No. 11.

BALTIMORE hat-manufacturing interests at the middle of the century suffered greatly by comparison with those of an earlier period. That which had been a prominent industry, engaged in by active, enterprising men, and extending steadily and widely, keeping pace with the growth of the country, and giving encouragement to the continued employment of skilled labor, was at the middle of this century gradually falling off in volume and importance, and continued to decline until what was once a thriving and prosperous industry of the city, became one almost of insignificance.

In the government census of 1810, the statistics regarding hat manufacturing place Maryland as leading in the manufacture of fur hats. While Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania gained rapidly, still this business in Baltimore continued to increase and grow, until during the period from 1825 to 1850 it reached the height of its prosperity.

Before the year 1850 the once prominent concern of James Cox & Sons had retired from the hat-manufacturing business, and the oldest and wealthiest firm was contemplating liquidation, as Messrs. George and William Rogers, of the firm of Jacob Rogers & Sons, had decided to discontinue the business left by their father, choosing to follow other occupations. The retirement of these two firms, so long and closely identified with the mercantile and manufacturing industries of Baltimore, which had successfully contributed by their faithful business labors to its growth and prosperity, was a serious blow to the interests of the city. This change left in the field but one important firm who had been their contemporary—Cole, Craft & Co.—of which the late Wm. P. Cole was the active business partner. This firm followed in succession the business established in 1814 by Runyon Harris, and was the predecessor of the present firm of Brigham, Hopkins & Co.

Much speculation might be indulged in as to the real cause of the decline and loss to Baltimore of so important an industry, but the plain facts force but one conviction; namely, the unwillingness of these successful old manufacturers to adopt newer methods of hat making, leading to such reduction in cost, through improvements, as to preclude the chance of their successful competition with those of more progressive ideas.

While Baltimore hat makers clung tenaciously to the old ways, whereby labor and expense were incurred unnecessarily, those at the North were readily adopting the various new methods by which improvements in the art of hat making were constantly being made; thus, with the use of newly invented machinery, the cost of making hats was greatly lessened, and the Northern manufacturer constantly gained in competition with those of Baltimore.

The invention of the Wells Forming Machine added largely to the misfortune of this business. An expensive machine, with a comparatively tremendous production, required a large market as an output; a heavy royalty also was attached to it, and the business of Baltimore at that time appeared not to be in condition to justify its introduction. Though the machine was invented in 1841, it was not until the year 1852 that the venture was made to introduce into Baltimore the Wells Hat-body Forming Machine. With the pecuniary assistance of Wm. P. Cole, Messrs. Bailey & Mead, in 1852, commenced hat forming by machinery, the "mill" being located on Holliday street, and afterwards removed to Front street (present number 320).

From failure of support, caused by inability to revive the depressed condition of the hat business, the venture of Messrs. Bailey & Mead was not successful, and Mr. Mead retiring from the firm, the business was continued by Messrs. Bailey, Craft & Co., mainly in the interest of Mr. Cole's factory, until about 1869, when hat forming by machinery in Baltimore was entirely abandoned, followed with the retirement of Mr. Cole from the manufacturing business.

Charles Towson, who established himself in the retail hat business in 1836, on Eutaw street, near Lexington, entered into partnership in 1853 with Mr. Mead, the firm being Towson & Mead; they commenced hat manufacturing at No. 10 Water street, in the factory formerly occupied by Jas. Cox & Sons. The business was carried on for about one year, when it was abandoned and the firm was dissolved. Other parties made fruitless attempts to restore to Baltimore the prestige it once held in this business. To one person, however, is due the credit of maintaining a long, persistent and noble fight against odds and difficulties, and who, after all chances to restore vitality to an apparently pulseless enterprise seemed lost, retired from the contest, unscarred and full of honors, after a creditable business career of forty-six years, carried on in the same factory where fifty-two years before he entered service as a boy. This person was Mr. Wm. P. Cole, who engaged in the manufacturing business in 1827, as a member of the firm of Clap, Cole & Co.

At the time of Mr. Cole's retirement from the manufacturing business he was associated with his son, Wm. R. Cole, and his nephew, Wm. T. Brigham, as the firm of Wm. R. Cole & Co., who were then engaged in the jobbing hat business and located at No. 30 Sharp street, now 24 Hopkins Place. In the year 1870 the firm was changed to Cole, Brigham & Co.; Mr. Cole retiring from active business only upon the dissolution of that firm in 1877, having been engaged in business on his own account more than half a century, leaving behind a record bright with faithfulness to duty, unspotted by any unmanly business transaction, brilliant in having met every business obligation; for, during the whole course of a long business life, he so systematically managed his affairs as to allow him to pass safely through the many perilous business periods he encountered.

As a manufacturer, Mr. Cole acquired a wide reputation for the class of goods he produced, and when the demand was most exclusively for soft felt hats, those manufactured by him were considered the best made in the United States, and were sought by retailers far and near.

While at the outbreak of the Civil War there may have lingered a vital spark in the hat industry, that event gave it, apparently, a death thrust. The relative position of Baltimore to both sides was disastrous to its business interests; being close upon the dividing line of hostilities, the sympathies of a large part of its citizens were enlisted in the cause of the South, while, singularly enough, the larger proportion of the wealth and business interests of the city was centered in persons allied by family ties to those of the North, who earnestly upheld the cause of the Union. Cut off from all intercourse with the South—its legitimate field for business—the share of Western trade that was enjoyed by Baltimore was lost by the strategy of war, for with the partial destruction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad the channel of her Western trade was diverted, and it drifted in other directions. While dissension and strife were being stirred in Baltimore and her industries lying dormant, business at the North was being stimulated by State and Government calls for articles necessary to equip an army for service. Hats were a needful part of an army's equipment, and Northern hat manufacturers were called upon for the supply; their factories soon assumed the life and activity of prosperity, creating a demand for additional skilled labor with good pay; this induced the unemployed Baltimore hatter to migrate and seek other places for his support. Thus did Baltimore part with an industry of importance closely identified with its prosperous early days, which, after passing through many vicissitudes, dwindled gradually until it became apparently extinct.