History of St. Clair County - Brockway Township

[St. Clair County Marriges & Deaths]

Extracted from
History of St. Clair County, Michigan
by A.T. Andreas

History of St. Clair County

Brockway Township.

[755] The first permanent settlement of this district was made by Lewis Brockway, John Grinnell and James Haines, who purchased lands there in 1836, twelve years before its organization as a township.

The agricultural and manufacturing wealth of the township in 1882 is estimated by the County Board of Equalization at $411,748. The population has increased, from 252, in 1850, to 792 in 1864, to 1,330 in 1870; to 1,570 in 1874; and to 1,839 in 1880. The township contains 22,248 acres, many of which are still covered with rich forest trees. The villages and hamlets [are] of Brockway, Brockway Center and Merrillsville. Mill Creek and other streams water the township.

The first land buyers in Brockway Township are named as follows: T.G. Macy, C.W. Whipple, James Byrne, A. Coburn, C.C. Trowbridge, N. Dickenson, Sylvester Sibley, Elon Farnsworth, George Beach, David Mack, H. Inley, C. Brown, Lyman Burgess, Josiah Allis, Lewis Brockway, W. Lumby, R. Roberts, Rodolphus Sanderson, Nathan H. White, Abail Wood, George Moore, in 1836-37; Aaron K. Farrand, M.S. Gillett, and others in 1844-45. Among the buyers previous to 1855, were the Sanborns, Howards, L.M. Mason, Chester Carlton and W.L. Bancrofts.

SUPERVISORS.

D.A. Brockway, 1848; John Grinnell, 1849-57; C. Washburne, 1858; John Whitman, 1859; Samuel Welsh, 1860-63; John Grinnell, 1864; David D. Brown, 1865-70; J.D. Jones, 1871-73; Jesse A. Morrell, 1874; J.D. Jones, 1875; R. Newkirk, 1876-77; John S. Duffie, 1878-79; W.J. Morgan, 1880; John D. Jones, 1881-82.

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

James Haynes, 1848; Waldron Ward, 1848; Samuel L. Boyer, 1851; John Grinnell, 1851-54; Lincoln Small, 1854; A.D. Welsh, 1854; John D. Jones, 1857; Clark Washburne, 1857; Jesse A. Cole, 1857; John Grinnell, 1857; Jesse A. Cole, 1859; M.C. Benjamin, 1860; J.D. Jones, 1861; William D. Wear, 1862; John Grinnell, 1862; Jesse A. Cole, 1863; D. Brown, 1864; J.D. Jones, 1865; Clark Washburne, 1866; John Grinnell, 1867; John D. Jones, 1870; John S. Duffie, 1871; John Grinnell, 1871; Clark Washburne, 1872; Joseph Effrick, 1873; John Saunders, 1873; William Beadle, 1874; James Harris, 1875; Benjamin Evans, 1875; J.H. Moore, 1876; W.J. Morgan, 1876; Charles Lovelock, 1877; R.B. Currie, 1877; S. Lutz, 1878; M. Mincary, 1878; J.W. Gustin, 1879; John Grinnell, 1880; John S. Duffie, 1881; John D. Jones, 1882; William Ballentine, 1882.

The Republican ticket was elected in 1882 by majorities from 131 down, with the exception of A. Gunsolus, for Treasurer, who was beaten by James Harris, also a Republican, but who was on the people's ticket. John D. Jones was elected Supervisor.

Brockway, in the township of that name, is another village dating back to pioneer times. It is twenty miles distant from Port Huron, six north of Emmett, and sixty miles north of Detroit.

Brockway Center was settled in 1859. It was the center of the lumber trade of that district in times past, and was an important place during the lumbering era. Mill Creek, a tributary of Black River, afforded water power for its mills and other manufacturing industries.

Canova was settled in 1866. It is a village of Brockway Township, twenty-four miles northwest of Port Huron and sixty-nine miles north of Detroit. Like Brockway, it was at one time an important center of the lumber trade. Merrillsville, or the Hay's Corners, is another old settled village of Brockway Township, two miles north of Brockway Center.

Brockway District Agricultural Society was organized in May, 1876, with S.O. Welsh, President; W.H. York, Vice President; James H. Moon, Secretary; Daniel Foley, Treasurer; [756] J.M. Haviland, Director-at-Large; J.C. McKinney, James Cogley, William Gowan, Thomas Martin, William Grant, Charles Fletcher, J.H. Beckett, Frank Dunsmore, Robert Bailey, Alexander Felger, Directors.

The Brockway Center District Agricultural Society was organized in January, 1882, with William Block, John Mitchell, Joseph Gibbens, Charles Fletcher, John Becket, James Sterling, David Bryce, and Duncan McKenzie, Directors. Among the original members were the following: George W. Bell, M. Minery, John Lavelle, J.D. McKeith, Samuel White, John D. Zavitz, Willis Parker, Ed. Young, Jeremiah Johnson, W.B. Johnson, A. Hoevy, William Moore, G.W. Bell, George Minery and Joseph Rose.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Hiram Allen

William H. Ballentine

Stephen Balmer

Roger Barrett

William G. Brown

Thomas Darcy

J.S. Duffie

William Gowan

William H. Gowan

John Grinnell

John W. Gustin

James Harris

William H. Harris

William Hodgins

John D. Jones

H. F. Leonard

John McFarlane

O. N. Mills

A. Mitchell, M.D.

Jesse A. Morrill

Levi Morrill

G. S. Ney

Andrew Paisley

W. H. Palmer

John Rath

James Wallace

George W. Waring

S. O. Welch

Dr. J. Wells