Charles Bruce (1826-1896)
of "Staunton Hill," State Senator for Charlotte County, Virginia
He was the younger of the two sons of one of the richest men in America. He graduated from the University of North Carolina, studied law at Harvard University, and travelled through Europe in 1848. On his return, he built the impressive Gothic-Revival castle "Staunton Hill" (see images) that still stands today overlooking the Staunton River. He was the one of the wealthiest tobacco growers in Virginia before the Civil War and served in the Virginia Senate from 1857 to 1865. When war came, he joined the Confederate Army and was Captain of the "Staunton Hill Artillery" that he personally raised and equipped for action in 1861, seeing action in Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia. In 1848, he married Sarah Seddon - sister of James Seddon, Secretary of War of the Confederate States - and they were the parents of ten children, eight of whom (listed) survived childhood, including Charles Morrelle Bruce, Secretary of Arizona, and William Cabell Bruce, U.S. Senator from Maryland.
