 (Southern Registry Book 39 Page 1). The deed shows that Jonathan's house already stood on the corner lot by 1717/18. Title passed to: 1738 Administration and Division: Estate of Jonathan Richardson of Billerica, husbandman, died intestate 1720 to His widow Hannah (later Frost) for dower; his eldest son Jonathan Richardson for the rest (Probate #18990) (and the land given in 1717/18)
July 14, 1740	Deed	John Marshall of Billerica, yeoman, with Abigail his wife	William French Jr. of Billerica, yeoman	John Marshall to William French Jr.: four acres of meadow on both sides of Content Brook above the bridge and causeway on the country road, later the mill pond	40/662 (South)
	For 150 pounds, "One Parcel of Meadow land ... containing by Estimation about four acres ... lying upon & on both sides of a brook commonly called and known by ye name of Content brook lying wholly above ye Bridge & casway there (that is ye Country road)," bounded southward by the bridge and causeway, westward by upland and northward by land laid out to John Marshall, eastward by upland and Jonathan Danforth Sr., "according as it was granted & laid out by sd. town of Billerica to Saml. Kinsley decd."; also a slip of upland of about 100 poles adjoining the meadow. Warranty. Dated and acknowledged Dec. 18, 1739 (witnesses John Parker Jr., William Tarbell); recorded July 14, 1740. Billerica town book 4, pages 269-271 (Southern Registry Book 40 Page 662). This meadow on Content Brook just above the bridge on the country road is where the French saw mill and its pond were later made; the 1766 house lot began "near Content Bridge."
July 10, 1765	Gift	William French of Billerica (died by August 1746)	His son William French of Billerica	William French to son William: twenty acres of woodland on the north side of Content Brook, site of the later saw mill	63/96 (South)
	"For the Love and affection I have and do bear unto my son William French" and in full of his portion, on condition that the son pay 80 pounds old tenor to his sisters Elizabeth Kidder and Mehetable White within two years of the father's death, several parcels in Billerica and Tewksbury, among them three and a half acres of pasture northwest of the son's dwelling house and "another Parcel of Land lying on the northerly side of Content Brook it containing about twenty acres be it more or less it is the one half of my woodland there and bounded as may appear by my Deed of the same which I had of John Marshall"; also five acres on Fox's Hill laid out to the heirs of "my hond Father John French," Shawshin meadow and two lots at the great swamp in Tewksbury. Dated Jan. 24, 1744/5; proved by the witnesses William French Jr. and Jacob French at the Sessions in Concord in August 1746, the grantor being then dead; recorded July 10, 1765. Billerica town book 6, pages 73-75 (Southern Registry Book 63 Page 96). The twenty acres of woodland north of Content Brook are the land on which the saw mill and house stood by 1766. Title passed to: February 25, 1767 Warranty: William French Jr. of Billerica, yeoman, and Tabitha French to John White of Billerica, gentleman (66/438) (the son sells the 20 acres, now with house, barn and saw mill)
September 26, 1766	Deed	William French Jr. of Billerica, yeoman	John White of Billerica, gentleman	William French Jr. to John White: meadow on the southwest side of Content Brook by Sheldon's Folly, with a way from Content Bridge	66/267 (South)
	For 43 pounds, "a certain Tract of upland lying in Billerica aforesaid containing fifteen acres more or less," bounded easterly by "the highway that leadeth from Billerica to Tewksbury," southerly and westerly by "the Land that I gave my son Jonathan French a deed of," and northerly by Lieut. Samuel Brown; also "four acres of Meadow Land ... lying on the Southwesterly side of Content Brook," bounded by the brook from Jonathan French's land to "Sheldon's Folly so called," by Jonathan's land to a black oak and by William Needham, with a way to the meadow "from the Road from Content Bridge." Warranty. Dated Aug. 12, 1766 (witnesses John White Jr., Ebenezer Temple), acknowledged Aug. 27, 1766; recorded Sept. 26, 1766. Billerica town book 6, pages 184-186 (Southern Registry Book 66 Page 267). The grantor had a grown son Jonathan, so he was the William French of the 1745 gift, not the younger William born 1738/9; this upland and meadow became part of Thomas Richardson's 46-acre homestead farm (1778). Related: February 25, 1767 Warranty: William French Jr. of Billerica, yeoman, and Tabitha French to John White of Billerica, gentleman (66/438) (the two 1766 French-White deeds that made up the farm)
February 25, 1767	Warranty	William French Jr. of Billerica, yeoman, and Tabitha French	John White of Billerica, gentleman	William French Jr. to John White: twenty acres with the house, barn and saw mill near Content Bridge	66/438 (South)
