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| Bruce, James R. When a youth of sixteen James R. Bruce started out in the business world and since that time perseverance, close application and energy have won him advancement as the years have gone by until today he is active in the control of an important and profitable business as the vice president of the Centennial School Supply Company, with offices in the Central Savings Bank building in Denver. Iowa claims him as a native son. He was born June 25, 1882, in Des Moines county, and is a representative of one of the old pioneer families of the Hawkeye state. His paternal grandfather, James Bruce, cast in his lot with the earliest settlers of Iowa, living there at the time, when the Indians were numerous, and he had personal acquaintance with Chief Black Hawk, the noted warrior of the Sac tribe. He devoted his life to general agricultural pursuits, as did his son, David R. Bruce, who was born in Iowa and who, possessed of the pioneer spirit that had actuated his father, became one of the early settlers of eastern Colorado, taking up his abode in Arapahoe county, in 1888. There he engaged in farming and subsequently he removed to Denver, where he resided until his death, which occurred in September, 1914, when he was sixty-nine years of age. He was a Civil war veteran, having served with the infantry forces as a member of an Iowa regiment, and throughout his entire life he was as true and loyal to the stars and stripes as when he followed the old flag on southern battlefields. As a farmer and business man he was quite successful and his genuine personal worth gained tor him the high respect and goodwill of all with whom he was associated. He married Miss Eleanor Bailey, a native of Iowa, her father having been a pioneer settler and successful farmer of that state. Mrs. Bruce is still living in Denver and her two children are yet residents of this state. The daughter, Edith, who is the older, is now the wife of J. D. Heinzman, of Colorado. James R. Bruce was educated in the public and high schools of Denver, having been but a little lad when his parents removed to this city. He made his initial step in the business world when a youth of sixteen, being first employed by the Colorado & Southern Railroad Company, continuing to work in clerical lines for the company for three years. He afterward became connected with the Bradstreet Commercial Agency, with which he remained for two years, after whicli he returned to the railroad and was thus engaged until 1909. In that year he became connected with the Centennial School Supply Company, with which he remained as an employe for two years and then became a stockholder in the business and was elected vice president, which position he has since continuously and efficiently filled. The company engages in the seating of school and public buildings and has an established clientele in Colorado, New :\Iexico and Wyoming, conducting the only business of the kind in this state, its trade having now reached very extensive and gratifying proportions. With every branch of the business Mr. Bruce is thoroughly familiar and constantly studying the trade, its demands and its wishes, he has been able to do most effective work in building up the business by supplying public wants. The methods of the house have at all times been such as would bear close investigation and scrutiny and a high sense of commercial honor as well as industry is maintained. On the 27th of May, 1907, Mr. Bruce was married to Miss Ada M. Williams, a native of Kansas and a daughter of Charles S. and Ida (Grow) Williams, who were pioneer residents of Kansas, settling in Parsons prior to the Civil war. To Mr. and Mrs. Bruce has been born a son, James H., whose birth occurred in Denver on the 29th of February, 1908. Politically Mr. Bruce maintains an independent course, nor has he ever been an aspirant for office. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and in club circles he is well known as a member of the Kiwanis Club and the Lions Club. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church, which has been a dominant force in shaping and directing his life, making him a man whom to know is to esteem and honor. History of Colorado, Vol. 3, by Stone, Wilbur Fiske (1833-1920), ed., c. 1918-19, pp. 786-787 |