Rev. John Rippey, Entrepreneur?

From a Google search, a link to the 1884 report by the state geologist, which includes a report on the results of a well near Cuylverville, apparently testing the availability of a strata of rock salt. The geologist credits Rev. John as the President of the Cuylerville Salt and Mining Company as the source of the information.

I find this current news item on Livingston county salt mining:

American Rock Salt Co., which owns the largest salt mine in the country, will invest $4 million into its Livingston County facility to extend its current rail siding and relocate its ice melting packaging company,  [The company is shown on Google maps about 4 miles north (near Retsof) and south of Cuylerville.

And I find a wikipedia item on Retsof, NY, site of the largest salt mine in the US until a big collapse in 1994.  Retsof is 4.5 miles north of Cuylerville.

From the American Rock Salt website:

By the late 1800’s, many companies were drilling for salt throughout the world. Between 1878 and 1895, over 35 mining companies were formed in New York’s Wyoming and Livingston Counties alone. In 1884, the first shaft salt mine was constructed in Livingston County at a cost of $600,000. Previously, all other facilities in the area were wells that extracted brine, which was then evaporated to obtain the salt. The shaft salt mine increased production capacity and efficiency.
The extraction of salt in Western New York covers a vast geographic region. Mine shafts that were formerly operating in the hamlets of Retsof, Greigsville, and Cuylerville were eventually all connected underground, comprising an area even larger than the island of Manhattan. In 1994, due to a flooding of this network, the Retsof mine was closed and salt mining was no longer an industry in the region.
That changed in 1997, when the American Rock Salt Company was established with the vision of creating a new mine and tapping into the underground salt reserves that had been left undisturbed. After securing the required permits and purchasing 10,000 acres of mineral rights and 200 acres of surface property, American Rock Salt broke ground in 1998 for a new mine, ten miles away from all previous mining sites. Construction of the mine at Hampton Corners took more than three years. American Rock Salt built the mine using traditional techniques that have proven over time to be the best approach for safety and success.

Also through a Google search, in 1990 Rev. John is on the board of the Allegheny Theological Seminary.