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Brockway Family Papers

An inventory of their papers at Syracuse University

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Brockway family.
Title: Brockway family Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1805-1962
Quantity: 1 linear ft.
Abstract: Papers of the members of the Brockway family (of Central New York State, Syracuse, N.Y, and Fulton County, N.Y.). The collection consists of correspondence (largely incoming, to various family members), account books, church records, diaries, financial and legal papers, and memorabilia.
Language: English
Repository: Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries
222 Waverly Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13244-2010
https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Tiffany Brockway (1774-1866) brought his family -- including his father, Nathan (1736-1822) -- from Rensselaer County to the central New York area, near what would become Broadalbin, in 1791. The unusual appellation had been Nathan's mother Elizabeth's maiden name; Nathan also had a brother named Tiffany Brockway (b. 1740).

In 1805 Tiffany Brockway and his first wife, Lucy Alvord (1778-1819), settled on a nearby farm called Locust Grove and eventually produced four daughters and two sons. He served as a major in the War of 1812 and for many years as a colonel in the local militia. Colonel Brockway was the first outspoken abolitionist in Broadalbin, and his home at Locust Grove was a known stop on the Underground Railroad that sheltered and assisted fugitive slaves. Brockway and his second wife, Mary G. Owen, had no children, but one of his sons by Lucy Alvord, Tiffany Brockway, Jr. (b. 1813), inherited the farm at Broadalbin.

Members of the Brockway Family were associated with Central New York State, Syracuse, N.Y, and Fulton County, N.Y.

[Portions of this biographical sketch obtained from "Obituaries and Biographies of Broadalbin," compiled by Dave Bixby and available online at http://fulton.nygenweb.net/bios/DBobitsBR.html.]

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Brockway Family Papers consist of biographical material, correspondence, subject files, manuscripts, and published material relating to Colonel Tiffany Brockway, his father Nathan, son Tiffany Jr., and various other family members.

Biographical material includes genealogy notes and biographical sketches of various family members. Correspondence, largely incoming, contains letters to and from various family members, a letter about the family, and transcripts of letters. Subject files include account books, church records, diaries, financial papers, land surveys, legal agreements, newspaper clippings, photographs, settlement of estate, a speech, and unidentified miscellanea. The single item in Manuscripts is a speech by Tiffany Brockway, Jr. Published material contains a hymn by Helen Hale Brockway and a notice.

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Arrangement of the Collection

Material is arranged alphabetically.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Brockway family.
Brockway, Mary G.
Brockway, Tiffany.

Subjects

Genealogy.

Places

Broadalbin (N.Y.) -- History.
New York (State) -- History.
Syracuse (N.Y.) -- History.

Genres and Forms

Account books.
Biographies.
Correspondence.
Diaries.
Genealogies (histories)
Photographs.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Brockway Family Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Mrs. Frederick Fuhrer and Anna B. Easton, 1962.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: --
Date: ca. 1965
Revision history: 15 Oct 2008 - converted to EAD (MRC); 13 Jul 2018 - rehoused, inventory updates/corrections (MRC)

