Alec Bruce

the bones were made to fit perfectly. He was repatriated to Canada, two and half inches shorter in stature, then when he entered the service.

Upon his return from England on crutches, it was to a hero's welcome in Charlottetown. He was received by a Guard of Honour from the Overseas Draft. The Mayor, Members of the Legislative Assembly and a large crowd cheered him. After the ceremony at City Hall, he left for the home of his father at Red Point, where he continued his convalescence. In 1918 he ‘ joined the Custom's department in Charlottetown where he remained until ill health forced him to retire in 1945. Over the years his legs caused him much pain and he spent many days at the Camp Hill Vet Hospital in Halifax. He acquired the ownership of his father's home at Red Point, and for a number of years, they spent as much time as possible there on weekends and vacations. The pain in his legs did not allow him the privilege of easy travel, and when the home became too much to care for, he sold it in the early Billy and Gladys with two of their 1940's to the Rev. and Mrs. H. R. Bell. Their daughter Marcella (Bell) grandchildren, William and Dawn McRae owned this home until her passing in the early 1990's. To help pass the time, he became an avid cribbage player and at least once a week would engage in penny poker with his friends.

Children: 14. {Elizabeth (Betty) Bruce.

5. Harold Alexander (Harry) Bruce born 1886 Red Point Prince Edward Island, married Sept. 12, 1914, Souris Prince Edward Island, Mabel Catherine Robertson, born January 14 1891, Munn's Road Prince Edward Island, (daughter of John James Robertson and Lydia Rose) resided in Kingsboro PEI, died March 12, 1998, Souris Prince Edward Island, interred at Kingsboro Prince Edward Island, in the East Point Baptist Church Cemetery. Harold died April 24, 1961, Souris Prince Edward Island, interred at Kingsboro Prince Edward Island, in the East Point Baptist Church Cemetery.

Harold (always known as Harry) was born in the family home which still stands at the corner of the Snake Road and Route 16 and is now known as the "Green Shutters". He attended Kingsboro School, but was more interested in playing tricks and being a trial to his teachers than in attending school. Harry worked with his father in the shop and on the farm. He also worked on the building of the railroad from Fountain Head to Munn's Road with a team of horses and a scoop. He went west on a Harvest Excursion in the early 1900's and that was the one and only time he left Prince Edward Island.

Mabel's mother died of pneumonia at the age of 39 while pregnant with her fifteenth child in Hi 1907 and she, her father and her older brother Lester had the responsibility of helping raise the anry twelve younger siblings. Mabel enjoyed music and played the concertina. She had her own reed organ which she played during musical evenings with the neighbours.

The newlyweds moved in with Harry's parents, where their first two children were born. Then they moved to a farm they owned in the northern section of East Baltic and stayed there until 1918 when they moved into their new home on the Snake Road on land given to them by Harry's father. It was a parcel of 104 acres, part of the original George Bruce farm, and the house that was built by Jack Whalen is still standing.

Times were tough in the 1920's and 1930's and Harry supplemented his farm income with a threshing mill which he purchased in 1913. It is now owned by his son Maurice and is still in operating condition. The original power source for the mill was a treadmill set on an incline which was walked by two horses. He later purchased an International 6 HP gas engine, and used this for both the threshing mill and his portable saw bench. He used the saw to cut logs into block lengths to be split for the stoves that heated most of the homes of his time. In 1936 he bought a grist mill and people came from miles around to have their grain crushed. Harry operated his threshing and grist mills as well as . his portable saw bench into the late 1940's as well as farming full time. Harry also worked with his team of horses and scoop during the building of the harbour at Basin Head in the 1930's. For the price of a cup of coffee today, Harry and his team walked uphill in the sand all day in the hot sun pulling the scoop - backbreaking work for man and horse.

Harry earned his colourful reputation in part due to his skill as a horse trader. He was known to leave one morning with a horse and buggy and one horse on the line and to return two or three days later with two different (and better) horses and as much as $100.00 in cash - a substantial sum during the twenties and thirties. During the war Harry obtained a rebellious race horse called 'Rocky Boy’. He entered him to race on the ice at Black Pond, however the horse refused to go in any direction except backwards. Needless to say, Rocky Boy had a new address very shortly after that spectacle. In spite of Harry's first and last attempt at horse racing, he had an ability to get the best from a horse. His impressive reputation was earned at the Souris Horse Sheds and throughout the eastern half of Kings County.

he Bruce Family of Red Point Prince Edward’ sland 1840-1999