	For 200 pounds, "one Parcel of Land lying in Billerica aforesaid containing about twenty acres be the same more or less with the House and barn the Saw Mill and all the Buildings thereon standing & all Things belonging to said Mill," beginning at a heap of stones at the southerly corner "at the Road at Jonathan Richardson's Meadow near Content Bridge," northwesterly by Richardson's land to land White already had by deed, northeasterly "taking in said Mill" by land deeded to Joseph Hill, easterly by land deeded to White "to Andover Road so called," and by the road to the beginning. Dated Dec. 3, 1766, witnesses William French Sr. and Elizabeth French; acknowledged Feb. 24, recorded Feb. 25, 1767. Billerica town book 6, pages 233-235 (Southern Registry Book 66 Page 438). MACRIS says French built the house and a saw mill about 1764 and that White was his uncle by marriage; in 1770 White sold to Thomas Richardson (deed not read). Title from: July 10, 1765 Gift: William French of Billerica (died by August 1746) to His son William French of Billerica (63/96) (the son sells the 20 acres, now with house, barn and saw mill) Related: July 14, 1740 Deed: John Marshall of Billerica, yeoman, with Abigail his wife to William French Jr. of Billerica, yeoman (40/662) (the mill lot by Content Bridge)
March 22, 1786	Warranty	Thomas Richardson of Billerica, yeoman, and Judith Richardson his wife	Oliver Richardson of Billerica, husbandman, his brother	Thomas Richardson to Oliver Richardson: homestead near Content Bridge with one quarter of the saw mill	93/377 (South)
	For 266 pounds, "the several pieces of Land hereafter mentioned. The first is my homestead farm lying in said Billerica containing forty six acres," beginning "at the road to Tewksbury at the Southeast corner of said Land at Jonathan Richardson's meadow," by land bought of Jonathan French and of James Lewis, west on William Needham and the heirs of Benjamin Needham to the corner at the road "near Sheldons folly (so called)," on the road across the brook to Samuel Brown's land, "then on said road to the corner where we began near Content Bridge with one quarter part of the saw mill thereon standing with all the appurtenances thereto belonging with all the other buildings thereon standing"; also nine and a quarter acres "near my Dwelling House" bought of Josiah Richardson, bounded westerly on the road to Tewksbury, by Nehemiah Kittredge, John French and Samuel Baldwin; six acres by William Needham's lot and Jonathan Richardson's meadow; two thirds of a great swamp lot in Tewksbury laid out to Caleb Farley; and four acres in Mill Meadow by William Kidder, John French and the Long Pond brook. Dated Feb. 4, 1778, acknowledged March 11, 1778; recorded March 22, 1786. Billerica town book 8, pages 53-55 (Southern Registry Book 93 Page 377). The same day in 1786 was recorded Samuel Brown's deed to Oliver of Jan. 2, 1779, five acres of upland near the upper end of "Richardson's content meadow" (town book 8/52, S. 93/376). Title passed to: October 27, 1812 Deed: Oliver Richardson of Billerica, yeoman to His son John Richardson Jr. of Billerica, yeoman (199/454) (Oliver conveys part of the farm bought from his brother) 1834 Deed: Oliver Richardson and John Richardson 2nd of Billerica, yeomen (Nancy, wife of John, releasing dower) to Boston and Lowell Railroad (328/548) (the location runs "near said Richardsons dwelling house" on the 1778 homestead farm) 1836 Will: Estate of Oliver Richardson of Billerica, yeoman, died 1836 to His son John Richardson (called John Richardson 2d), residuary devisee and executor (Probate #19083) (Oliver devises the farm he bought in 1778) Related: February 25, 1767 Warranty: William French Jr. of Billerica, yeoman, and Tabitha French to John White of Billerica, gentleman (66/438) (the 1770 deed of John White to Thomas Richardson has not been found (see the completion file header)) September 26, 1766 Deed: William French Jr. of Billerica, yeoman to John White of Billerica, gentleman (66/267) (the 15 acres and meadow by Needham and Sheldon's Folly are part of the 1778 farm)
March 31, 1794	Warranty	Jonathan Richardson of Billerica, yeoman, and Abigail his wife	His son Thomas Richardson of Billerica, yeoman	Jonathan Richardson to son Thomas: seven acres of Content Meadow above Content Bridge	115/269 (South)
	For 560 pounds, "several parcels of Land. The first is my Homestead Farm of about fifty acres," beginning "at a stake and stones by the Road at Ebenezer Richardson's corner," south and east on the road to the land of Col. Tompson, then by his land and "the Thirds of the Widow Hosley," westerly by Capt. Daniel Stickney and Ebenezer Richardson back to the road, "and all the Buildings thereon standing and being Excepting the east end of my Dwelling house which I reserve for my Use and for my Wife during our natural Lives then to revert to him the said Thomas." Also thirty acres in Tewksbury near Jonathan Foster's, about fifteen acres of meadow and upland by Samuel Danforth and William Tarbell, seven acres of pasture on the road to Woburn, two and a half acres on Fox Hill, seven acres bought of Samuel Whiting Jr. on Marshall's lane, a lot called Graves with Shawshin meadow, and seven acres of Content Meadow above Content Bridge. Dated Feb. 4, acknowledged March 11, 1778 before William Stickney; recorded at Cambridge March 31, 1794. Billerica town book 9, pages 84-87 (Southern Registry Book 115 Page 269). Title from: 1738 Administration and Division: Estate of Jonathan Richardson of Billerica, husbandman, died intestate 1720 to His widow Hannah (later Frost) for dower; his eldest son Jonathan Richardson for the rest (Probate #18990) (Jonathan Jr. took the homestead under the 1738 decree)
