Cement
Works of Van Eps & Sons
Transcribed from
"The Van Epps Papers: A Collection of the Reports of Percy M. Van
Epps on the History of the Town of Glenville", by Percy M. Van
Epps, 3rd edition, published by the Town Board of Glenville in 1998.
(pgs. 170-171). The original manuscript by Percy Van Epps was published
in December 1935 as part of his report "Historical Tablets and
Markers of Glenville, NY (Part One)".
The last historical
marker standing on the Mohawk Turnpike, in Glenville, is on the west
bank of the Chaughtanoonda, a little stream that, flowing through
the Wolf Hollow and along the eastern base of the Kinaquariones, joins
the Mohawk but a few hundred feet from the western boundary of both
our town and county. The marker stands on the exact spot where a century
ago stood the cement mill of John Van Eps & Sons; an industry
then unique in this part of our state and one successfully carried
on for over a score of years. The tablet bears this transcription:
CEMENT MILL
HERE IN 1825-1845,
STOOD
THE KILN AND MILL
OF JOHN
VAN EPS &
SONS, MAKING THE
FIRST HYDRAULIC
CEMENT IN
THIS PART OF THE
STATE
John Van Eps,
born in 1764, innkeeper and founder of the cement works at the Kinaquariones,
was the sixth in line of direct descent from Jan Van Eps (Van Epen)
a magistrate of old Schenectady and one of those slain in the massacre
of 1690. On the fifth of February, 1795, John married Jannetje, daughter
of Harmanus Van Vleck and at once established his home on the Mohawk
Turnpike, just west of the rocky eminence of the Kinaquariones. Here
for many years he kept a well-known Mohawk Valley inn where first
and last many persons of no little note were entertained. Among these
was Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, with his body-guard including the
famous old-time fifer, Tiffany, who stopped here over night in the
fall of 1813 on his triumphant journey eastward after the victory
on Lake Erie. For years following this visit of Perry, a notch cut
in a door-casing of the inn, marking his unusual height, was proudly
pointed out. Here there were born to John and Jannetje thirteen children,
ten sons and three daughters, all of whom lived to a good old age.
Two of the sons
of John Van Eps, in early manhood, exploring the limestone outcrops
and dolomite ledges of the Kinaquariones, but a stone's throw from
their father's house, came to the conclusion that here was rock suitable
for making hydraulic cement, or water-lime as it was called in these
days. After a study of the process involved in its manufacture, a
consultation, their father becoming interested, a quarry site was
selected and opened, a kiln built for burning the quarried material
and a mill erected for grinding the burnt rock as it came from the
kiln. The brook was dammed to furnish power to drive the millstones,
but it was then as it is today a rather unconstant stream, therefore
the founders of the enterprise found that it was feasible to divert
and add to its volume the water of another and somewhat larger stream
flowing down the slopes of the hills, a little to the eastward. Owning
the lands between the streams, a dam was thrown across this second
stream at its nearest point to the Chaughtanoonda and its water led
to the latter by means of a ditch or shallow canal. Thereupon the
question of power was resolved.
The cement made
at this little plant was of excellent quality, as the chimney-work
and foundation walls of many houses in this vicinity show. In old-time
houses undergoing repairs or alterations it has been found that in
chimneys laid with this cement their bricks could not be separated
without actually splitting them. When, sometime between 1830 and 1834,
it was thought necessary to build four additional piers to support
the famous old Mohawk bridge between Glenville and Schenectady, that
masterpiece of wooden bridge construction, a considerable amount if
indeed not all of the cement used was from this Glenville kiln and
mill; and it is a matter of record that when in later years certain
changes were made to these added piers, it was found that the stones
could be separated only by drilling and the use of blasting powder.
Once established
and in full operation, a market was found in New York City for the
product of this Glenville cement works and for a time considerable
quantities of the barreled cement was shipped to that place. In 1836
the cement was sold at the mill for four shillings the bushel. Barreled
for shipment, it sold for about two dollars per barrel plus freightage.
In the "Geology of the Third District of New York", it is
stated that the Van Eps cement works were still in operation in 1842.
Not long after this date, however, the establishment of large cement
plants in the vicinity of Syracuse, following the enlargement of the
Erie Canal, and the cheap transportation then offered, brought an
end to this unique enterprise in Glenville.
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