William Bruce

• General Notes
  • Elizabeth Bruce  – 1851
    Margaret Bruce  – 1851
    William Bruce, II 1776 – 1854
    James Bruce 1778 – 1832
    Mary Bruce  1780 – 
    
    
        * Title: Memoirs of the Bruce Family by William Bruce
          Author: William Bruce
          Text: MEMOIRS OF THE BRUCE FAMILY
          August 6, 1851
          Written by William Bruce, Age 75
    
          My first recollection that I have of my ancestors was hearing my grandfather, James Bruce, telling that himself and a younger brother, George Bruce, came from Scotland about the year 1740. My grandfather located in Winchester, Virginia. He was a house carpenter by trade, and I have heard him say that he built the first frame house that was ever built in that town. About the year 1744 he married a Margaret McMahon and moved to the north branch of the Potomac in Maryland. He continued there, following his trade and farming until he raised a large family of children. My father, William Bruce, was the eldest. He was born the 14th day of February, 1745. He had two sons younger than my father and six daughters, viz., Elizabeth, who married a man by the name of Thomas Anderson; Margaret, who married David Cox; Jane was married to a William Marshall; Nancy, that married Samuel Percifull; Ann, who married Samuel Glass; and James, who married one Polly Runyan, and George, that married the widow Biggs.
    
          My father married a widow Percifull, and the youngest daughter, Sally, married a Joshua Carmen, a Baptist preacher, a man of excellent character and a considerable speaker. He moved to the state of Ohio about fifty years ago, raised a large family and died at a good old age-about eighty-five. From the above enumerated uncles and aunts there has sprung an almost innumerable multitude. They mostly moved to Kentucky at an early day and settled in Nelson County.
    
          My father, soon after marrying my mother, moved to Monoghahela and settled about fourteen miles above Pittsburgh, between the mouths of Peteso Creek and Newels Store, now Elizabethtown. It was then the haunt of Indians and forts were the only place of safety for the families of those hardy pioneers. I had two sisters older than myself, that were born in the fort, and myself, the third child, soon after they ventured to their farms. I was born the Sixth of August, 1776, one month and two days after Independence was declared. I can, with the Apostle Paul, say that I was free born, while our forefathers had to obtain their freedom by their blood and treasure. During the Revolutionary War, my father was frequently called upon to perform military service. The first that I recollect him talking about was being stationed at a place then called Catfish Camp, called after an old Indian chief, near a place now called Washington, and not far from a place on the Monongahela then called Red Stone. My father served then in the capacity of lieutenant. The next service he performed was under General George Rogers Clark. He commanded a company under the veteran soldier to Louisville; was absent from home some five or six months.
    
          As to my mother's family, I have a very imperfect knowledge. Her maiden name was Polly Lucas. Her first husband was Richard Percifull. After his death she married my father. My grandfather by my mothers side was William Lucas. Was my grandmother a Lucas? What maiden name was I never learned, as she died about my first recollection. My grandfather Lucas died before I was born. All I know of him is that he was a seafaring man. I recollect an Uncle Robinson Lucas and two aunts. They married two bothers, William and Dennis Murphy; moved to the state of Ohio at an early date.
    
          Land deed record:
          A warrant for the 318 acre tract was first issued under “Virginia entry” to Richard McMahon (later spelled McMachen) who had the tract surveyed on July 13, 1769, but never had it patented.
          On June 4, 1770 McMachen sold the tract to James Bruce for 100 pounds in Pennsylvania currency. Under the bill of sale the land was described as “a certain tract of land lying on the west side Of the Monongahela cornered, joining Macfarlane on the south and William McMachen on the north, being a half mile on the river and a half mile back.”
    
          On March 17, 1783 Benjamin Bentley purchased the tract from James Bruce and George Bruce (no record of title can be found in George Bruce’s name). The land at that time sold for 40 shillings in gold or silver or its value in good mer­cantile whiskey. It is at this point that the tract is described as being in Notting­ham township. [1, 9, 10, 11, 12]
    
    
    #
    Sources      
    
       1. [S8196] Bruce, John of the Shenandoah, Violet Laverne Bruce, (Decorah, Iowa : Anundsen Pub. Co., c1987. Book #929.273 B83br), 929.273 B83br..
    
       2. [S8231] Bruce family of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Indiana, (Salt Lake City : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1984. FHL Film #1412126 Item 7 John Bruce and his wife Sarah emigrated from Scotland to Winchester County, Virginia between 1737 and 1740.).
    
       3. [S8188] Descendants of William Anderson of Anderson's Bottom, W. Va., Olive I. McFarland, (Salt Lake City : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1973. Film #940943, item 14), 940943, item 14., 1: James Bruce from Scotland (Reliability: 3).
    
       4. [S8190] Bruce Family, Bruce Family Website, (Online), John Bruce, born in Scotland, died 1748 in Winchester Co., Virginia (Reliability: 3).
    
       5. [S8200] Albins of Virginia, Ethel Winifred Albin, (Sabetha, Kans. : Ethel W. Albin, c1989 #929.273 AL14ae), 929.273 AL14ae., 3 (Reliability: 3).
    
       6. [S8131] Kentucky Census, 1810 - 90, Ronald V. Jackson, ([database on-line] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 1999-).
    
       7. [S8188] Descendants of William Anderson of Anderson's Bottom, W. Va., Olive I. McFarland, (Salt Lake City : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1973. Film #940943, item 14), 940943, item 14., 1: James Bruce married Margaret McMahon about 1744 in Winchester, Frederick, Virginia (Reliability: 3).
    
       8. [S8153] U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, Yates Publishing, (, Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2004).
    
       9. [S8200] Albins of Virginia, Ethel Winifred Albin, (Sabetha, Kans. : Ethel W. Albin, c1989 #929.273 AL14ae), 929.273 AL14ae., 4 (Reliability: 3).
    
      10. [S8231] Bruce family of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Indiana, (Salt Lake City : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1984. FHL Film #1412126 Item 7 John Bruce and his wife Sarah emigrated from Scotland to Winchester County, Virginia between 1737 and 1740.), 2 (Reliability: 3).
    
      11. [S8213] Shenandoah Valley pioneers and their descendants, Thomas Kemp (T. K.) Cartmell, (Tucson, Ariz. : W.C. Cox, 1974 Film #1000634 Item 1), 1000634 Item 1..
    
      12. [S8215] Bruce Family Memoirs, Norma S. Ruhl, (Salt Lake City : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1972. Film #908027 Item 2), 908027 Item 2..