Paul Rapsey Hodge

Paul Rapsey Hodge (15 July 1808 – 21 October 1871) was an English-American inventor and mechanical engineer.

He also invented a device that ground wheat and other grains into flour that could then be used by bakers, as well as a machine that turned vegetable pulp into paper that could be used by printers.

He immigrated to the United States around 1836 and worked initially as a draftsman for the locomotive builder Thomas Rogers in Paterson, New Jersey.

[1] Under the sponsorship of an insurance company,[2] in 1840–1841, Hodge designed and built the first steam-powered fire engine in the United States.

[6] Hodge's fire engine was unpopular with the firefighters of the Pearl Hose Company #28 in New York City because its weight made it unwieldy to move down the streets.

[19] Hodge died on October 21, 1871, and is buried in St Giles' Church courtyard at Camberwell in South London.