G. W. Bruce, born in 1838 in Charleston, S.C., was a prominent attorney in Faulkner County. After his father’s death in 1841, he moved to Whitfield County, Ga., with his mother. Educated locally, he studied law under Col. Henry S. Simms and began practicing in 1859. Bruce served in the Confederate army, participated in significant battles, and was captured and paroled by war’s end. Settling in Faulkner County in 1873, he developed extensive land holdings and became a key figure in local development. Politically active as a Democrat, Bruce also served in the legislature and was involved in numerous legal cases. He married Sarah S. McClain in 1860, and they had nine children, seven surviving. The family was affiliated with the Baptist Church.
G. W. Bruce, one of the leading attorneys of Faulkner County, was born in Charleston, S.C., in 1838, and was the only child of Andrew and Sarah (Quinn) Bruce, natives of that state. The father died in 1841 when his son was a child, and shortly after his decease the mother moved to what was then Walker County, but now Whitfield County, Ga., where she still resides. G. W. Bruce was reared on a plantation near Dalton, Ga., and received his education in the schools of Whitfield County. After obtaining a good English education, he read law in Catoosa County with Col. Henry S. Simms, a noted attorney of that place, and in October, 1859, was admitted to the bar of Whitfield County and began practicing in Tunnel Hill. On April 13, 1873, he arrived in Faulkner County, the day after it was organized as a county, and has resided here ever since, having established a practice that is flattering to his ability.
Mr. Bruce enlisted in the Confederate army for one year, on April 19, 1861, at Dalton, Ga., becoming a member of Company H, Second Georgia Infantry, and fought at the battle of Savannah, the second fight at Manassas, and a number of sharp skirmishes. At the expiration of one year, he went to Dauphin Island, in the Gulf of Mexico, where he remained for eighteen months, and then came to Tennessee and enlisted in the Army of Tennessee. He took part in the battle of Murfreesboro and was captured while with Gen. Hood on the way to Nashville and confined at Louisville, Ky., until the close of the war, when he was paroled and returned to Georgia.
He made his home in Catoosa County until the year 1868, and then removed to Chattanooga, Tenn., where he resumed his practice and continued until 1871. His next location was in Crittenden County, Ark., where he remained a short time, and then at Memphis, Tenn., until the winter of 1872. From there he went to Little Rock, but the following year came to Conway, where he invested in considerable land adjoining the city, part of it being known as Bruce’s Addition. Mr. Bruce has purchased and opened up a large amount of land in Faulkner County, and has sold a great many lots. He now owns about 2000 acres of land and has some of the finest suburban property in the county. One of the best brick blocks in Conway, now in course of erection, is due to his enterprise in building up the city, and besides this he owns other valuable property in the city.
He takes an active part in politics and votes with the Democratic party, and in 1881 represented Faulkner County in the legislature. Mr. Bruce has served as alderman on several occasions, and his public as well as his private life is beyond reproach. His practice extends throughout several counties, and his reputation as a criminal lawyer is one of the best in Central Arkansas. He has defended seventy-five murder cases since residing here, besides successfully conducting a great number of very important cases of various natures.
In secret fraternities, he is a member of Centre Link Lodge No. 75, I.O.O.F., and has passed the chairs in that order, as also being representative at the Grand Lodge. On January 10, 1860, he was married to Miss Sarah S. McClain, a belle of Georgia, and this union has given them nine children, of whom seven are yet living: Carrie E. (now Mrs. Cox, of Conway), Lida (now Mrs. Woodruff, whose husband is general superintendent of the Western Union Telegraph Company, at Rome, Ga.), Anna, Edward, Claude (who died at the age of two years), Roy, Madie Martin, Daisy, and Nellie (the latter dying in 1886 at the age of two years). Mr. and Mrs. Bruce are members of the Baptist Church, as are also the four oldest children, and are deeply interested in educational matters, while Mrs. Bruce is well known for her generosity in aiding religious enterprises. Mr. Bruce fully appreciates the benefits of a thorough education, and has had his children trained at the best schools in Rome, Ga., and Clarksville, Tenn. He takes an active part in everything tending to promote and develop his county, and is one of the leading spirits in all worthy enterprises.