His grandfather, Hugh White, a descendant of John White, who came to Boston in 1632, left his home at Middletown, Connecticut, in 1784 with his wife, five sons, and four daughters, and joined the westward migration which followed the Revolution. He settled in Whitestown, Oneida County, N. Y. , and in this township, at Whitesboro, Canvass, second son of Hugh White, Jr. , and Tryphena (Lawrence) White, was born.
Education
He attended Fairfield Academy until he was seventeen.
Career
Of slight build and always frail, Canvass White throughout his life constantly struggled against ill health, yet when he died, at the early age of forty-four, he held a place in the first rank of American civil engineers of his day. He was characterized by John B. Jervis as having possessed "the most strict engineering mind of any of his time" and having "delighted in plodding over plans and methods of construction". After studying he worked in a local store until 1811, when, for the sake of his health, he shipped as supercargo on a merchant vessel bound for Russia. After this adventure he returned to work in the store until 1814, when he enlisted for service in the War of 1812 and was wounded at the capture of Fort Erie. White became associated with the Erie Canal in 1816 and assisted Benjamin Wright in the early surveys. Late in 1817, with the approval of Governor Clinton, he made an extended trip through Great Britain for the purpose of examining canal constructions and bringing back surveying instruments. The acquaintance with British canal practice gained through this trip made him particularly valuable as Wright's principal assistant in the building of the first great American canal, and he became in time its chief expert in designing the locks and their equipment. Up to this time, the only hydraulic cement available in America had been imported at great cost from England. White, while abroad, had investigated cements and upon his return made experiments with limestone found in New York state, demonstrating that a rock found near the line of the canal in Madison County could be converted into a cement equal to the imported product. He obtained a patent for waterproof cement on Feburary 1, 1820. He stayed with the Erie Canal for some nine years, holding responsible positions on the Eastern work, including supervision of the important Glens Falls feeder. In 1825 he succeeded Loammi Baldwin, 1780-1838, as chief engineer of the Union Canal of Pennsylvania, but was forced by ill health to relinquish the position after about a year. At this time he also made a report on the water supply of New York City. He subsequently became consulting engineer for the Schuylkill Navigation Company, for the locks at Windsor on the Connecticut River, and for the Farmington Canal, and was chief engineer of both the Delaware & Raritan Canal in New Jersey and the Lehigh Canal in Pennsylvania. As the Delaware & Raritan construction was nearing completion, White suffered one of his many breakdowns in health and was advised to go South to recover. He died in St. Augustine, Fla. , late in 1834.
Achievements
Connections
In 1821 he had married Louisa Loomis, daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Gay) Loomis, of a Connecticut family. A son and two daughters were born to them.