Thomas Rowland Bruce
Contributed by Christine Merseal
Dr. Thomas Rowland Bruce, the son of Samuel Bruce and
Elizabeth Gould, was a practicing physician and surgeon in several
locations in Jefferson County
including Central Twp., Frumet and later in his career, Festus,
Missouri. It appears that he was born in Ireland
about 1824. He attended the University
of Michigan and received his
diploma in medicine in the year 1856. Three years later he married Irene Beall
in Jefferson County, Missouri
on January 4, 1859. Irene was born in Nelson County,
Kentucky to Thomas A. Beall and Matilda Gwynn. The
Beall family later moved to Indian Creek, Monroe County,
Missouri, where Irene was reared and
educated.
The young couple was living in Central
Township, Jefferson
County when the Civil War broke
out. On September 3, 1861,
Thomas entered into the Confederate service in Bloomfield,
Missouri. Between Sept 11, 1861 and October 5, 1861, Dr. Bruce was in the Confederate Missouri State Guard, 3rd
Regt Infantry, as the Assistant
Surgeon. Then between October 5, 1861 and December 1861, he was listed on the
rolls of the Confederate Missouri State Guard, 1st Battalion,
as a Surgeon. His service to the Confederacy was short lived. By April 1862, he was imprisoned at the
U.S. Military Prison in St. Louis, Missouri.
No record has been found that states the length of this stay.
In later years Dr. T.R. Bruce applied for a Confederate
Pension. Although his pension was rejected, his application lists that he was
present at the battles of Fredericktown, Blackwell or Big
River, and the Indian Ford skirmish
on the St. Francois River.
The application was written as if Doctor Bruce was actually present at these
battles. However, it was more likely that he attended to the wounded soldiers
who were engaged in these conflicts.
Dr. Thomas R. Bruce and his wife Irene had six children
together, however only three lived to adulthood. Thomas Rowland Bruce, Jr was born about 1861. Later in life, Thomas Jr.
tragically took his own life. His body was found in the Mississippi
River on May 19, 1911. Ellen or Nellie Bruce was born about 1864.
She taught school in Festus. She became a widower when her children were still
young and returned to her parent’s house. Thomas and Irene Bruce‘s youngest
son, Robert Earl Bruce was born about 1869. As an adult he lived in St.
Louis, Missouri.
Dr. Thomas R. Bruce practiced his profession as a physician
for many years in Union Township, Washington
County, Missouri where he and his
family lived. In fact, the family resided in Washington
County from the end of the Civil
War to at least 1880. It also appears that the doctor at least for a short time
practiced in Frumet, Missouri.
However by 1884 he was living in Festus, Jefferson County,
Missouri.
Thomas retired from practice in the year 1903. By this time,
he has been living in Festus for over 18 years and had been a physician for 47
years. Thomas Rowland Bruce died on May
28, 1914 at the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company Hospital in Crystal
City, Missouri. He was 90 years old.
Sources:
Thomas Rowland Bruce, death certificate no. 16444 (1914),
Missouri State Archives –Office of Secretary of State, Jefferson
City, Missouri. [Birth date given as May 12, 1824.]
Marriage entry for Bruce-Beal; January 4, 1859, St.
Joachim- Old Mines, Cadet, Washington, MO, marriage entries 1851-1899; p. 44;
St. Louis Archdiocesan Parish Records, SLCL roll #214, St. Louis County
Library, Frontenac, Missouri.[ Marriage took place in Jefferson County,
Missouri.]
Marriage return for Bruce-Beall (1859), Jefferson County, Missouri
Marriage Records 1849-1871, p. 147, MSA roll C3415.
Polk’s Medical and Surgical Register of the United States
and Canada, 6th revised edition, (Detroit, Michigan: R.L. Polk
& Co., 1900), 1022. Provided by the National Genealogical
Society.
Tho. R. Bruce household, 1860 U.S. Census, Jefferson
County, Missouri, population
schedule, Central Twp., sheet 535, dwelling 133, National Archives, M653 roll
626.
T.R. Bruce file, Confederate Pension and Home Application (Missouri),
Bollinger-Casey;
Adjutant General’s Office; St. Louis County HQ Library roll #
CONF-2, Frontenac, Missouri.
[T.R. Bruce states his birth date is May
13, 1823 on the application. This conflicts with the birth date on
his death certificate. ]
Carolyn M. Bartels, The Forgotten Men: Missouri State
Guard (Shawnee Missions, KS: Two Trails Publications, 1995), page 38.
T.R. Bruce, Missouri Union Provost Marshal Papers, Missouri
State Archive, MSA roll F1286. [Photocopies of film are very difficult to
read.]
Deed from T.R. & Irene Bruce to Joseph Hagan Sr.
[brother-in-law to Irene]
(recorded 16 April 1866),
Monroe County Deed Book U:532, Recorder of Deeds Office, Paris,
Missouri.
[Deed states T.R. and Irene Bruce of Washington Co., Mo.]
Jefferson Democrat, Hillsboro,
Missouri, Oct 1, 1884. [Notice that Nellie Bruce was teaching at
Festus.]
Todd [sic] Bruce household, 1870 U.S.
Census, Washington County, Missouri, population schedule, Union Twp., sheet 147, dwelling 156,
National Archives M593 roll 825.
T.R. Bruce household, 1880 U.S. Census, Washington
County, Missouri, population
schedule, Union Township,
ED 180, dwelling 138, National Archives T9, roll 740. [No sheet number given.]
Advertisement in the Jefferson Democrat, Hillsboro, Missouri,
provided by Lisa Gendron. [Notice states Thomas R. Bruce’s office
located in Frumet over the Frumet store.]
Thomas R. Bruce household, 1900 U.S.
Census, Jefferson County, Missouri, population schedule, Joachim Township,
City of Festus, ED 54, sheet 4, dwelling 77, National Archives T623 roll 867.
[The majority of the censuses list Thomas’ birthplace as Ireland,
as this census does. However the 1860 and 1870 censuses list his birthplace as Canada.
This conflict has not been resolved. ]
1900 Jefferson Co., MO Census, Festus
Thomas R. Bruce,
Physician, Born May 1826, Age 74, Married 41 years, Ire Ire
Ire
Mary I., Mar 1840, 60 mother of 6, 3 living, KY MD KY
George, Adopted son, Feb. 1897, 3 NY
“Missouri
Death Certificates, 1910-1955, digital images, Missouri State Archives-Office
of Secretary of State, Jefferson City, Missouri (www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/:
accessed on June 29, 2006) entry for Thomas Roland Bruce, Jr. Cause of death is
asphyxiation due to drowning, suicide. He is buried at Calvary
Cemetery, St.
Louis, MO, Section 15, Lot
46. The lot owner is listed as James A. Beal. [Brother to Irene Bruce] No
tombstone is on the grave.
Irene Bruce probate record #4564, Jefferson County
Missouri Estate Files, Missouri State Archive roll C8720. [Robert Earl Bruce is
listed on his mother’s probate file as living on 1700
Olive Street, St. Louis, Mo.]
Pittsburgh Plate
Glass Hospital
Death Records
Thomas Rowland Bruce,
white male, age 90 years, Died May 28,
1914, Occupation; Physician, Cause of Death; Organic heart disease,
J.J. Commerford
Missouri Birth
& Death Records Database
T.R. Bruce MD, Festus 1884 (as
signing physician)