Name Zadoc Benedict | ||
Zadoc Benedict established the first hat factory on Main Street in Danbury, Connecticut in 1780. It had 3 employees, and made 18 hats weekly.
Legend holds that Benedict plugged a hole in his shoe with rabbit fur, and found that over time the fur turned into felt, and that he then developed a process of making hats from fur of locally available animals like rabbit and beaver.
References
Zadoc Benedict Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA