| William
George Bruce: a brief biography in the Dictionary of Wisconsin History from the Wisconsin
Historical Society William George Bruce: a
brief biosketch in The Men of 1914
Photograph
of William George Bruce at the
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Online
William George Bruce biography starts with grandfather Frederick, an ocean sailor, coming to Milwaukee and includes his
father Augustus and his uncles Martin and John, all Great Lakes sailors and ship builders;
his mother Apollonia Becker Bruce; his early life in the house on East Water Street, near
the southwest corner of Johnson Street just east of the Milwaukee River, the nine Bruce
siblings (William George, Albert P., Augustus I., Martin P., Emma, Ida, Clara, Emily and
Apollonia), and his wide-ranging career in journalism, publishing and in public
service. See the book History of Milwaukee, City and County, Vol. II, published
in 1922. |
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William George Bruce Papers:
with the listing of his papers in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives is a
biographical note tracing his life from birth on March 17, 1856, through his business
career, his service to public and religious causes, his work for the Democratic Party, and
his numerous books as well as his marriage to Monica Moehring and their children William
Conrad, Frank Milton, and Monica Maria. He died on August 13, 1949, at the age of
ninety-three.
William
George Bruce, brief biosketch of a Milwaukee leader, author
Bruce
Family in Documents, Books [ Top ]
Martin Bruss - ship carpenter
at 363 East Water in the First or East Ward in the 1848-49 Milwaukee Directory was
William's grandfather. His full name was Martin Friedrich Bruss, apparently called
Friedrich in his family. His grandson called him Frederick Bruce.
August Brusz - ship
carpenter at East Water, between Martin and Johnson, W. This entry in
the 1857-1858 Milwaukee Directory is surely William's father August Bruce whose surname
was originally Bruss. This is the location of the Bruss or Bruce property, not far from
City Hall.
August and brothers Martin and John filled in marshy
land east of the Milwaukee River in the mid-1850s,
obtaining lots there. Today that land is near the River
Houses Condominiums. Note the top of Milwaukee City Hall showing in the above
photo and this one
for orientation.
August
Bruce Household 1880: the census
record show that both of William's parents were born in Germany
to German parents, that father August worked as a ship carpenter and William was recorded
as a book dealer when in truth he was a bookkeeper at that time.
Mr.
and Mrs. W. G. Bruce were listed at 435 Hanover St. in the 1891-1892
Directory of Milwaukee Elite
Diary
of a 1921 Trip & Scrapbook for William George Bruce in the University of
West Florida archives and special
collections, relating to family-owned drydocks founded by his uncle Martin
near Pensacola.
Martin F. Bruce, brother of Augustus, married
Margaret Ollinger on March 13, 1861, in Escambia, Florida, near Pensacola. By the time of
the 1880
Census, Martin and Margaret had two sons, two daughters. Martin was born in
1833 while brother John -- a ship's caulker in California -- was born in 1835.
Martin died on
20 Feb 1894 and he and his son George are noted burials
in the Bagdad
Cemetery.
Ollinger
House [ large
image ] in Milton, Florida, built in 1871 by Joseph OIlinger whose brother
William established with Martin F. Bruce the Ollinger-Bruce Drydocks
there in 1858.
The firm was burned during the Civil War but reopened in 1867. Martin's wife Margaret was
Joseph and William's sister. More about the Ollinger family
and the firm. The 1885
Directory for Blackwater, formerly Bagdad, lists Ollinger & Bruce,
Ship Builders & Sectional Dry Dock.
The History of Milwaukee, City and
County
is a 3-volume set edited by William George Bruce. Volume I has 42
chapters of history, with Chapter
15, from page 179 on, narrating his memories of his childhood neighborhood
whose "residents were in the main German-born" and his grandfather's two-story
house with moss-covered roof. Volume II
and Volume III contain biographies including one for W. G. Bruce himself. Look up
volunteers are available here
and here [Books
We Own]. |
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The History of Milwaukee, City and County (1922) is available in various for Volume I,
Volume II
and Volume III.
