Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky, by H. Levin, editor, 1897. Published by Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago. Reprinted by Southern Historical Press. p. 193. Jefferson County. HELM BRUCE, of Louisville, is a member of the firm of Helm & Bruce,--a name that has been prominent in the annals of the bar of Kentucky since ante-bellum days when it was the title under which was conducted the important law business of General Ben Hardin Helm and Judge Horatio W. Bruce, the former the uncle, the latter, the father, of the subject of this review. This firm style is now used by James P. Helm and his nephew, Helm Bruce, and the high reputation of the first firm is well sustained by the latter, their extensive business indicating the skill and ability of the partners. Helm Bruce is a representative of several families that have furnished to the bar of Kentucky some of its most eminent and distinguished members, including such men as Ben Hardin, John L. Helm and his more immediate relatives whom we have previously mentioned in this article. Sprung from such ancestry it is not strange that he early manifested a long predilection for the law. He was born in Louisville, in 1860, a son of Judge H. W. and Elizabeth Barbour (Helm) Bruce, who are mentioned elsewhere in this volume. His elementary educational training was supplemented by a thorough college course. He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University, where he won two scholarships, one in moral philosophy and one in mathematics, in both of which he received very high honors. He was orator of the literary society to which he belonged while in college, and when he was graduated in the law department of the University of Louisville he received the medal for the best essay, choosing for his subject "Contributory Negligence." He then began practice, and his accurate and comprehensive knowledge of the law, combined with his strong mental alertness, his keen analytical powers and his superior gifts of oratory, have gained him marked prestige among the members of the Louisville bar. Bruce Helm = none http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/jefferson/bruce.h.txt