Source: History of Oakland County, Michigan, By Thaddeus D. Seeley 1912

Lull, Augustus Albe

AUGUSTUS A. LULL. Orphaned in infancy by the death of his father, and thus left to the sole care of his mother for provision for his needs, his rearing and education, Augustus A. Lull, of Pontiac. began his boyhood under difficulties and some clouds of adversity, and these did not all disappear with his boyhood. On the contrary , they rather increased and intensified when he took up the battle of life for himself, and for a time he stubbornly contested his right of way to advancement in the world. But the difficulties and adversities which beset his pathway did not deter him or dampen his ardor. They seemed only to call out the native strength of his spirit, and quicken all the elements of his nature into greater force and activity. His mother accepted the task of rearing him to an age at which he could begin to take care of himself with Spartan courage and performed her duty, as far as she was able, with the fidelity of the most exalted and resolute womanhood, but the task, as she wished to perform it , was beyond her resources, and at an early age the son himself became the helper and caretaker of the household, and made for his parent the provision she felt eager to make for him in the way of a livelihood. Mr. Lull was born in Sacramento, California, on May 1 , 1862, and is a son of George W. and Ann (Watkins) Lull , the former a native of Hortford , Vermont, and the latter of Michigan. The subject of this brief review was their only child . The father was engaged in merchandising in California, being owner of the largest clothing store in Sacramento, and, as has been indicated, died during the infancy of his The latter grew to the age of thirteen in Sacramento, and at that age moved with his mother to San Francisco, in the same state. There mother and son lived together eighteen years, the mother dying at the end of that period , and thus leaving the son alone in the world. From 1882 he clerked for Wagenheim, Sternheim & Company, of San Francisco for about five years, and in 1888, began working for M. C. Halbley & Company, a hardware firm, of San Francisco, and clerked there for five years. On May 21 , 1894, he became a resident of Pontiac, this state , where he entered the dry goods store of an uncle as a clerk and salesman. After remaining with his uncle three years he went to Detroit, where he was variously employed during the next three. He then returned to Pontiac, and accepted employment with the Pontiac Wheel Company, with which he remained three years. On November 30, 1898, Mr. Lull was united in marriage with Miss Frances Whitesell, a daughter of John and Orcelia ( Bowlby ) Whitesell , the father a native of New Jersey and the mother of Michigan. They have three children: Georgia, who resides in Pontiac; Charles B., whose home is also in Pontiac, and Mrs. Lull. Mr. and Mrs. Lull have seven children: Evelyn Gertrude, born on August 15, 1900; Frances Wilma, born on September 22, 1901 ; Milton Halsey, born on July 24, 1905; Alva Orcelia, born on September 25 , 1906; Anna Claudia, born on January 7, 1908; John Augustus, born on August 1 , 1909; and Marion Elizabeth, born on November 12, 1910. Mr. Lull is a Republican in his political faith and allegiance, but, although at all times warmly interested in the welfare of his party, he has never been an active partisan, and never sought or desired a public office, either by election or appointment. Fraternally he is a Freemason, a Knight of the Maccabees and a Woodmen of the World . He also belongs to the American Insurance Union. His church connection is with the Presbyterians. As a good citizen he takes an active interest in the welfare of the city and county of his home and does his part to aid in providing for it. The nature of his business, too, besides his local patriotism and devotion to his locality, makes him zealous for public improvements, and he always lends a willing hand to undertakings involving them. There is no interest in his community, moral, mental, social or material, that goes without his earnest and helpful support, and the residents of Pontiac and Oakland county freely accord him a place among their best and most representative citizens and their most enterprising and useful men.