Hiel Brockway was a native of

Lyme, Connecticut Lyme is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States, situated on the eastern side of the Connecticut River. The population was 2,352 at the 2020 census. Lyme is the eponym of Lyme disease. History In February 1665, the portion of th ...

and came to

Clarkson, New York Clarkson is a town in Monroe County, New York, United States. The population was 6,736 at the 2010 census. The town is named after General Matthew Clarkson. The Town of Clarkson is on the western border of the county and is west of the City o ...

shortly after the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

. Upon arrival, he built and operated a tavern. He was a town builder and the first citizen of the village that bears his name. Seizing the opportunity offered by the canal, he speculated the land by building many of the first houses. Brockway owned a brickyard which produced most of the material for their construction. He also owned a shipyard and later operated a packet service on the canal. Brockway and Seymour, both civic and business minded, donated land for the construction of schools and churches. It was Brockway that contributed the land for the original campus. Shrewd and industrious, but a man of foresight and vision, the founder of Brockport, New York was typical of, and pre-eminent among, the New England immigrants who were the first settlers in the area. Already in the prime of life and father of thirteen children when his village was settled, Hiel Brockway continued to reside in Brockport until his death in 1842.

References

* "The Brockway Family. Some Records of Wolston Brockway, and His Descendants," Printed in Owego, NY: 1890 by Leon L. Brockway's Power Print Year of birth unknown 1842 deaths People from Lyme, Connecticut People from Brockport, New York 19th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-stub