Charles Morelle Bruce (1853 - 1938)

Born 6 Jul 1853 in Charlotte, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Died 8 Jun 1938 at age 84 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States

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Biography

Charles Bruce is Notable.

Charles was born in 1853, in Charlotte County, Virginia. He was the son of Charles Bruce and Sarah Alexander Seddon.

He was initially educated in local Virginia schools before enrolling at the University of Berlin^[1]. He studied in Germany from 1870 until 1873 during which time he met Prince Wilhelm of Prusia^[2].

He then returned to Virginia to work in family businesses^[3]. Upon an invitation from some investors, he went to visit the Arizona Territory in 1880. He decided to stay and worked for the Washington Silver Mining Company for two years^[4], after which he began working for a large cattle venture and became the president of the territorial Live Stock Association.

On 31 Jan 1914, in Washington D.C., he married Mary Ellen Haley^[5]. They had no children.

He returned to Arizona in 1927. After attempts to restart some mines in Tombstone were unsuccessful, he ultimately moved to Los Angeles, California, around 1930.

He passed away at his home on June 7, 1938, from a heart attack^[6]. He was cremated and his remains returned to family in Richmond, Virginia where they buried them in Hollywood Cemetery.

Politics

In 1886 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Arizona Territorial Legislature.

In April 1887, Governor C. Meyer Zulick appointed to the territorial Livestock Sanitary Commission. Later in 1887, he traveled to Washington D.C. and successfully lobbied Congress for legislation establishing quarantine regulations for cattle imported from Mexico.

In 1892 he had another unsuccessful run for a territorial legislature seat.

After Grover Cleveland became President of the United States, Bruce applied to be appointed territorial secretary. And, on May 8, 1893, he was nominated to become Secretary of Arizona Territory, taking office on July 1st at the beginning of the fiscal year. He held this role until 1897.

On April 1, 1896, he received a telegram instructing him to relieve Governor L.C. Hughes from office. He served as acting governor until Governor Benjamin Joseph Franklin was sworn in on April 18th.

He returned to Virginia in 1900 and managed the family estate from 1902-1909.

On June 6, 1913, he was confirmed by the Senate to become Assistant Commissioner of the United States General Land Office. A post he would serve in until 1921.

Sources for above information:

• Wikipedia:Charles_Morelle_Bruce
• Wikipedia:Political_party_strength_in_Arizona
• A Historical and Biographical Record of the Territory of Arizona. Chicago: McFarland & Poole. 1896. OCLC 4074521[1]
• Goff, John S. (1988). Arizona Territorial Officials Volume IV: The Secretaries, United States Attorneys, Marshals, Surveyors General, and Superintendents of Indian Affairs, 1863-1912. Cave Creek, Arizona: Black Mountain Press. OCLC 20054492[2]
• Marquis, Albert Nelson, ed. (1916). Who's who in America. Vol. 9. Chicago: A. N. Marquis & Company. OCLC 1141571[3]

Sources

1. ↑ https://search.worldcat.org/title/4074521
2. ↑ https://search.worldcat.org/title/20054492
3. ↑ https://search.worldcat.org/title/20054492
4. ↑ https://search.worldcat.org/title/4074521
5. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XL7Y-L51
6. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPQH-6LCJ

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7831582/charles-morelle-bruce

• Wikipedia:Charles_Morelle_Bruce

• "United States Census, 1860", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M41Q-M7H : Tue Oct 03 09:37:47 UTC 2023), Entry for Chas Bruce and Sarah A Bruce, 1860.

• "United States Census, 1870", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFLL-L9Z : Thu Oct 05 19:05:36 UTC 2023), Entry for Charles Bruce and Sarah Bruce, 1870.

• "Arizona, Pima County, Voting Records, 1876-1926", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ZHNJ-SQ6Z : Tue Oct 10 05:55:58 UTC 2023), Entry for Charles Morelle Bruce, 1882.

• https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045433/1914-02-01/ed-1/seq-11/#words=Bruce+Bruce-Wright+Wright&proxtext=bruce+wright

• His death record. "California Death Index, 1905-1939", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKSM-RQ5Z : Sat Oct 14 01:39:03 UTC 2023), Entry for Charles Bruce, 07 Jun 1938.

• His death certificate. "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPQH-6LCJ : Sun Oct 15 16:37:44 UTC 2023), Entry for Charles Marelle Bruce and Charles Bruce, 7 Jun 1938.

• [4] The Cabells and Their Kin: A Memorial Volume of History, Biography, and Genealogy Alexander Brown January 1, 1895 Houghton, Mifflin & Company: Parents, Siblings, Birth page 335

• [5]The Bruce Family of Virginia and Allied Families, Thomas B. Bruce, 2000

• Bruce Family Papers, 1665-1926. Section 17. Correspondence, 1840-1907, of Sarah Alexander (Seddon) Bruce[6]

• https://search.worldcat.org/title/1141571

• https://lawrencecountyohio.com/pioneers/bruce-genealogy/