HISTORY OF KENTUCKY AND KENTUCKIANS, E. Polk Johnson, three volumes,
Lewis Publishing Co., New York & Chicago, 1912. Common version, Vol. III,
pp. 1317-18.  Lewis County.

SAMUEL E. BRUCE.  The Deposit Bank at Vanceburg, Lewis county, Kentucky,
was incorporated in 1887, with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand
dollars, but that amount was reduced to fifteen thousand dollars in 1900.
Although organized in 1887 the bank did not begin to do business until
1889.  The first officers and directors who were directly responsible for
the establishment of the bank were as follows: Socrates Ruggles, president;
A. H. Parker, cashier; and S. S. Riley, P. P. Parker and T. S. Clark,
directors.  In 1911 the deposits amount to one hundred and ten thousand
dollars; loans and discounts, ninety-one thousand dollars; surplus and
undivided profits, six thousand dollars; real estate, three thousand
dollars; dividend, five per cent semi-annually.  This substantial monetary
institution controls an extensive business in the financial world of Lewis
county and since 1904 Samuel E. Bruce has been incumbent of the office of
cashier of the bank.
     Samuel E. Bruce was born on a farm eligibly located three miles
distant from Vanceburg, Lewis county, Kentucky, the date of his nativity
being September 22, 1858.  He is a son of Henry Clay and Mary Elizabeth
(Conner) Bruce, the former of whom was likewise born in Lewis county and
the latter of whom was a native of Greenup county, Kentucky.  The Bruce
family is of pioneer origin in the old Blue Grass state, the founder of
the family in Kentucky having been John Bruce, great-great-grandfather
of him to whom this sketch is dedicated.  He was born in Culpeper county,
Virginia, where was solemnized his marriage to Miss Elizabeth Clay,
whose father was the grandfather of the renowned Henry Clay, of Kentucky.
Soon after the close of the war of the Revolution, John Bruce decided to
seek his fortune further west and accordingly came to Kentucky, locating
at Lancaster, Garrard county, where he was a prominent attorney and a
successful agriculturist.  He and his wife passed the residue of their
lives at Lancaster, at which place their remains were interred.  Alexander
Bruce, grandfather of Samuel E., was one of the several grandchildren of
John Bruce, and his birth occurred at Lancaster.  His father dying while
he was very young, Alexander Bruce came to Lewis county, where he studied
law and where he was admitted to the bar.  He initiated the active
practice of his profession at Vanceburg, where he rapidly built up a
large and representative clientage and where he gained distinctive
prestige as one of the leading members of the bar in eastern Kentucky.
In his political conviction he was a staunch advocate of the principles
and policies of the Whig party and he served for one term in the state
legislature.  He died, comparatively young, at Vanceburg.  He married
Amanda Bragg, a native of Lewis county, Kentucky, and a daughter of
Captain Thomas Bragg, who was an officer in the old Virginia State Line.
Captain Bragg married Lucy Blakemore, three of whose brothers were
gallant and faithful soldiers in the war of the Revolution.  Captain Bragg
came to Kentucky with Colonel Christopher Greenup soon after the close
of the war for independence.  They both had large land grants in Kentucky
and both were accompanied by families.  Captain Bragg located on the Ohio
river, in the region which now marks the corporate limits of Vanceburg,
his large tract of land embracing practically the entire site of the
present city.  He operated salt wells and some early iron furnaces and
continued to maintain his home in this section until his death, as did
also his wife, who lived to the patriarchal age of one hundred years.
     Henry Clay Bruce, father of the subject of this review, was born
and reared in Lewis county and while still a mere youth became a pilot
on a steamboat, later becoming clerk and finally captain.  He spent
thirty years on the river, operating principally between Cincinnati and
New Orleans.  After retiring from river navigation he engaged in the
general merchandise business at Vanceburg, continuing to be identified
with that line of enterprise until 1906.  He died in 1909, at the age
of eighty-five years.  He represented Lewis and Mason counties in the
state senate in the sessions of 1882 and 1884 and it was due largely to
him that in the one hundred day fight for the United States senate
Joseph Blackburn was eventually successful.  It is interesting to note
that he was one of the first Democrats ever elected to the state senate
from his section.  His wife was the daughter of Major William Conner, a
native of Ireland and a member of a pioneer family in Kentucky.  Major
Conner was a small child at the time of his parents' emigration to the
United States.  Location was made in Bath county, Kentucky, to the public
schools of which place the young William was indebted for his early
educational training.  Subsequently he studied law in James Todd's store
at Vanceburg, in which establishment he was employed as a clerk.
Practically the only law books to which he had access were Blackstones
Commentaries.  He was actively engaged in the practice of his profession
at Greenup for a number of years and he soon became one of the leaders
in the state both at the bar and in public life.  He was possessed of
that versatility and rare brilliancy of mind so characteristic of the
well educated Irishman and in connection with the affairs of his chosen
vocation he was for seventeen terms a member of the state legislature,
serving both as representative and as senator.
     To Mr. and Mrs. Henry Clay Bruce were born six children, all of whom
are living and concerning whom the following brief data are here
incorporated:  Sidney is now the wife of Richard F. Cruce, a brother of
the present (1911) governor of Oklahoma, and they reside at Gentry,
Arkansas; Mary is the wife of W. F. Alexander, of Tampa, Florida; Thomas
L. maintains his home at Sherman, Texas; Samuel E. is the immediate
subject of this review; William E. is a prominent physician and surgeon
at Herbertson, West Virginia; and John L. resides at San Antonio, Texas.
The mother died when these children were young, and Mr. Bruce afterward
married Casandra E. Caines, of Vanceburg.  There was one child by this
marriage, Mrs. Elsa B. Kline, of Vanceburg.
     Samuel E. Bruce was reared to adult age at Vanceburg, and after
completing the public schools of this place he engaged in the mercantile
business and for several years was identified with the same in Arizona
and Texas.  Returning to Vanceburg in 1888, he was engaged in the general
merchandise business with his father for the ensuing twenty years; and
in the meantime, in 1904, he was elected cashier of the Deposit Bank at
Vanceburg, in which position he has proved himself a man of excellent
judgment and marked financial ability.  In politics he is a ardent Democrat
and while he has never manifested aught of ambition for political
preferment his is loyal and public-spirited in his civic attitude ever
doing all in his power to advance the best interests of the community and
of the state at large.  In the time-honored Masonic order he is affiliated
with Polar Star Lodge, No. 363, Free & Accepted Masons; and with the Burns
Chapter, No. 74, Royal Arch Masons.  He and his wife are devout members
of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and they hold a high place in
the confidence and esteem of their fellow citizens.
     In 1891 Mr. Bruce was united in marriage to Miss Josephine Smith,
who was born in Florence, Kentucky, the place immortalized as
"Stringtown-on-the-Pike."   To Mr. and Mrs. Bruce have been born three
children, Mildred, Mary and Alexander.

Bruce Parker Ruggles Riley Parker Clark Conner Bragg Blakemore
Cruce Alexander Caines Clay Smith Kline
=
Lancaster-Garrard-KY Greenup-KY Florence-Boone-KY Culpeper-VA
OK AR FL AZ TX WV Ireland

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/lewis/bruce.se.txt