Thomas Sappington was a hat manufacturer who, in the year 1831, was located at No. 120 Baltimore street, which at that time was at or near the present number, 116 East Baltimore street. He had his factory on North street near Saratoga. It is known that he was in business for a number of years, but what year he commenced and when he abandoned business cannot be ascertained. Victor Sarata was a Frenchman who located in Baltimore as early as 1838. He opened a retail store at 259 Baltimore street, and was the first one to introduce the silk hat in this city. Wm. H. Keevil was a hatter doing a retail business in 1842 at 66-1/2 Baltimore street. He was evidently of the "buncombe" style, and conducted his business in a sensational manner, advertising extensively and brazenly, as will be seen from the following quotation from an advertisement of his printed in 1842: "Who talks of importing hats from England while _Keevil_ is in the field? Pshaw! 'Tis sheer folly. For while he continues to sell his beautiful hats at his present reduced prices, any such speculation as importing hats from Europe will be 'no go' or 'non-effect.' The hatters, therefore, on the other side of the Atlantic had better keep their hats at home, as it would be quite as profitable for them to send 'wooden nutmegs' and 'sawdust hams' to New England, or coals to Newcastle, as hats to Baltimore to compete with the well-known _Keevil_." His business existence could not have been of long continuance, as in 1850 his name is not found in the City Directory. At the close of the first half of this century there were several who afterwards attained prominence both in business and a public capacity, among whom were Joshua Vansant, Samuel Hindes, Charles Towson, George K. Quail, James L. McPhail, P. E. Riley, John Boston, Ephraim Price, Robert Q. Taylor, Lewis Raymo and others, the last two mentioned being the only ones now living. JACOB ROGERS. No. 8. To one man more than any other belongs the credit of establishing upon an extensive scale the hat business, which in the early part of the present century was so prominently identified with the growth and prosperity of Baltimore; that person was Jacob Rogers, whose business career in his native city extended over a period of more than fifty years, fortified by a reputation that brought the universal respect of his fellow-citizens, and leaving a worthy example for those succeeding him.