Blanche Bruce
| Blanche Bruce | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Register of the Treasury | |
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In office December 3, 1897 – March 17, 1898 |
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| President | William McKinley |
| Preceded by | Fount Tillman |
| Succeeded by | Judson Lyons |
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In office May 21, 1881 – June 5, 1885 |
|
| President |
James A. Garfield Chester A. Arthur Grover Cleveland |
| Preceded by | Glenni Scofield |
| Succeeded by | William Rosecrans |
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United States Senator from Mississippi |
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In office March 4, 1875 – March 4, 1881 |
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| Preceded by | Henry R. Pease |
| Succeeded by | James Z. George |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Blanche Kelso Bruce March 1, 1841 Farmville, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | March 17, 1898 (aged 57) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Josephine Willson |
| Education | Oberlin College |
Blanche Kelso Bruce (March 1, 1841 – March 17, 1898) was a U.S. politician who represented Mississippi as a Republican in the U.S. Senate from 1875 to 1881; of mixed race, he was the first elected black senator to serve a full term. Hiram R. Revels, also of Mississippi, was the first African American to serve in the U.S. Senate, but did not serve a full term.
Bruce was born into slavery in 1841 in Prince Edward County, Virginia near Farmville to Polly Bruce, an enslaved African-American woman who served as a domestic slave. His father was her master, Pettis Perkinson, a white Virginia planter. Bruce was treated comparatively well by his father, who educated him together with a legitimate half-brother. When Blanche Bruce was young, he played with his half-brother. His father legally freed Blanche and arranged for an apprenticeship so he could learn a trade.
Bruce taught school and attended Oberlin College in Ohio for two years. He next worked as a steamboat porter on the Mississippi River. In 1864, he moved to Hannibal, Missouri, where he established a school for black children.
In 1868, during Reconstruction, Bruce moved to Bolivar, Mississippi and bought a plantation. He became a wealthy landowner of several thousand acres in the Mississippi Delta. He was appointed to the positions of Tallahatchie County registrar of voters and tax assessor before winning an election for sheriff in Bolivar County. He later was elected to other county positions, including tax collector and supervisor of education, while he also edited a local newspaper. He became sergeant-at-arms for the Mississippi state senate in 1870.
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