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Inventory

Biographical material
Box 1 Brockway genealogy notes
Biographical sketches
Box 1 Brockway, Charles Tiffany
Box 1 Brockway, Emma Hale
Box 1 Brockway, Nathan
Box 1 Brockway, Tiffany
Box 1 Easton, Anna Brockway
Box 1 Easton, James Irwin
Correspondence
Incoming
Babcock, Cornelia A.
See Brockway, Cornelia A.
Box 1 Brockway, Cornelia A. 1835-1836
Box 1 Brockway, Helen Hale 1918
Brockway, Mary G.
Box 1 Barlowe 1815
Box 1 Chase, Fanny 1814
Box 1 G--- 1808
Box 1 Hallett, Mollie 1864
Box 1 Matthews, John 1858, 1864
Owen, Emeline
See Owen, George W.
Owen, Francis R.
See Owen, George W.
Box 1 Owen, George W. 1829-1838, 1841-1864 (12 folders)
Box 1 Owen, John H. 1856, 1862-1863
Box 1 Owen, Marana
Box 1 Owen, Mary 1852, 1861, 1864, undated (2 folders)
See also Owen, John H.
Box 1 Post, Justus 1806
Box 1 Seeber, John 1817
Box 1 Smith, Abild 1835
Box 1 Smith, John 1830, 1833-1834
Box 1 Smith, Lucius 1842-1847, 1850-1858 (2 folders)
Box 1 Smith, Sidney 1830, 1834, 1839
Box 1 Webber, Christopher [1809?]
Box 1 Wells, Sarah L. 1863
Box 1 Unidentified
Brockway, Tiffany
Box 1 Smith, John 1829-1830, 1834
Box 1 Miscellaneous 1869 - photocopies
Box 1 Brockway, Tiffany Jr.
Box 1 Fergason, Peter 1838 - photocopies
Box 1 Gordon, P.R. 1861 - photocopies
Box 1 Owen, George W. 1863
Owen, Mary G.
See Brockway, Mary G.
Box 1 Owen, Stephen undated
Smith, John
Box 1 Lord, Benjamin 1813
Smith, Lucius
Box 1 Brockway, Mary 1856
Owen, George W.
See Brockway, Mary G.
Box 1 Smith, Marana 1847
Box 1 Unidentified undated
Smith, Mary
See Brockway, Mary G.
Wilson, Maria
Box 1 Wilson, Charles 1832
Box 1 Transcripts from various family members
Box 1 Correspondence by others, concerning Brockway family 1892 - photocopy
Subject files
Account book (Tiffany Brockway, Jr.) 1838-1866
Account book (unidentified) 1842-1845
Box 1 Church records (Tiffany Brockway) 1835, 1868, undated - some photocopies
Box 1 Commission (Tiffany Brockway, Jr.) 1838 - photocopy
Diaries
Box 1 Charles T. Brockway 1856 - photocopy
Box 1 Nathan Brockway 1832 - photocopy
Box 2 Tiffany Brockway, "An account of Tiffany Brockway's travel from New York to settle the estate of his brother in Ohio" 1837 - includes transcription
Box 2 Unidentified 1865 - photocopy
Financial papers
Box 2 Charles Brockway 1809 - photocopy
Box 2 Mary G. Brockway 1866
Box 2 Nathan Brockway 1805-1814 - photocopy
Box 2 Tiffany Brockway 1807, 1809-1812, 1815, 1817, 1839, 1848, 1859, 1862, 1864 - photocopies
Box 2 Tiffany Brockway Jr. 1828, 1839-1840, 1861, 1865 - mostly photocopies
See also Tiffany Brockway, above.
Box 2 Gilbert Fergason 1822
Box 2 Jos Ferguson 1852 - photocopy
Box 2 Unidentified 1808, 1866, undated - photocopies
Box 2 Inventory (George W. Owen) 1865
Box 2 Land surveys (Tiffany Brockway) 1854, 1861, undated - includes some photocopies
Legal agreements
Box 2 Elizabeth Brockway 1861, 1866 - photocopies
Box 2 Tiffany Brockway 1823, 1838, 1848-1849 - includes some photocopies
Tiffany Brockway Jr.
See Tiffany Brockway, above.
Newspaper clippings
Box 2 Charles T. Brockway 1922, 1962 - photocopies
Box 2 Helen Hale Brockway 1923
Photographs
Box 2 Charles T. Brockway
Box 2 Cornelia Ann Brockway
Box 2 Tiffany Brockway
Box 2 Tiffany Brockway Jr.
Charles Brockway Hale
See Family of Charles Tiffany Brockway, below.
Jean Brockway Hale
See Family of Charles Tiffany Brockway, below.
Box 2 Ruth Hubbell
Box 2 Family of Charles Tiffany Brockway
Box 2 Family of Tiffany Brockway Jr.
Box 2 Home, Locust Grove, Broadalbin [Township, New York]
See also Tiffany Brockway, above.
Box 2 Prescription, unidentified - photocopy
Scrapbooks
See Subject files: Account book (Tiffany Brockway, Jr.) and Subject files: Account book (unidentified).
Box 2 Settlement of Estate (Nathan Brockway) 1838, undated - photocopy
Box 2 Speech (Tiffany Brockway Jr.) 1887 - transcribed copy
Box 2 Stock certificate (Tiffany Brockway) 1813 - photocopy
Box 2 Ticket, Central Park Carriage Service undated - photocopy
Box 2 Unidentified - photocopies
Manuscripts
Box 2 Speech (Tiffany Brockway Jr.) 1887
Published material
Box 2 "Hymn to Crouse Irving" (Helen Hale Brockway) undated
Box 2 Notice, "The Two Roads to Peace" circa 1865

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