Henry B. Nichols’ Top Hat

You wouldn't see a hat like this today unless you were part of the British elite or a performing magician.  Top hats, such as this one on display in the Benton County Historical Society's Corvallis Museum, were once common wear for gentlemen.

Henry Brainerd Nichols' 1850s top hat

Top hats were once made of felted beaver fur.  As that became scarce, silk was used instead. Most were black or dark brown, though silk ones could be gray.  The hats became standard wear beginning in the 1790s and continued until World War II.  The height increased, earning the nickname “stove pipe” hat. Abraham Lincoln wore this type hat.  Other nicknames included high hat, silk hat, cylinder hat, and chimney pot hat.

This particular hat was worn by Benton County resident Henry Brainerd Nichols.  Born January 31, 1821 in Connecticut, he attended Wesleyan University there. In 1847, he moved to Iowa where he was in charge of a seminary.  He married his wife Martha Overman there.

In 1852, he and Martha settled on a donation land claim west of Monroe. For about 8 years he taught at the Ebenezer school about a mile south of Alpine.  He was the first teacher in Benton County with a college degree.

Ebenezer school

Nichols gradually acquired more land; eventually he owned 1,200 acres west of Monroe. He devoted more time to farming but continued his interest in schools, serving as school district clerk for over 30 years.  

In 1857 he was elected as a “free state” delegate to Oregon's constitutional convention.   Between 1848 (when the Oregon Territory was established) and 1857, Oregon voters, fearing higher taxes, had rejected statehood on 3 occasions. That changed with the 1857 Dred Scott decision in which the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that only sovereign states (not territories or Congress) could decide the issue of slavery. Oregonians wanted to decide for themselves and so voted for statehood. Each area elected a delegate to the convention; Henry Nichols was one of 60 so chosen. Seventy-five percent were members of the Democratic Party which actively controlled the convention.  Nichols is listed as an “anti-democrat” as was one of the other three delegates from Benton County. During the convention Nichols served on the committee on expenses.

Afterward, Nichols served in the territorial and state legislatures, running on the Republican ticket.

Given the historic nature of these constitutional convention and the importance of the legislature, Nichols would likely have worn this hat on those occasions.

Nichols died in 1907 and is buried in the Alpine cemetery.

 By Martha Fraundorf, Volunteer for Benton County Historical Society, Philomath, Oregon