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Bruce, Henry C., (fl. 1875-1879) to Blanche Kelso Bruce

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09400.166 Author/Creator: Bruce, Henry C., (fl. 1875-1879) Place Written: Atchison Kansas Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 8 December 1875 Pagination: 2 p. : docket ; 20.2 x 12.6 cm.

Summary of Content: Senator Bruce's brother is writing to say he received his letter of the 3rd from Chicago and had sent a letter the same day to Washington D.C. H.C also asks what course Blanche is going to take in the future with the Senate.

Background Information: Blanche Kelso Bruce was born into slavery near Farmville, Prince Edward County, Va. on March 1 1841. He was tutored by his master's son, but left his master at the beginning of ...the civil war and taught school in Hannibal Mo. After the civil war Bruce became a planter in Mississippi, and a member of the Mississippi Levee Board, and Sheriff and Tax Collector for Bolivar County from 1872-1875. Bruce was then elected as a Republican to the United States Senate, where he served from March 4 1875 - March 3 1881. Bruce was the first African American to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. In 1881 Bruce was appointed by President James Garfield as the Register of the Treasury. Bruce then went on to serve as the Recorder of Deeds for the District of Colombia from 1891-1893, returning to the office of Register of the Treasury from 1897 until his death on March 17, 1898. See More

People: Bruce, Blanche Kelso, 1841-1898
Bruce, Henry C., fl. 1875-1879

Historical Era: Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877

Subjects: African American HistoryAfrican Americans in GovernmentCongressReconstructionGovernment and CivicsChildren and Family

Sub Era: Reconstruction

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