I Was Born in
America: Memoirs of William George Bruce (1937) ranges from his youth in
Milwaukee's German neighborhood just east of the Milwaukee River to his adult career
and family. This index to the book lists two dozen Bruce, Fowle, Moehring, Mueller and Rock
relatives as well as many well-known Milwaukee citizens of his day.
Memoirs
of William George Bruce Ch 1 & 2: Chapters I and 2 on growing up in
the thoroughly German neighborhood just east of the Milwaukee River -- and including the
Bruce family story -- were in the June 1933
Wisconsin Magazine of History. William George Bruce was born March 17, 1856, in the house his grandfather
built at the corner of East Water and Johnson streets in this neighborhood.
Memoirs
of William George Bruce Ch 3, 4, 5 & 6: Chapter III on German old
Milwaukee -- 4th of July, music events, beer gardens, German newspapers; Chapter IV
on his early jobs; Chapter V on his time in newspapers including the Milwaukee Sentinel;
and Chapter VI about his own entry into publishing were in the September 1933
Wisconsin Magazine of History. They recount his work from age 12: from
cigar making and newspaper work to his 1891 launch of the American School Board
Journal. See sketch of house built by Frederick Bruce, William's grandfather, between pages 6 and 7.
Memoirs of William George Bruce Ch 7 &
8:
Chapter
VII on his political and civic service experience and Chapter
VIII on MIlwaukee's Scottish immigrants was in the December
1933 Wisconsin Magazine of History. See photos of him at age 20 in 1876 and of his parents -- Augustus F. and Apollonia Becker Bruce
-- in 1856.
Memoirs
of William George Bruce Ch. 9 & 10: Chapter IX on his experiences
as a tax collector and Chapter X on famous politicians and U.S. presidents he had met was
in the March 1934 Wisconsin
Magazine of History.
Memoirs
of William George Bruce Ch. 11: Chapter XI on his experiences with
eminent people, especially those visiting Milwaukee, was in the June 1934
Wisconsin Magazine of History.
Memoirs of William George Bruce Ch. 12: Chapter XII on his work
to advance the St. Lawrence Seaway Project to benefit Wisconsin was in the September
1934 Wisconsin Magazine of
History.
Milwaukee's
Name: in his book, A Short History of Milwaukee, Wm. G. Bruce noted
that at one point in the 1830s, a local newspaper decided to spell the city name
Milwaukee, not Milwaukie, and that settled it. This bit of history is often cited on
Web sites about the city.
American
School Board Journal: William. G. Bruce's role in its founding was
recounted in his memoirs, which were excerpted in the journal's January 1991 edition, its
centennial.
Children
Remember the Civil War: a passage from Bruce's memoirs on children
playing soldier and visiting soldier camps.
Old Abe -
Wisconsin's War Eagle: a civil war story recreated from William George
Bruce's 1922 History of Milwaukee, City and County
Histories by W. G. Bruce are cited on politics among
German groups
and on the arrival of Polish
immigrants in 19th century Milwaukee
Life
with Grandfather: William George Bruce published annual books about his
children and grandchildren, including these eight essays or letters. A highlight is Bruce
Family Christmases from 1/1/1921.
Grandson Robert C. Bruce
joined the Bruce Publishing Co. about 1940, continuing until it was sold in 1968. He
passed away in 1997.
William G. Bruce in Milwaukee
History [ Top ]
Milwaukee
Sentinel: in 1880, William G. Bruce was hired away from the business office
of the Milwaukee Daily News by the Sentinel where he worked for 11 years before starting
the Bruce Publishing Company. Includes a glimpse of Milwaukee newspapering of that era. Photos.
