Butte County
Biographies
WILLIAM H. BRUCE
WILLIAM H. BRUCE.--An old pioneer and
native son, familiar to many, and esteemed and beloved by all who know him, is
William H. Bruce, who finds it possible, partly because a branch of the county
library is located in his well-known store, to keep in touch not only with what
is going on in the world, but with his fellow citizens as well. He was born at
Lovelock, near Dogtown, in Butte
County, February 7, 1855, the son of John Bruce,
who was born in Germany and came to Illinois
with his parents. His grandfather, William Bruce, also came, with his wife to California,
and died in Chico. John Bruce was
married in Illinois to Miss Mary Ann Thomasson,
who was born in Tennessee of a Southern family, and came
to San Francisco in 1849 by way of Cape Horn.
He located at Dogtown, where he engaged in mining;
and later he returned to Illinois.
In 1860, however, he once more crossed the plains with ox-teams and settled two
miles east of Chico where he took
up farming and stock-raising on five hundred acres of land. In September, 1912,
he died at Chico, his good wife
having preceded him to the spirit land in June, two years before. Ten children
were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bruce. Mary J. is Mrs. Young, of Redding;
Nancy is Mrs. Williams, of Chico;
William H., the subject of our sketch and the administrator of the estate, is
next in order of birth; and A. P., H. S., C. C., Nathan, John, Millie M. (who
is now Mrs. Merion), and Robert all reside at Chico.
Educated
at the public schools at Chico,
William H. Bruce remained at home until he was
twenty-one years of age, when he struck out for himself in the cattle business.
He ranged his cattle near Mud Creek, and had two brands--one that of his
father, J. B., and the other, L. S. Later, he sold his cattle and began in
sheep-raising; and so well did he succeed in this field that he had three or
four bands of sheep, which ranged over the county into the Sierras. He was in
the sheep business for twenty years, and became one of the well-known
sheep-raisers of this section.
In
1909, Mr. Bruce started as a merchant in Chico,
locating at Park Avenue and Fifth Street
in Chapmantown, where he built a store building and
opened the first stock of general merchandise here. This enterprise has
naturally made him a leader among merchants, and he is an active member of the
Chico Grocers' Association.
Mr.
Bruce still owns seventy-five acres of very desirable land, situated two miles
south of Chico, a portion of which
he is setting out as a prune orchard, while he devotes the rest to the raising
of grain. He intends, however, to make an orchard of the entire tract.
On
June 3, 1897, William H. Bruce and Miss Effie Thomasson
were married at Chico, the bride being a native of the
town and the daughter of Nathaniel Thomasson, who was
born in Tennessee, and came to California
in the fifties, crossing the plains when his father made a second trip to California.
He married here Miss Caroline Richardson, a native of Indiana,
whose father was a farmer and stockman, one mile to the south; and he died here
twenty-five years ago. Mrs. Thomasson still resides
on the home ranch, the mother of six children, five of whom are living, Mrs.
Bruce being the eldest.
Six
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bruce, and four of these are still living:
Herman assists his father; and Caroline, Edna and Evelyn are all at school. Mr.
Bruce owns a block and residence adjoining, as well as two other residences. He
is a Democrat in general political affairs; and
fraternally, he is a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge and Encampment.
Transcribed by Sande Beach.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Page 500, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2007 Sande Beach.
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