Canvass White was an American engineer and inventor. He was chief engineer at the Delaware and Raritan Canal and he patented Rosendale cement, which became the dominant cement in the United States until 1900.
Canvas White was chief engineer at the Delaware and Raritan Canal and he patented Rosendale cement, which became the dominant cement in the United States until 1900.

White was born in Whitestown, New York to Hugh White, Jr. and Tryphena Lawrence White a native of Canaan, Connecticut.Canvass Even at an early age he displayed a talent for invention, and constructed many things needed in his hometown. Just before turning 21 in 1810, he was advised to go on a sea-voyage as a means of restoring his failing health. He returned in 1813, and established himself as a student in the Fairfield Academy, where he studied Mathematics, Science, and Surveying.
He received his education at the Fairfield Academy.
White’s 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 natural cement, Rosendale cement which was used to build some of the major works in the US including the Delaware and Hudson Canal and Brooklyn Bridge. He continued his work in New York until 1824. From 1824 until the summer of 1826, he was Chief Engineer on the Union Canal in Pennsylvania. He was 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. He was also highly involved in the design of the Croton Aqueduct though the position of chief engineer eventually went to John B. Jervis.
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
Carbon County Section of the Lehigh Canal, along Lehigh River Weissport and vicinity, PA, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Enfield Canal, along Connecticut River from Windsor Locks N to Thompsonville Windsor Locks, CT, NRHP-listed.
Lehigh Canal, Lehigh Gap to S Walnutport boundary Walnutport, PA, NRHP-listed.
Lehigh Canal, Walnutport to Allentown section, Allentown and vicinity, PA, NRHP-listed
Lehigh Canal: eastern section, Glendon and Abbott Street industrial sites, Lehigh River from Hopeville to confluence of Lehigh and
Delaware Rivers Easton, PA, NRHP-listed
Lehigh Canal; Allentown to Hopeville Section, along Lehigh River, Bethlehem, PA, NRHP-listed
Union Canal Tunnel, west of Lebanon off PA 72 Lebanon, PA, NRHP-listed