American School Board
Journal recognizes William George Bruce as its founding publisher, 1891 to
1912 [page 8]. ASBJ, Sports Afield, Popular Science, others were 100-year
old magazines in 1993 and Bruce's decision to leave the Milwaukee Sentinel to
found it is told.
The founding
of the journal, still published in 2007, is noted.
The Bruce Publishing Company of Milwaukee - a small sampling of
religious and history works published:
· The
Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis [online book]
· The Catholic Reformation by
Pierre Janelle [online book]
· Favorite
Newman Sermons [online book]
· Memoir: I Was Born in
America by William George Bruce [Index]
Search Google Books
for "william george bruce" to find online his School Board Manual: A
Reference Work on School Administration Labors for the Use of School Authorities,
1904, as well as his History of Milwaukee, City and County, 1922. The History
of Milwaukee is also online
here.
Read William George Bruce's book Commercial organizations, their
function, operation and service online here
in several formats.
Find all of the books
written by William George Bruce.
Bruce
Publishing Company celebrated 25 years of publishing technical books in 1942.
William George Bruce was still president of the firm he founded in 1891. In 1922, the
publishing company was located at 129 Michigan Ave., Milwaukee. The firm's early records
are in the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee archives.
William George Bruce in 1892-1893 advocated for construction of the
first South
Side High School to serve that area. A Milwaukee school board member, he
presided at the official opening January 25, 1894.
W. G. Bruce spoke about school boards and
superintendents at the National Education Association's annual meeting in New Jersey in
July 1894, and his remarks were reported by the New
York Times.
In 1903, W.
G. Bruce, School Board Journal editor,
urged women teachers to wear dresses short enough to avoid sweeping streets and floors,
thus not bringing germs into their classrooms on their hems.
At the National Education
Association's 44th annual meeting in New Jersey in July 1905, William
George Bruce was secretary of the Department of School Administration
and spoke at its meeting [p. 827]
A 1905
yearbook shows William C.. Bruce, at 447 Hanover St., Milwaukee, as an active
member of the National Education Association [p. 221]. This is son William Conrad Bruce.
Merchants
and Manufacturing Association: while secretary of this organization in 1906,
William George Bruce assisted his lifelong friend William L. Pieplow
in advancing the School of Trades in Milwaukee, today the Lynde & Harry Bradley
Technology and Trade School. In 1916 in that role, he spoke
to the Old Settlers on the character of people and quality of location that
helped Milwaukee thrive.
In April 1918, while General Secretary, Milwaukee Association of
Commerce, W. G. Bruce wrote to the New
York Times on the city's war aid subscriptions, its generosity and its
loyalty -- read full story
Milwaukee's
Harbor: from 1910-1949, Mr. Bruce first chaired the Harbor Commission,
then Board of Harbor Commissioners. Photo.
William George Bruce spoke on the St.
Lawrence waterway and his recent testimony in Washington, D.C., in December
1932 at a Tau Beta Pi dinner at Marquette University. In February 4, 1927
in MIchigan, as a Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Tidewater
Assn. member, he discussed the economic potential of a water link to the Atlantic, as reported in the Cass City Chronicle [now
offline].
The
Milwaukee Auditorium to which William G. Bruce devoted much time and energy
-- with an interior
view of the Auditorium in 1912, three years after opening in 1909, and an exterior view.
The Auditorium's development is described in The
History of Milwaukee, City and County, Vol. I Chapter
27 [pdf] written and edited by William George Bruce. Interior and exterior photos included. On two fund-raising
committees, he also was a director of the Auditorium Company.
In 2003, the Auditorium
was renovated into the Milwaukee
Theatre, its main entrance located at 500 W. Kilbourn Ave.
Milwaukee
County Historical Society: William G. Bruce was a founding director in 1921.
Includes his photograph
[top].
Wisconsin
Historical Society: W. G. Bruce was a curator
and vice president of the society for many years.
