Bruce, J. Wilson

BRUCE

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/28/2021 at 23:10:09

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.786

J. WILSON BRUCE
It requires considerable personal courage and determination to face the hardships and endure the privations which always constitute a feature of pioneer life, but this was done by the Bruce family of which J. W. Bruce is a representative. He was a youth of eight years when his parents, Mr. and Mrs. M. T. Bruce, came to Iowa, arriving in Warren County in 1856. In the intervening years he has witnessed many notable changes whereby the county has been transformed from a wild, unbroken prairie into a region of rich fertility, making it one of the most productive counties of this great common­wealth. There has also been a noteworthy change in his business and accom­panying financial condition, for he is today the owner of two hundred and seventy-two and a half acres of valuable land, the home farm consisting of one hundred seven and a half, situated on section 31, Palmyra Township, and one hundred and sixty acres on section 5.
Mr. Bruce is a native of Highland County, Ohio, born November 18, 1848. His father was a native of Virginia and for twenty years followed the shoe­maker's trade. When a young man he went to Ohio and was married in that state to Miss Julia A. Tenar. They came to Illinois in 1853, locating in Princeville, Peoria County, and after three years removed to Iowa, settling in Marion County. A month later, however, they came to Warren County and the father worked at his trade, becoming one of the early shoemakers of this part of the state. After a few years, when his industry and careful expendi­ture had brought him sufficient capital, he purchased a small farm, which he increased to three hundred acres, for as the years passed he added to the original holdings until the property became an extensive and valuable one. It was practically destitute of improvement when it came into his possession, but he had determination and energy sufficient to enable him to bring the farm under a high state of cultivation and to add many of the accessories which indicate the progressive spirit of the owner. It was upon this place that he reared his family but he has since sold the land and now he is living in honor­able retirement in Indianola, at the age of eighty-six years.
His wife died in 1895 at the age of seventy-six years. Of their family of eight children only two are now living. As stated, J. W. Bruce was but a lad of eight years when the family came to Warren County, and here he was reared, supplementing his early education, acquired in the common schools, by one year's study at Simpson College. In January, 1908, he purchased the home farm and the task of tilling the soil he has made his life work, in which connection he has attained a measure of success that has resulted from close application, keen discrimination and sound judg­ment.
On the 3d of September, 1873, Mr. Bruce was married to Miss Mary E. Matthews, a native of Indiana and a daughter of Thomas Matthews, a farmer here in pioneer days. Following his marriage, Mr. Bruce purchased a farm in Palmyra Township, comprising eighty acres, and with characteristic energy began its further development and improvement. Upon this place he made his home for seven years and then sold out and removed to section 5, Palmyra Township, where he purchased eighty acres. This he also cultivated until the fields brought forth rich crops. He improved a house, built a barn and drained the land. He was the first to use tiling in the locality. He had hand-turned tile, and with this he drained away the superfluous moisture and made the fields much more productive. He afterward bought eighty acres more and lived upon that farm for twenty-seven years. Some of the land had not been broken when it came into his possession. He refenced the place, cultivated his fields and year after year carried on the work of the farm. He has twenty-seven acres in the home place and has remodeled the house, while sheds and barns are kept in a state of good repair. He is thus making for himself a good home on the old farm of his father and as the years have passed he has enjoyed success, carrying on general farming. He has been for many years the local correspondent of the Indianola Tribune under the cognomen of Hayseed. His neighbors for years did not recognize who the correspondent was. He keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day and is a man of broad mind who has carried his researches far and wide into the realms of science and modern thought. He is a deep student of philosophy and his library is his chief pleasure.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bruce have been born eight children: Jesse, a farmer residing in Huron, South Dakota; Ben, who follows farming in Palmyra town­ship; Asa, who is cultivating part of the farm that belongs to his father; Della, at home; Minnie, the wife of Samuel Moor, a resident farmer of Palmyra township; Edith, the wife of Stanley Whipple, also a farmer of the same town­ship ; and Robert and Charles, at home.
Mr. Bruce was reared a Democrat but casts an independent ballot, voting for men and measures rather than for party. He belongs to the Hartford Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of which he is a past master. He has likewise filled all of the chairs in the Odd Fellows Lodge at Palmyra, and has three times repre­sented the Masonic organization in the Grand Lodge. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. For over a half century Mr. Bruce has lived in the county and is well known among its early settlers. He is a fair-minded man who looks at life from a broad standpoint and knows that its interests are not narrowed to any community or set of principles. He has been a deep thinker and has learned to correctly value life's contacts and experiences. All who know him entertain for him the warmest respect because of his fidelity to the standard which he has set up for himself and which is one that merits the commendation and trust of many who know him.