Wallace A. Bruce, one of the largest and most progressive
farmers of Macoupin County, has attained a leading position among the
farmers and business citizens of his county, and is now the owner of over
1,700 acres of land. Mr. Bruce resides on his handsome homestead farm of 320
acres situated in section 27, Staunton township. He was born in County
Derry, Ireland, September 20, 1838, and is a son of Samuel and Matilda
(Patterson) Bruce.
Samuel Bruce, the father of our subject, came to
Macoupin County from Ireland and was an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He
died at the age of 55 years, when his son Wallace was nine years old. Mr.
Bruce was married to Matilda Patterson, who was a native of Ireland, and 10
children were born to them, namely: Alice (Sawyer), deceased; Nancy
(Sawyer), of Staunton township, Macoupin County; Tilly (Hagins), of St.
Louis, Missouri; Sarah (Gates), deceased; Lovina, who died at the age of 17
years; Samuel, who died in Macoupin County; Wallace, our subject; Hugh, who
died in infancy in Ireland; and Elizabeth Ann, who died in Staunton when
three years old.
Wallace A. Bruce came to America when nearly two
years of age in company with his parents and the other children of the
family then born. His parents settled in Staunton township, Macoupin County,
where he has since lived. Mr. Bruce when a youth had little or no
opportunity to gain an education but has worked himself up in the business
world through his own energy and perseverance. Mr. Bruce has always been a
hard working man and withstood many hardships when he first began his most
remarkable career, starting with almost nothing and building up a vast
estate by his own exertions with the aid of his wife and boys. In political
circles, Mr. Bruce is a member of the Democratic party.
In February,
1860, Mr. Bruce was married to Eliza J. Clark, a daughter of William and
Eliza (Little) Clark, both natives of Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Bruce are the
parents of 11 children, namely: Charles, of Macoupin County; Thomas, of
Madison County, Illinois; Elizabeth, who resides with her parents; Belle,
who is the wife of James Early of Madison County, Illinois; Wallace, of
Gillespie township, Macoupin County; Edward, of Staunton township, Macoupin
County; Agnes, the wife of Gustave Kreoger; William, of Madison County,
Illinois; Robert, of Madison County, Illinois; Calvin, who resides with his
parents; and May, the wife of Winifred Cox.
Extracted 2018 May 08 by Norma Hass from Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Macoupin County, Illinois, published in 1904, page 412.
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