338 



fvEPORT OF THE STATE GEOLOGIST. 



Hydraulic Cement. 



Historical. As Erie county w as among the earliest producers of hydrau- 

 lic cement, the following facts, taken largely from " A History of Buffalo and 

 Erie County, New York," by H. Perry Smith, are of interest: 



The first cement manufactured in the county w as made at Williamsville 

 about the year 1825*, the quarry, kiln and mill being near the creek. In 

 1839, Jonathan Delano erected works at Falkirk, near Akron, in which he 

 made about 2,000 barrels of cement the first year. He furnished the cement 

 for the feeder dam at Tonawanda creek and for the (fenesee valley canal. In 

 1843, the business passed into the hands of James Montgomery, who increased 

 the output to 10,00(1 barrels a year. The business afterwards came into the 

 possession of Enos Newman, a partner of Montgomery, and has been in his 

 family ever since. 



In 18f>4, H. Cummings Son established a cement factory at Akron, 

 which was operated for several years, and w as succeeded in 1865 by another, 

 managed by his sons. This was sold to the Akron Cement Co. in 1870-71, 

 and the Cummings brothers erected another factory about two miles west 

 of Akron. Since then it has been enlarged, until now it is one of the most 

 complete in the state. 



The first cement made in Buffalo was manufactured by Warren Granger 

 near Scajaquada creek, in what is now Forest Lawn cemetery. 



Regarding this, Mr. Uriah Cummings, to whom I wrote for information, 

 says; "Warren Granger told me some twenty years ago that he started in 

 making cement in Forest Law n just below the Main street bridge, at which 

 time, 1850, what is now Forest Lawn was his own farm." 



In 1874, Lewis J. Bennett began the manufacture of cement at Buffalo 

 Plains, near Main street. The business w hich has been carried on continu- 

 ously ever since, is now in the hands of the Buffalo Cement Co., of which Mi 1 . 

 Bennett and his sons are officers. 



Mining <tn<l Manufactwre. The stratum of water-lime burned for cement 

 varies in thickness from five to eight feet. It is a firm, fine-grained, compact 

 rock of a blue-grey color, sometimes with a yellow ish tinge, and weathering to 

 a yellowish white. Three out of the four companies which manufacture 

 cement obtain the rock bv mining. The method employed at the Cummings 

 Cement Works, at Akron, illustrates very w ell the process of preparing cement 

 for market. The stratum is here seven feet thick, cropping <>nt on the face of 



* Mr. (Trial) CnmmingB, who has looked up the matter very carefully, gives this date an 1824. 



