Andrew A. Bruce
Andrew Alexander Bruce (April 15, 1866 – December 6, 1934) was an American judge who served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of North Dakota from 1911 to 1918. Andrew A. Bruce was born in Madras, India, on April 15, 1866, to parents of Scottish ancestry. At the time of his birth, his father Edward Archibald Bruce was a General in the British Army and was stationed in India. He was later educated in England. In 1881, at the age of 15, Bruce was orphaned and immigrated to the United States on his own. For a few  years, he worked as a farm laborer in Minnesota, and then later attended the University of Wisconsin, where he received his law degree in 1892. After graduating, Bruce practice in Wisconsin and Illinois. He served on the legal staff of the Wisconsin Central Railway Company and the Illinois State Board of Factory Inspectors. While in Illinois, he lived in Chicago and practiced as an attorney. In 1895, he became involved in the Ritchie v. People case and fought in favor of workers’ rights. Bruce became known as an avid advocate of labor laws, and he helped establish laws against sweat  shops in Wisconsin and Illinois. In 1898, he began a career in teaching at the University of Wisconsin School of Law. In 1902, he moved to North Dakota and served as the Dean of the School of Law at Grand Forks until 1911. In 1911, Governor John Burke appointed Bruce to fill the vacant position on the North Dakota Supreme Court, which was open because of the resignation of Justice David Morgan. He served on the Supreme Court until 1918, including serving as Chief Justice from 1917-1918. In 1918, he resigned to return to academia. He later moved to  Minnesota and taught at the University of Minnesota School of Law from 1919 to 1922. After that, he accepted a position at Northwestern University Law School. In addition to his career as an attorney, professor, and judge, Bruce wrote several books on law and was a frequent contributor to magazines, newspapers, and journals. He also served on many committees and boards, such as the President of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology. Andrew A. Bruce died on December 6, 1934, at the age of 68 after succumbing to a bronchial illness.