Canvass White

Canvass White
Born	September 8, 1790 Whitestown, New York
Died	December 18, 1834 St. Augustine, Florida
Nationality	United States
Engineering career
Discipline	Civil Engineer
Projects	Erie Canal, Delaware and Raritan Canal
Significant advance	Hydraulic cement

Canvass White (September 8, 1790 – December 18, 1834) was an American engineer and inventor. He was chief engineer at the Delaware and Raritan Canal and he patented a type of hydraulic cement.

White was born on September 8, 1790, in Whitestown, New York to Hugh White, Jr. (January 16, 1763 - April 7, 1827) and Tryphena Lawrence White (July 4, 1768 - March 30, 1800, a native of Canaan, Connecticut).

He received his education at the Fairfield Academy.

His first job as an engineer was on the Erie Canal in 1816 working for chief engineer Judge Benjamin Wright. In the autumn of 1817, he travelled to England to study their canal system. When he returned he patented a type of hydraulic cement. He continued his work on New York until 1824. Then from 1824 until the summer of 1826, he was Chief Engineer on the Union Canal (Pennsylvania). He was then appointed Chief Engineer of the Delaware and Raritan Canal in 1825 and of the Lehigh Canal in 1827. He was also a Consulting Engineer for the Schuylkill Navigation Company and for the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. He became President of the Cohoes Company when it was incorporated on March 28, 1826.

Of White, author Bill Bryson writes, "the great unsung Canvass White didn't just make New York rich; more profoundly, he helped make America."

Works of White's that survive include:

He died in 1834 and was buried in Princeton Cemetery.

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