Home » Business History » Benjamin Franklin Goodrich (1841–1888) rubber goods manufacturer

Published: October 13, 2011, 06:04 AMTweet

Benjamin Franklin Goodrich (1841–1888) rubber goods manufacturer

Goodrich was born in Ripley, New York, the son of farmers. Orphaned at an early age, he was brought up by his mother’s brother. Attracted to medicine, Goodrich served as an assistant surgeon on the Union side during the Civil War. Goodrich sought success as a doctor immediately after the conflict, but failed.

Moving to New York City, he had some success in real estate ventures and, most importantly, became acquainted with America’s nascent RUBBER INDUSTRY. With a friend, he invested in the Hudson River Rubber Company and, when that business had difficulties, became deeply involved in its affairs to protect his investment. Optimistic about the future, Goodrich married in 1869 and a year later moved his rubber business from New York to Ohio. Locating in Akron, Goodrich set up a partnership—in 1880 becoming a corporation, the B. F. Goodrich Company—to manufacture and sell rubber products. Relying on funds from friends, family, and Akron’s business elite, Goodrich established the first rubber manufacturing venture west of the Appalachians. He did so to escape ruinous competition from wellestablished eastern firms. Following a policy of diversification, Goodrich’s business turned out fire hoses, rubber belting, and many other items—in fact, just about everything made from rubber, except boots and shoes, which were made by the large eastern rubber concerns. By the time of Goodrich’s death of exhaustion and tuberculosis in a Colorado sanatorium, his firm had become a regional powerhouse with assets of $564,000, profits of $107,000, and sales of $696,000. B. F. Goodrich—as the company was later known—went on to become one of America’s “Big Four” rubber manufacturers in the mid- 20th century and an important firm in the nation’s aerospace and chemical industries in the late 20th century.

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