Hospital Supporter [pdf] the name William George Bruce is listed
among many Milwaukee people who, between 1863 and 1997, had their names listed on plaques
in three
hospitals that now are part of Aurora Health Care. The names are now on a
Heritage Tree.
George Raab, noted painter in Milwaukee, did a portrait of William
George Bruce, likely during the 1920s. W. G. Bruce was friend to and wrote about
Milwaukee-born artist Carl
Von Marr.
Board
of Trustees for a Memorial Union Building at the University of Wisconsin Madison included William George Bruce in 1921
Politics:
William G. Bruce was active in the Democratic Party and in 1924 was an alternate
delegate to Democratic National Convention from Wisconsin. He ran for office as a Democrat
several times, including for the U.S. Senate
in 1925, but was not elected.
Abraham
Lincoln Memorial Committee: Mr. Bruce voted with the majority to place
the memorial at the lake front.
Centennial
Speaker: known as a Milwaukee historian, William G. Bruce spoke at an April
1935 South Side celebration. Includes photo.
Marquette
University Civic Service Award was presented to William George Bruce and 15
others between 1925 and 1931.
Distinguished
Service Medal presented by the Cosmopolitan Club in 1935 to honor his work to
advance Milwaukee, especially the Harbor. Mr. Bruce termed "Public Citizen No.
1" and the "dean of civic affairs."
William
George Bruce in April 1929 gave congratulations from the laity at the silver
jubilee tribute for Archbishop Sebastian G. Messmer.
Catholic Church Layperson:
Mr. Bruce, who published secular and religious material, was a confidant to Bishop
Stritch.
Laetare
Medal: Notre Dame University presented its Laetare Medal to William
George Bruce in 1947, recognizing his work as a Catholic publisher for more than 50 years.
This is the oldest and most prestigious honor given to
American Catholics.
Bruce in Wisconsin
Century: Milwaukee's archbishop recalls the life of William George Bruce, his
contributions to city and church, including the donation of an Ivan Mestrovic statue
"Valiant Immigrant Mother" in Cathedral Square [see here
and here
and also in the book Milwaukee Then and Now, p. 31, for photos]. His intention,
as expressed in his will, was to help people remember the courage of immigrant mothers.
Passing
on August 13, 1949: William George Bruce, founder of the American School
Board Journal, was remembered for contributions.
"William
George Bruce: a maker of history" -- a eulogy -- appeared in Wisconsin
Magazine of History, Volume 33, Issue 2 (1949-1950).
William George Bruce was buried at the Holy
Trinity Cemetery in Milwaukee on August 16, 1949. Also buried there, in Block
4 Lot 37, is William's wife Monica
who died in 1938 and other family members.
Elizabeth M. Heinz, caregiver for the William
George Bruce family for 40 years and later for son William C. Bruce, passed away March 10,
2007, at age 98. [Link now missing].
Milwaukee's Early History [ Top ]
Old
Milwaukee: a sketch of Milwaukee history and culture by William George Bruce,
published in Wisconsin
Magazine of History from the Wisconsin Historical Society of which he was a
curator. He noted that his father was a volunteer fireman [p. 302], and that his
grandparents were thrifty, Grandfather working at the shipyard and Grandmother tending the
garden and animals [p. 305].
He described the Bruce family heritage in sailing and ship building [p. 306] and told of
Bruce family lots and homes on East Water and River streets [p. 308].
Old
Milwaukee's Yankee Hill, a sketch by William George Bruce
of the early residential area between the Milwaukee River and Lake
Michigan where New Englanders and New Yorkers
built their homes.
Introduction
to Milwaukee: overview, history, recent developments
Letters from Early
Milwaukee: Increase A. Lapham's 1836-1846 letters portray growth of the young
city, German immigrants, more
Links to the
Past for Milwaukee: history and genealogy
Timeline of Milwaukee History:
from its founding to today -- follow links to the "bridge war,"
Socialist era, more
See more in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin Family Heritage page with both history and genealogy.
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