The Brockway Diary Collection
Collection # MS - 010
Diaries, 1866-1897

Scope and Content Note:
The Brockway Diary Collection contains thirty-one diaries dating to the period 1866-1897. Four individuals kept the diaries, Daniel D. Brockway, his wife Lucena Brockway, J.N. Scott and his wife "Mrs. J.N. Scott." It is probable that this last individual is the Brockway?s daughter, Sarah L. Scott, one of the earliest white persons to have been born in the Lake Superior region. The majority of the diaries (twenty-seven of the thirty-two items) are of Lucena Brockway.

D.D. Brockway was born in Morrisville, Vermont May 2, 1815 and moved with his brother to Washtenaw County in Lower Michigan in 1831. Lucena Brockway was born in May 1816 in Eden, New York, the daughter of Dr. James Harris. The two were married in Kalamazoo County, Michigan on January 21, 1836. In 1843 D.D. and Lucena moved to L?Anse, where he had been appointed government blacksmith and mechanic. It was their hope to assist the Indians in this remote region of Michigan. In May 1846, the Brockways and their three children moved to Copper Harbor and built the town?s first house, which was operated as a hotel for many years. For the next two decades D.D. became involved in many different business ventures in what we now know as Keweenaw County. He became agent of the North West Mine (later named the Delaware), discovered and served as agent for the Cape Mine, operated the Phoenix Hotel in Eagle River, operated a store (Brockway and Perry) in Copper Harbor with his son-in-law G.W. Perry, and also had associations with the Atlas Mining Company and the Michigan Mining Company. Daniel moved the family again to Lower Michigan in 1869, only to return in 1872 to start a store (D.D. Brockway and Son) at the Cliff mine with son Albert. 1879 was marked by Daniel?s nine-month journey to the Black Hills in search of gold. Brockway was appointed agent of the Cliff Mine in 1881, and served in this capacity through 1895 (Brockway?s relationship with the Cliff Mine was enhanced through the marriage of his daughter, Charlotte, to Oliver Farwell, an earlier agent of the mine). In 1895 D.D. and Lucena retired to Lake Linden. Lucena died on March 3, 1899, with D.D. following two months later on May 9, 1899. The Brockways had four children, Charlotte L. (Farwell), Sarah L. (Scott), Anna B. (Gray), and Albert A. Brockway.

The diaries were preserved with other material by Brockway?s granddaughter, Olive Farwell (1881 - 1974). The items came to the MTU Archives as part of a donation from Wilvan Gardner in 1984. Gardner, another descendant of Brockway, acted as a conduit for the material from Olive?s estate. The Brockway diaries are valuable tools for understanding the business and social structures existing in the early pioneer era of the Keweenaw copper district. The large portion of the collection centers on Lucena?s diaries and, on one level, they provide valuable insights into her husband?s business activities and the people and events of her time. On another level they reflect one woman?s perspective on the many challenges of life in a remote, rural region.

Return to Inventories for Specific Collections