Edward Bruce (M)
b. circa 1280, d. 14 October 1318
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     Edward Bruce was born circa 1280. He was the son of 6th Lord of Annandale Robert de Brus and Countess of Carrick Marjorie (?). Edward Bruce died on 14 October 1318.

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James D. Bruce¹ (M)
b. circa 1835

     James D. Bruce was born circa 1835.¹ He married Mary Stroup, daughter of Benjamin Franklin Stroup and Elizabeth "Betsy" Sarah Roach, on 12 March 1860 at Bartow Co., Georgia.¹

John Bruce (M)
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     John Bruce was the son of King of Scotland Robert I Bruce and Elizabeth de Burgh.

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Margaret Bruce (F)
b. 25 March 1857, d. 22 May 1923

     Her body was interred at Fairfield Co., South Carolina. BURIED: New Hope Cemetery. Margaret was born on 25 March 1857. She married William B. Douglas circa 1879. Margaret died on 22 May 1923 at age 66.

Margaret Bruce (F)

     Margaret Bruce married William Durbin.

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Margaret Ann Bruce¹ (F)

     She married Robert Williams at Fannin Co., Georgia, on 15 September 1873. Her body was interred at Fannin Co., Georgia, at Barnes Chapel Cemetery. Died between 1900 and 1910..

King of Scotland Robert I Bruce (M)
b. 11 July 1274, d. 7 June 1329
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     King of Scotland Robert I Bruce was born on 11 July 1274 at Turnberry Castle, Scotland. He was the son of 6th Lord of Annandale Robert de Brus and Countess of Carrick Marjorie (?). King of Scotland Robert I Bruce married Isabella (?) circa 1295. King of Scotland Robert I Bruce married Elizabeth de Burgh, daughter of Richard de Burgh and Margaret de Burgh, circa 1302. Robert was crowned King of Scotland on 25 March 1306 at Scone Abbey and ruled until his death, 7 June 1329.

On 25 March 1306, Robert the Bruce was chosen to be King of Scots and to lead the fight for Scottish independence against Edward I of England. Born in 1274 in Ayr, the son of Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, he was the grandson of the Robert Bruce who had been one of the competitors for the throne after the death of the Maid of Norway. Robert I had been on the English side when Edward moved against Balliol, but he had subsequently joined Wallace's revolt. When Wallace gave up the Guardianship of Scotland in 1298, Robert became joint Guardian with Sir John Comyn of Badenoch (Balliol's nephew). A few weeks before his coronation, Robert killed his greatest rival for the crown - his joint Guardian - in a Dumfries church, during the last of many arguments between them. For this murder, Robert was outlawed by Edward I and excommunicated by Pope Clement V.

His reign did not begin well. He was defeated by the English at Methven in Perthshire; his wife, daughter and sisters were imprisoned; and three of his brothers were executed by the English. Robert fled westward to the Antrim coast. (The story of Robert drawing inspiration from a persistent spider mending its web in a cave dates from the sixteenth century.) However, he possessed real military genius and he was helped by the fact that in 1307 Edward I, the self-styled 'Hammer of the Scots', died and was succeeded by his less effective son Edward II.

From 1307 onwards, with energy and determination, Robert waged highly successful guerrilla warfare against the English occupiers, establishing control north of the Forth, and gradually won back his kingdom; by 1314, Stirling was the only castle in English hands. His campaign culminated in resounding victory over Edward II (whose larger army of 20,000 outnumbered Robert's forces by three to one) at the Battle of Bannockburn, near Stirling on 24 June 1314. Bannockburn confirmed the re-establishment of an independent Scottish monarchy.

Two years later, his brother and heir presumptive, Edward Bruce, was inaugurated as High King of Ireland (which increased pressure on the English), but was killed in battle in 1318.

Even after Bannockburn and the Scottish capture of Berwick in 1318, Edward II refused to give up his claim to the overlordship of Scotland, and so in 1320 the Scottish earls, barons and the 'community of the realm' sent a letter to Pope John XXII declaring that Robert I was their rightful monarch. This 'Declaration of Arbroath' has become perhaps the most famous document in Scottish history.

