FARLEY: White’s work on the canal

Opinion
The Journal-Register

March 09, 2009 03:16 pm

— Canvass White was one of the brilliant young men who worked with Erie Canal Chief Engineer Benjamin Wright. Born in Whitestown, Oneida County, in 1790, White was educated at Fairfield Academy and served as a lieutenant in the War of 1812.
In 1816, he assisted with the initial surveys for the canal. Impressed by his abilities, DeWitt Clinton asked him to go abroad to study the workings of the English canals. He did so in the late autumn of 1817, working his way along the canals, compiling a vast amount of information. He studied the methods of construction, the locks and the cement in use. With a true zeal for his work, he walked more than 2,000 miles of towpath through England and Scotland. He made detailed drawings of locks and construction methods all along the way.
Returning to the United States, he carefully brought with him a scale model of an existing canal boat. That model became the basis for building, The Chief Engineer, the first boat on the Erie Canal, named in honor of Benjamin Wright.
Still buoyed by his trip, White set out about his task. As the building of the canal progressed, a great need was found for cement which would harden underwater. At that time, the only known source for hydraulic cement was in Europe. The idea of transporting huge quantities of cement needed for the canal from Europe was staggering, both logistically and financially. To White’s credit, the limestone deposits needed were found right in the path of the Erie Canal, near Chittenango in Madison County. He came across the lime rock there and tested it to determine if it would be suitable for underwater use. White was able to produce a waterproof cement that was even better than the British equivalent.
This remarkable achievement also had its unhappy footnote. Even though the discovery of waterproof cement proved a huge financial windfall for the state and the construction of the Erie Canal, about all White received was the proverbial “at-a-boy.”
White allowed his discovery to be used in great quantity by many of the contractors for their masonry work along the canal. For this he received a “promise” from the Canal Commissioners that he would receive just compensation for the product. That promise never was fulfilled and White received no extra compensation for the discovery, even though he had secured a patent on the compound, and more than a half-million bushels of his cement were used. A belated resolution by the governor would have paid him $10,000 some years later; however the bill was defeated in the legislature.
Canvass White continued to produce his hydraulic cement until the late 1830s. It was the answer to the engineers’ need for water-proof cement and marked a milestone in the construction history of this country.
Doug Farley is director of the Erie Canal Discovery Center in Lockport. The ECDC is now closed for the season but will open for any group. Call 434-7433 for details.