John Batterson Stetson
(1830-1906)

Died aged c. 76

John B. Stetson, the Philadelphia hat manufacturer, was born in 1830 in Orange, New Jersey and came to Florida in 1886 by invitation of Henry DeLand. He purchased a 300-acre tract of land, planted citrus groves and built a winter home where he and his wife spent winters for the next 20 years. He made so many endowments to the DeLand Academy, established by Henry DeLand, that the institution was renamed Stetson University. He also built the first power plant in Florida, making DeLand the first town in the state to have electric streetlights. John B. Stetson died in 1906.

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John Batterson Stetson (May 5, 1830 – February 18, 1906) was an American hatter, hat manufacturer, and in the 1860s, the inventor of the cowboy hat. He founded the John B. Stetson Company as a manufacturer of headwear. The company's hats are now commonly referred to simply as Stetsons. Stetson was born in New Jersey, the 8th of 12 children. His father, Stephen Stetson, was a hatter. As a youth, John Stetson worked with his father until John was diagnosed with tuberculosis and his doctor predicted he had only a short time to live. Given this, he left the hat-making business to explore the American West, afraid this would be his only chance to see it. There he met drovers, bullwhackers and cowboys. The former hat-maker turned a critical eye to the flea-infested coonskin caps favored by many of the gold seekers, and wondered whether fur-felt would work for a lightweight, all-weather hat suitable for the West.

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