The Declaration asserted the antiquity of the Scottish people and their monarchy: '...we gather from the deeds and books of the ancients, that among other distinguished nations our own nation, namely of Scots, has been marked by many distinctions. It journeyed from Greater Scythia by the Tyrrenhian Sea and the Pillars of Hercules, and dwelt for a long span of time in Spain among the most savage peoples, but nowhere could it be subjugated by any people, however barbarous. From there it came, twelve hundred years after the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea and, having first driven out the Britons and altogether destroyed the Picts, it acquired, with many victories and untold efforts, the places which it now holds ... As the histories of old time bear witness, it has held them free of all servitude ever since. In their kingdom one hundred and thirteen kings of their own royal stock have reigned, the line unbroken by a single foreigner.'

The Declaration also had a stark warning for Robert: 'were he to desist from what he has undertaken and be willing to subject us or our kingdom to the king of the English or the English, we would strive to expel him forthwith as our enemy and as a subverter of right, his own and ours, and make someone else our king who is equal to the task of defending us.'

In 1324, the Pope recognised Robert as king of an independent Scotland. Two years later, the Franco-Scottish alliance was renewed in the Treaty of Corbeil, by which the Scots were obliged to make war on England should hostilities break out between England and France.

In 1327, the English deposed Edward II in favour of his son Edward III and peace was then made between Scotland and England with the treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton, which began with England's total renunciation of all claims to superiority over Scotland. Robert had achieved all he had fought for: ejecting the English, re-establishing peace and gaining recognition as the true king. By that time, King Robert was seriously ill, probably with leprosy, and he died at Cardross, Dunbartonshire on 7 June 1329, aged 54. A few days later, in response to an earlier request by him, the Pope granted permission for kings of Scots to be anointed at their coronation (Scottish kings had previously been enthroned in a mainly secular ceremony at Scone). This was a clear acknowledgement that the Pope recognised Scotland's independence.

Robert I was buried at Dunfermline and, in fulfilment of his dying wish, Sir James Douglas set out to carry his heart to the Holy Land. Sir James was killed fighting the Moors in Granada, in Spain, but the heart was retrieved and brought back to Scotland, to be buried in Melrose Abbey, Roxburghshire.
King of Scotland Robert I Bruce died on 7 June 1329 at age 54; While preparing to head to the Holy Land, Robert died of leprosy. He was buried in June 1329 at Dunfermline Abbey, Scotland; Although Robert is buried in Dunfermline, his heart was carried on the Crusade to atone for his sins and was eventually returned to Scotland and interred at Melrose Abbey.

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Thelma Bruce (F)

     She married Leonard William Lazenby.

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Conrad Bruch (M)
b. 29 November 1742, d. 13 October 1806
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     Conrad was born at Trappe, Montgomery Co., Pennsylvania, on 29 November 1742. He was the son of Jakob Bruch. He married Lucia Marie Finkbeiner in 1767. Conrad Bruch was land contract at Frederick Co., Maryland; Conrad purchased 100 acres of land in Frederick Co., Maryland where he raised his family, farmed the land and made shoes. Conrad died on 13 October 1806 at New Windsor, Carroll Co., Maryland, at age 63.

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Jakob Bruch¹ (M)
b. 1705

     Jakob was born in 1705. He immigrated circa 1725 to Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania; He came to Philadelphia about 1725. He did not have much money and was obliged to sell himself to the shipmaster to defray the expenses of his passage from the old world to the new. Upon arriving in Philadelphia he was sold as an indentured servants to liquidate the expense of their transportation to a wealthy Philadelphia Quaker. From "Prugh Genealogy 1705-1973" by Robert N. Feicht comes the following: "In Rhodt I called on the Protestant pastor, who was in possession of church records which date back to the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). There I found the name Jakob Bruch in four succeeding generations, whit birthdates, baptismal records and dates of death recorded in almost every instance. Of special interest to me was the family of Hans Jakob Bruch, 1646-1693, who had four sons, the second of whom was also Hans Jakob, born August 15, 1669. One of the older sons was Hans Niklaus, who was born in 1673. (It is significant that Walter Prugh, Sr., of Gladden, Missouri, stated that the original immigrant, Jakob, had a brother Klaus, an abbreviated form of Niklaus, who accompanied him to this country, but who returned to Germany at a subsequent time.) In the following generation we find another Johann Jakob Bruch, who had a twin brother named Conrad, of whom it is recorded that he died in infancy. The church records reveal further complete data regarding the other sons, all of whom remained in Rhodt to the end of their days, and who lie buried int eh church graveyard. But no such data are found regarding Hans Jakob, who apparently left his home and never returned. This combination of circumstances leads me to the inevitable conclusion that here we are on solid ground at last, that this is indeed our ancestor, from whom me all descend."

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