History of Angus Leonard Gull, by Carol Nelson, granddaughter
My grandfather, Angus Leonard Gull, was born March 6, 1889, in the little town of Meadow, Utah. He was the twelfth child born to John Gull and Charlotte Criddle. There were a total of thirteen children, 10 boys and 3 girls born to his couple. Out of thirteen children, 2 boys and 1 girl died before the age of 8 years old.
My grandfather was not a strong man physically. He was born with a few problems. He and three of his brothers, William, Albert, and Ezra all had the same blood type which was extremely rare. In fact only about seven in a hundred persons have this rare type. He was also born with asthma which he inherited from his mother. It was wheat and alfalfa that gave him the most trouble. His younger brother, Ezra, was Grandpa's shadow until Ezra was 17 years old. There was not a night that went by that Ezra was not by his side. It was his responsibility to watch Grandpa and help him through his attacks. The two boys would sleep together and when he would have an attack, Ezra would prop him up and give him a mixture of sugar and olive oil which he always had near by. This solution would coat Grandpa's throat and give him the relief he needed. Ezra sent all over the world for different medicines to help his brother's asthma but none seemed to work. Because of his asthma, Grandpa spent about nine-tenths of his young life sitting up but never once did he complain. Grandpa had asthma bad until after he was married and had moved to Willard. He did a lot of uphill walking which helped a great deal to strengthen his lungs. This was not all of his troubles. He also had severe ear aches now and then. Ezra would use the core of onions to stop them.
My grandpa went through the usual experiences of growing up. He was raised in the small town of Meadow which had a population of about 350. He was a friend to everyone and all the kids in town were his friends. He loved fun. He was very easy going and he never fought with his brothers. His brother Ezra never knew him to do a mean thing. He was honest and never told a lie. Everyone liked and took to him. All of his life, Grandpa was a good neighbor and hard worker.
As a young boy, Grandpa did not do much farm work because of hay fever. Animals were his greatest interest. He always wanted race horses. Grandpa talked to horses like he would to people. He was kind to all animals and he would never ride a horse with spurs on. He was an excellent rider of horses and in fact, he never was thrown by a new horse. It was because of horses that Grandpa became addicted to tobacco. Being around them caused him to have chapped lips and by chewing tobacco he found it relieved the soreness. He had this habit until his fiftieth birthday and then up and quit. From then on he always had a sack of candy in his pocket. Once, after he had quit the tobacco habit, he was in the hospital. They put him in a room with several smokers and at that time he said he would have to be moved or be given some tobacco.
Grandpa had fun when he was a boy. One thing he liked to do was to get a bunch of boys together on a Sunday afternoon and ride the young calves. Grandpa did not care for shooting but he did like to use a flipper. When he was a young man, he liked to play cards but liked to play for the fun of it and not the gambling. He never played ball as a boy. He was one fellow that could tread water standing up without moving his hands. Grandpa liked to make ice cream but he was too lazy to turn the handle on the freezer, so he put snow in the ice cream to make it freeze. These are just a few things the Grandpa did as a young boy.
Grandpa did not have much formal education. He only went as far as the 6th grade. He had a good mind but he was more interested in horses. It was in his late teens that he left home with his team of horses and went to Salt Lake City to look for work. He found a job wrecking the Salt Lake Theater. From there he worked on a dam and later on he went to work for the railroad in the west part of Millard County. Still later, he helped move Lambert Paper Company into their new warehouse. Wherever he worked, he did an excellent job and did a good day's work. He always did what he was told and hence he was a favorite of his bosses.
Grandpa was very bashful of the girls. He treated them like his sisters and only went with the high class girls. He never talked of marriage but just had fun with them. Then he fell in love with the girl that he married. It was on December 2, 1914 that he married Dora Stewart in Grand Junction, Colorado.
Grandpa and his bride lived in Grand Junction for three months, after which Grandpa got both of them a job on a big cattle ranch about 50 miles from Meeker, Colorado. They worked for a man, his wife and a four year old girl. Grandma did the cooking and house work while Grandpa worked as a handyman. The ranch was situated among beautiful rolling hills. It must have been a pretty sight. The winters got 50 degrees below zero, so in October of 1915, Grandpa and Grandma decided to move back to Utah.
Grandma tried several things before he settled down to a permanent job. In 1916 he went in with his brother Harry and bought a farm in Farmington. It was on this farm that his first child Lila was born. A little later Grandpa became dissatisfied with the farm and sold out and moved to Salt Lake City where he bought a house and 10 acres of land in the northwest part of the city. This did not work out either, so after about four months he sold out again and bought another home and 10 acres upon 23rd East. Again he was not satisfied and sold out after about four months. This time he moved his family to Willard, Utah where he remained the rest of his life. He went in with another one of his brothers, Charles, and bought a fruit farm. It was here that his second child, Shirley was born.
It was in 1940 that Grandpa took sick. He should have had a number of years left to live but he contracted a type of blood disease called Bantis disease which had no cure. It was just a matter of time before he passed away. He was sick for about nine months before he died on April 29, 1941 at Willard, Utah, just a year before I was born his first grandchild. He was buried on May 2, 1941 at Meadow, Utah, his birthplace.
Grandpa was born in the church but he was never active in it although he was always willing to accept a work assignment in it. He did go once in awhile. A few years after his death my grandma went to the temple on their wedding anniversary and was sealed to him for eternity along with their two daughters.
After my grandpa died, a neighbor, Elmer Johnson, wrote a poem about him entitled "A Genial Figure." He framed it and gave it to Grandma.
A genial figure from our midst has passed
He shook you by the hand and searched your soul
and found whatever good it had,
Smiled and was your friend.
You felt his joy sense of humor and were glad
Resolved to know him better, hoped to see him
Soon again.
He did his very best until the last.
His friendship has added something to your life
and you try for worthwhile things.
"His memory can never pass away."