Shasta County
Biographies
HOMER D. BRUCE
Homer
D. Bruce, the publisher of the Anderson Valley News, has engaged in the
newspaper business for many years, becoming widely and favorably known in this
connection. He was born in Ironton,
Ohio, January 25, 1884, a son of Allen D. and Bertha B. (Sites) Bruce, who were
also natives of that state. His paternal
grandfather was of Scotch lineage and fought in the Civil War. As a young man Allen D. Bruce took up
newspaper work, which he followed successfully for a number of years. While living in Ohio he was active in
politics and served as state senator from 1903 until 1906 inclusive, having
been elected to that office on the Republican ticket. In Ohio he became identified with the Knights
of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1910 he journeyed to the west and engaged in ranching in
southern Idaho, where he acquired extensive holdings. He remained in Idaho until 1914, when he
sought a milder climate, and located in San Diego, California, where he passed
away in the same year. His widow now
makes her home in Manhattan, Kansas.
Five
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Allen D. Bruce, namely: Oscar J., who is associated with a New York
house handling artificial limbs; H. D.; Maude, the wife of Curtis Shaffer, who
is engaged in the real estate business in Manhattan, Kansas; Horace J.,
superintendent of the Safeway Stores in Los Angeles, California; and Genevieve,
who is Mrs. J. S. Lundin, of Burlingame, this state.
H.
D. Bruce supplemented his high school education by attendance at Ohio State
College, which he left to enter the newspaper business in association with his
father, with whom he continued for about seven years. He started his newspaper career as a
printer’s “devil” on the Ironton (Ohio) Register owned by his father, became
thoroughly conversant with every phase of newspaper work and has been
identified with the management of papers in various parts of the United
States. He also had a large stock ranch,
owning the property for eight years, and in June, 1929, purchased the Anderson
Valley News, which has prospered under his capable direction. It is one of the valuable news and
advertising mediums of Shasta County and has a large circulation. Mr. Bruce has lived in California since 1922
and previous to locating in Anderson he had worked all over the United
States. He has had interests in many
newspapers and is of the progressive type, both as a journalist and as a
citizen.
On
the 5th of July, 1914, Mr. Bruce was married to Miss Grace I.
Benton, a daughter of Samuel and Amanda (Rae) Benton, the former now deceased,
but Mrs. Benton still resides on the home ranch near Kuna, Idaho. Mr. and Mrs. Bruce have a son, Allen Benton,
who is at home. At Fayetteville, West
Virginia, Mr. Bruce was inducted into the Masonic order and has taken the
degrees of the blue lodge and chapter.
In politics he is a staunch Republican but has never sought office as a
reward for party fealty. However, he has
been very active in town and county affairs and through the columns of his
paper he wields much influence in further civic and commercial
development. He has always been a
“booster” and is well known as a journalist who has ever in mind the dignity
and worth of his profession and its responsibility to the public.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 2 Pages 364-365. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Shasta County
Biographies