October 27, 1812	Deed	Oliver Richardson of Billerica, yeoman	His son John Richardson Jr. of Billerica, yeoman	Oliver Richardson to son John: 23 acres bounded to and by Content Brook	199/454 (South)
	For $800, "the west front room and the chamber and garrett over the same in my dwelling house," and a tract "in the northeasterly part of said Billerica on the easterly side of the road leading to Tewksbury" of "twenty three acres more or less," bounded by common land, land claimed by Abigail French, Jeremiah Allen and Samuel Brown "to Content brook," by the brook to Joseph Kendall, by Thomas Craige, Benjamin Beard and William Gleason Jr. "to my own land," and by a town road and the Tewksbury road. Warranty. Dated Dec. 3, 1811 (witness Blaney Abbot), acknowledged Feb. 17, 1812; recorded Oct. 27, 1812. Billerica town book 11, pages 200-201 (Southern Registry Book 199 Page 454). Oliver thus shared the house with his son John from 1811, giving him the west front room and the chamber and garret above it. Title from: March 22, 1786 Warranty: Thomas Richardson of Billerica, yeoman, and Judith Richardson his wife to Oliver Richardson of Billerica, husbandman, his brother (93/377) (Oliver conveys part of the farm bought from his brother)
1835	Will (probate)	Samuel Brown of Billerica, yeoman, deceased	Samuel Brown 2nd, executor	Samuel Brown estate: a wood lot near Content Brook	Probate #3196
	Middlesex probate case 3196, 10 pages. Will of Samuel Brown of Billerica, yeoman, dated Feb. 5, 1825 (witnesses Harriet B. Allen, John Allen, Marshall Preston): his wife to have her apparel and best bed; the executor to sell "at public or private sale ... all my real estate", the proceeds to support his wife for life and then to be "equally divided among all my children"; son Samuel Brown Jun. sole executor. Notice ordered Feb. 17, 1835; Samuel Brown 2d gave bond April 14, 1835 with Henry Allen and Joel Baldwin. Inventory appraised March 2, 1835 by John Richardson 2d, Henry Allen and Joel Baldwin: "The Homestead farm of said deceased, 63 Acres, $1000.00", a wood lot near Content Brook, the Allen Field on both sides of the railroad and the Tewksbury swamp lot ($1,254 in real estate), with the cooper tools and stock of his shop. The other heirs released the homestead to Samuel 2d in 1836. Title from: 1791 Inventory and Division of Real Estate: Samuel Brown of Billerica, yeoman, deceased intestate (d. 1790) to Sarah Brown, widow (dower); Samuel Brown, only son; daughters Sarah, Mary and Susanna (Probate #3183) (the only son's share of the 1791 division, with the rest presumably bought in (not traced)) Title passed to: June 19, 1837 Quitclaim: Heirs of Samuel Brown: Timothy W. Brown of South Reading (Mahala Brown releasing); Jeremiah and Ruby Hartshorn; Sarah P. Brown; Leonard and Mary Stratton; Joseph and Elizabeth Cram; James and Lucy B. Cram to Their brother Samuel Brown 2d of Billerica, yeoman (365/283) (heirs of the testator release to Samuel 2d)
January 24, 1879	Warranty	Amanda R. J. B. Holden of Billerica, widow	Samuel H. King of Billerica	Holden to Samuel H. King: three acres called Content Meadow, reached from the road leading to Content Brook	132/263
	For $100, "a certain parcel of upland and meadow ... containing about three acres more or less, and known by the name of Content meadow," northwest by land formerly of Capt. William Bowers and Capt. Josiah Bowers, and east, south and west "by land formerly of Jeremiah Allen (now of said King)," with "liberty to pass and repass across said Allen's land to the premises from the road leading to Content Brook. Being the same premises conveyed to Benjamin Beard Jr. by Joseph Blanchard deed dated December 16th 1797." Dated Dec. 24, 1878 before Dudley Foster; recorded Jan. 24, 1879. Sold with the Canal Lot in 1906. Title passed to: June 11, 1906 Executor's Deed: Herbert A. King of Billerica, executor of the will of Samuel H. King to Thomas Whooley of Boston (391/376) Related: September 23, 1874 Warranty: Joann Loring of Billerica, widow to Samuel H. King of Billerica (105/243) (adjoining Content meadow added to the farm)

Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted; Probate # is a Middlesex probate case, Ctf a Land Court certificate of title.

Content Brook

Content Brook

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