Goodrich, Benjamin Franklin (1841-1888), founded the rubber industry in Akron, Ohio. A real estate transaction in 1869 made him part-owner of a small rubber factory in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. It was unsuccessful, but he had confidence in the future of rubber. He moved to Akron in 1870, and set up a new company that produced such items as fire hose and billiard cushions. By 1880, the company was in sound financial condition, and was incorporated as the B. F. Goodrich Company. Goodrich was born on Nov. 4, 1841, in Ripley, New York. He studied medicine and was an army surgeon during the American Civil War (1861-1865). He died on Aug. 3, 1888.