Charles Goodyear (December 29, 1800 – July 1, 1860) was an American chemist and engineer who worked in manufacturing. He invented vulcanized rubber, a process that made rubber more useful. He received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844.
Goodyear discovered the chemical method to make rubber that could be shaped, kept water out, and formed into different shapes. His work began after five years of trying to find a better way to make rubber. He learned about the benefits of heating rubber from Thomas Hancock’s research. This discovery led to many years of successful rubber production in Connecticut’s Lower Naugatuck Valley. Rubber was used in many products, such as shoes and tires. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company is named after him, even though he did not start the company.
Early life, family and education
Charles Goodyear was born on December 29, 1800, in New Haven, Connecticut. He was the son of Amasa Goodyear and the oldest of six children. His father was related to Stephen Goodyear, who took over from Governor Eaton as the leader of the London Merchants company. Stephen Goodyear helped start the colony of New Haven in 1638.
In about 1817, Charles left home to learn the hardware business in Philadelphia. He worked hard until he was 25 years old. Then he returned to Connecticut and joined his father's business in Naugatuck, Connecticut. Together, they made ivory and metal buttons, as well as different kinds of agricultural supplies. Charles had siblings named Nelson Goodyear, Henry Goodyear, Robert Goodyear, Harriet Goodyear Tomlinson, and Amasa Goodyear Jr.
Marriage and early career
On August 3, 1824, he married Clarissa Beecher, who was a member of his Congregational Church. Two years later, the family moved to Philadelphia, where Charles Goodyear opened a hardware store. This was where he worked most of the time. His business focused on valuable tools and equipment used in farming, which his company had been making. At that time, all farming tools were imported from England, and people were unsure about using locally made goods. However, as trust in domestic products grew, Goodyear’s business became successful.
His success continued until he became very sick in 1829 and 1830, suffering from stomach problems. At the same time, several business failures caused his company to face financial difficulties. Despite these challenges, the business continued for a while before finally closing.
Between 1831 and 1832, Goodyear learned about a new material called gum elastic, or natural rubber. He read about it in newspapers, and the Roxbury Rubber Company in Boston had been experimenting with it. This company had a large factory and was selling rubber products across the country. Goodyear became interested in their work and visited New York, where he noticed that the tubes used in life preservers were poorly made. He returned to Philadelphia, created better tubes, and showed them to the manager of the Roxbury Rubber Company.
The manager was impressed by Goodyear’s creativity and shared that his business was struggling. Many rubber products were being returned because the rubber had rotted and became useless. This inspired Goodyear to experiment with the material to solve the problem.
However, when he returned to Philadelphia, he was arrested by a creditor and imprisoned. While in jail, he began testing India rubber, a type of rubber that was inexpensive at the time. He heated it and mixed it with magnesia, creating a white compound that reduced its stickiness. He believed this was a breakthrough and, with help from friends, improved his invention in New Haven. He made shoes using India rubber, lampblack, and magnesia mixed with turpentine and applied to flannel cloth. However, the rubber still became sticky, and his creditors stopped supporting his work.
Determined to continue, Goodyear sold his furniture, placed his family in a boarding house, and moved to New York. With help from a druggist, he conducted experiments in an attic. His family faced extreme poverty, surviving on meager food and even catching frogs for food. His two sons died as young children, worsening their situation. Despite this, his wife and children remained supportive.
Goodyear next mixed rubber with magnesia and boiled it in a solution of quicklime and water. This seemed to solve the stickiness problem. People abroad noticed his work, and he gained international recognition. However, he later discovered that a weak acid could undo his process, proving it was not a complete solution. He continued experimenting, walking three miles to a mill in Greenwich Village to test his ideas.
During these experiments, he found that dipping rubber in nitric acid created a surface cure, leading to the production of highly regarded goods. He even received a letter of praise from President Andrew Jackson.
Exposure to harsh chemicals like nitric acid and lead oxide harmed his health. Once, he nearly suffocated from gas in his laboratory and survived only after a severe fever.
With help from a former business partner, Goodyear built a factory in Staten Island, producing clothing, life preservers, rubber shoes, and other goods. However, the 1837 economic panic ruined his partner’s fortune, leaving Goodyear without money.
