"Henry-Clay-Bruce"1836-1902]

Brother of the first African American U.S.Senator Blanche K.Bruce,was born into slavery in Virginia to parents owned by Lemuel Bruce.He spent the first years of his life in Virginia before he and his family were sold to Jack Perkinson in 1844,and were taken to Chariton County,Missouri.
There Henry was rented out as a laborer and also learned to read.Before and after new master moved him back to Virginia in 1847,he worked at a variety of positions as a rented slave laborer,
including tobacconist,rail spliter,and eventually farm hand supervisor.

In 1864,Henry encountered some trouble due to his literacy.Master of Henry's fiancée opposed the couple's marriage because he was concerned that Henry's ability to read and write might spoil his
slaves.Henry and his wife risked a great deal when they successfully escaped their masters and fled to Kansas that year.Once in Kansas,Bruce found work as a bricklayer,and several years later the couple brought a house.

Bruce would remain in Kansas for many years,owning several businesses,running unsuccessfully for public office,and serving a term as an elected doorkeeper for the state senate.In 1881,his brother Blanche secured him a job at the post office he and his family moved to Washington,D.C.,
where he would spend the remainder of his life.Henry's life is best remembered today through his autobiography,Twenty-nine Years a Slave,Twenty-nine Years a Free Man,which was published in 1895.