The Proeger Family · Generation 5 — Kristin's great-great-grandparents

Charles Brooks Bruce

Husband of Ida Alice Montgomery Bruce · 1864–1920

Charles Brooks Bruce

Confirmed

Husband of Ida Alice Montgomery Bruce · 1864–1920

Born
12 Aug 1864
Married
Ida Alice Montgomery Bruce
Sources
5

Research status

Research status: CONFIRMED as the husband of Ida Alice Montgomery, from three images: the 1900 census of DeWitt County has Chas. B. Bruce, born August 1864, with his wife Ida A. S1357; the 1920 census of Cuero has C. B. Bruce, 54, with his wife Ida S1402; and his will of 7 August 1920 leaves everything to “my beloved wife Mrs. Ida Bruce” S1363. His full name and the day of his birth, 12 August 1864, come from an index of Texas deaths and are Probable S1716. Added to the family tree on 11 October 2026.

Life in the order the records give it

Death1864
Charles Brooks Bruce: born 12 Aug 1864 in Texas and died 29 Aug 1920 in Cuero, DeWitt, Texas
Work1900
A farmer who owned his farm in 1900, and by 1910 a rural mail carrier at Cuero, where he owned his house on East Main Street S1358 S1402
Burial1920
He died at his home in Cuero on the afternoon of Sunday 29 August 1920, “aged 56 years and 17 days”, and was buried in Hillside Cemetery, Cuero, the next day; the Methodist pastor, the Rev. M. H. Keen, took the service Confirmed S1716. The probate minutes give the same day of death, and his brother T. E. Bruce witnessed the will S1363

Family parents, marriages, children, siblings

Marriage1891
Husband of Ida Alice Montgomery Bruce, whom he married in DeWitt County on 18 November 1891 by a marriage index; the 1900 census has them married eight years S1357

Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it

Weak or missing
What is weak or missing: his parents are not in this record; the 1891 marriage and the death entry are read from indexes; the newspaper was read as text, which prints his initials as “B. Bruce” with the first letter lost; the index of his death names no wife, and Ida’s maiden name is not on the will. Know more? Use “Add to this record”.

In the record Generation 5 — Kristin's great-great-grandparents

Charles Brooks Bruce · Sources

Citations

Sources cited on this card

5 of the record's sources are cited here. The numbering is the record's own; the full list, with where else each is cited, is at Sources.

  1. S13571900 census — Chas. B. Bruce household, Precinct 1, DeWitt County, Texas, ED 25, sheet 7B, lines 74–79, 14 June 1900. Ancestry, “1900 United States Federal Census”, record 70553254. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 4 October 2026. Confirmed Bruce, Chas. B., head, born August 1864, 35, married 8 years, born Texas, parents born Tennessee, farmer, owns his farm free; Ida A., wife, born February 1874, 26, married 8 years, 4 children born and 4 living, born Texas, parents born Tennessee; children Mary B. (Oct 1892), Dora I. (Aug 1894), Orin M. (Mar 1897) and Millard (Feb 1899). ⚠ Ida’s month and year of birth, her Tennessee-born parents and DeWitt County tie this to her card. “Married 8 years” fits the 18 November 1891 marriage.
  2. S13581910 census — Chas. Bruce household, East Main Street, ward 1, Cuero, DeWitt County, Texas, ED 35, sheet 11B, lines 73–80, April 1910. Ancestry, “1910 United States Federal Census”, record 168626225. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 4 October 2026. Confirmed Bruce, Chas., head, 45, first marriage of 18 years, born Texas, rural mail carrier, owns his house free; Ida, wife, 36, married 18 years, 6 children born and 6 living, born Texas; children Mary 17, Inez 15, Orie 13 (a delivery boy for a department store), Millard 11, Lena May 7 and Alma 3. ⚠ This enumerator gives Ida’s parents as born in Mississippi; the 1900 census and her death certificate say Tennessee, which the card keeps. The index misses Alma on line 80 and misreads the surname as “Bence”.
  3. S1363DeWitt County, Texas, Probate Minutes, vol. T, p. 206 — Estate of Chas. B. Bruce, no. 1673, 1920. Ancestry, “Texas, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1833–1974”, record 2085445. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 4 October 2026. Confirmed The will of Chas. B. Bruce, made at his home in Cuero on 7 August 1920, leaves all his property to his “beloved wife” Mrs. Ida Bruce and names her executrix without bond; witnesses Sam C. Lackey and T. E. Bruce, the testator’s brother. Bruce died in DeWitt County on 29 August 1920, aged about 56; the will was filed on 9 September and proved on 5 October 1920 on the petition of Mrs. Ida Bruce, widow; estate about $1,900. ⚠ Ida’s maiden name is not on the page. The link rests on the names, Cuero and DeWitt County, the 1900 and 1910 censuses (S1357, S1358) and her widowhood on her 1924 death certificate.
  4. S14021920 census — C. B. Bruce household, Cuero, DeWitt County, Texas, ward 1, ED 35, sheet 4B, lines 97–100, January 1920. Ancestry, “1920 United States Federal Census”, record 109354356. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 4 October 2026. Confirmed Bruce, C. B., head, owns the house free, 54, born Texas of Tennessee-born parents, a rural mail carrier; Ida, wife, 45, born Texas; Willard B., son, 20, single; Lena May, daughter, 17, single. ⚠ Ida’s father’s birthplace is hard to read (Alabama?); the 1900 census and her death certificate say Tennessee. The index reads the daughter as Laura May; the image says Lena May. The son is Millard of 1900 and 1910. A younger daughter, Alma, is indexed with the family but falls on the next sheet, which was not read.
  5. S1716Death notice and death index — C. B. Bruce (Charles Brooks Bruce), Cuero, DeWitt County, Texas, 29 August 1920. San Antonio Express, Friday 3 September 1920, p. 6 (Newspapers.com image 1283876574), read from the newspaper text on 7 October 2026; FamilySearch, “Texas Deaths” index (K3XZ-KYW), read on 4 October 2026. Confirmed The paper, under Cuero, 2 September: “B. Bruce, long-time resident [of] this city, aged 56 years and 17 days, died at his home Sunday afternoon at 2 o’clock and was buried in Hillside Cemetery Monday afternoon”, the Rev. M. H. Keen of the Methodist Church conducting. The index gives Charles Brooks Bruce, who died on 29 August 1920 at Cuero and was born on 12 August 1864. The two agree to the day: 56 years and 17 days from 12 August 1864 is 29 August 1920, a Sunday. The newspaper text has lost the first initial; neither record names his wife, who is named in his will (S1363). No Cuero paper of 1920 is indexed. The page is not shown here. Entered on 11 October 2026.

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Compiled for the Proeger family

Living adults appear by name and relationship, with the year only: no full date of birth and no home town on any page that search engines index, and a living person’s own page is kept out of search engines. Minors appear by name only — no date of birth, no birth year, no age, no school, no place, no address, no other identifying detail. A minor may be named and may appear in a family photograph; nothing further about them is published. Where it is not established whether someone is an adult or a minor, the minor rule applies.

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