He then moved to Boston, where he met J. Haskins of the Roxbury Rubber Company, who supported his work financially. A man named Mr. Chaffee also helped by listening to Goodyear’s ideas and providing funds. Chaffee suggested that using different solvents might improve rubber processing and created a machine to mix rubber mechanically. The resulting products looked good, and it seemed the problems had been solved.
Goodyear developed a new method for making rubber shoes and sold a patent to the Providence Company in Rhode Island. However, no method had yet been found to make rubber withstand extreme temperatures or acids, so rubber goods continued to become sticky, break down, and be returned to manufacturers.
Perfection and patent of vulcanization
From 1834 to 1839, Goodyear searched for investors and frequently moved, mostly within New York, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, and Connecticut. In 1839, he worked at the Eagle India Rubber Company in Woburn, Massachusetts, where he found that mixing rubber and sulfur over a hot stove made the rubber stiff. He named this process vulcanization because of the heat used. For this discovery, Goodyear received U.S. patent number 1090 on February 24, 1839.
Earlier, Goodyear had started a small factory in Springfield, Massachusetts, and moved his main operations there in 1842. Nelson and his brothers managed the factory mostly. Charles Goodyear’s brother-in-law, Mr. De Forest, a wealthy woolen manufacturer, also became involved. Work to make the invention practical continued. In 1844, the process was fully developed, and Goodyear received U.S. patent number 3633, which mentions New York but not Springfield. Also in 1844, Goodyear’s brother Henry introduced a method to mix the materials mechanically instead of using solvents. Goodyear sold some of these patents to Hiram Hutchinson, who later founded Hutchinson SA in France in 1853.
Court cases regarding vulcanization
In 1844, Goodyear received a patent for his vulcanization process, which led to legal challenges from other rubber business owners who claimed he had stolen their ideas. Over time, Goodyear won these legal cases, and by 1851, he hired Daniel Webster, a well-known speaker and lawyer, to represent his company.
In 1852, Goodyear traveled to Europe, where he met Thomas Hancock, who worked for Charles Macintosh & Company. Hancock claimed he had invented vulcanization independently and received a British patent in 1844. In 1855, Hancock’s patent was challenged in court by Stephen Moulton, another British rubber pioneer. It was claimed that Hancock had copied Goodyear’s work. Goodyear attended the trial. If Hancock lost, Goodyear could have received a British patent, allowing him to collect payments from Hancock and Moulton. Both Hancock and Moulton had seen Goodyear’s vulcanized rubber in 1842, but chemists testified that it was impossible to determine how it was made by studying it. Hancock won the case.
Despite these patent challenges, Goodyear wrote, “I do not feel sad about the past, and I do not believe others should take credit for my work. Success should not only be measured by money. People have reason to feel regret when they work hard but no one benefits.”
In 1855, Goodyear was sent to debtor’s prison in England and France because of debts from demonstrating vulcanization at the Exposition Universelle. This was his final time being imprisoned for debt. While in prison, he was honored with induction into the Legion of Honour.
In 1858, Goodyear received a seven-year extension on his American patent due to financial difficulties. Although he had earned nearly $163,000 from the patent, he owed much more to creditors who had supported his work. By this time, Goodyear was famous as the inventor of vulcanization because of newspaper coverage of his legal battles. This final court victory reportedly brought him peace after years of struggle. He continued to explore new uses for rubber until his death.
Death and legacy
Charles Goodyear died on July 1, 1860, while traveling to visit his dying daughter. After arriving in New York, he learned that his daughter had already passed away. He collapsed and was taken to the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City, where he died at the age of 59. Goodyear had not kept proper records of his debts, and when he died, his estate owed nearly $200,000. His son, Charles Jr., sorted out the confusing financial records, paid off the debts, and ensured his family had a modest income.
In 1898, almost 40 years after Goodyear’s death, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded and named after him by Frank Seiberling.
On February 8, 1976, he was chosen to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
In Woburn, Massachusetts, there is an elementary school named after him. In 1855, the Government of France honored him with the title Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur.
The ACS Rubber Division awards a medal called the Charles Goodyear Medal. This medal recognizes inventors, innovators, and developers who made major changes to the rubber industry.
The Goodyear welt, a shoemaking technique, was named after Charles Goodyear Jr., Charles’s son, in his honor.