I stumbled across this biography of James Bennett Forsyth while researching something else entirely. Mr. Forsyth apparently grew up in the offices of the Boston Belting Co. factory where his father worked and eventually went on to become its director and to hold over 50 patents relating to vulcanized rubber. In fact, it would appear that all modern firefighters owe a debt to him and the company for inventing rubberized fire hoses. Click through for a brief but fascinating read about one of our forgotten residents.