James Bruce, junior member of the firm of Bruce and Jamieson, and one of
the promising young business men of Marseilles, LaSalle county, was born at
Lockport, near Joliet, on September 2, 1872, and is a son of James and Jane
(Stephens) Bruce. His parents were both natives of Scotland, the father
having been born at Aberdeen in 1823. He came to America in 1844 and located
at Lockport, where he was a contractor in the stone quarries of Joliet for
many years. He died December 13, 1898, at Lockport. He was a son of George
Bruce, of Scotland. The same vessel that brought him to this country also
brought Jane Stephens, a daughter of Ebenezer Stephens, to whom he was
united in marriage in this country. Of the five children born to them but
three survive.
James Bruce was the second child born in the family.
He attended public school at Lockport, finishing with the high school, after
which he took a course in a commercial college at Chicago. The following
four years were spent assisting his father in his work connected with the
stone quarries. In 1894 he came to Marseilles and formed a partnership with
J. A. Jamieson and has since dealt in all kinds of grain, hard and soft
coal, and built up a very profitable business. He is a straightforward,
honorable man with whom it is a pleasure to do business.
In 1895 he
was joined in marriage to Miss Adlaine Richards, whose grandmother was a
Miss Middleton and whose parents were Daniel and Catherine (Gould) Richards,
of Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Bruce is a member of the board of directors of
the First National Bank, and is the trustee of his father's estate.
Extracted 13 Jun 2019 by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois, published in 1900, volume 2, pages 634-635.
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