---
title: Improvement Era
description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930.
authors:
  - Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations
collections:
  - periodicals
tags:
  - magazine
  - improvement-era
periodical: Improvement Era
volume: 7
number: 5
published: 1904-03
publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations
publisher_place: Salt Lake City
language: en
type: magazine
reference: 'Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations, "Public Workers—Joseph Bull," *Improvement Era* 7, no. 5 (March 1904): 370.'
source:
  url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0705unse
  transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers.
  identifier: improvementera0705unse
start_page: 370
end_page: 370
rights:
  status: public-domain
  basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1904-03)
  source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0705unse
  publication_year: 1904
  note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1904, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright.
---

# Public Workers—Joseph Bull

<!-- page:370 -->

PUBLJC   
        WORKERS.
JOSEPH 
        BULL.
Among 
        the 
        public 
        workers 
        of 
        our 
        community 
        during 
        the 
        past
half 
        century 
        was 
        the 
        late 
        Elder 
        Joseph 
        Bull, 
        of 
        Salt 
        Lake 
        City,
whose 
        death 
        occurred 
        on 
        the 
        11th 
        of 
        January, 
        1904. 
        It 
        was 
        in
January, 
        1852, 
        that 
        he 
        began 
        to 
        work 
        for 
        the 
        Church 
        publishing
house
        —
        the 
        Deseret 
        News
        —
        and 
        it 
        was 
        January, 
        1904, 
        that 
        he 
        per-
formed his 
        last 
        day's 
        work 
        for 
        that 
        same 
        institution, 
        and 
        a 
        few
days 
        later 
        went 
        to 
        his 
        rest. 
        There 
        were 
        several 
        intervals 
        during 
        this
period 
        of 
        fifty-two 
        years 
        in 
        which 
        he 
        was 
        not 
        engaged 
        at 
        the
Church 
        publishing 
        establishment, 
        but 
        most 
        of 
        this 
        time 
        was 
        spent
in 
        the 
        mission 
        fields 
        abroad, 
        in 
        which 
        service 
        he 
        labored 
        for 
        more 
        than
eight 
        years. 
        Practically 
        his 
        whole 
        life, 
        after 
        his 
        first 
        coming 
        to 
        Utah,
was 
        given 
        to 
        public 
        service. 
        This 
        long 
        term 
        of 
        activity 
        entitles
him 
        to 
        honorable 
        mention 
        among 
        those 
        whose 
        lives 
        are 
        briefly
sketched 
        in 
        these 
        papers.
Joseph 
        Bull 
        was 
        a 
        native 
        of 
        Leicester, 
        England, 
        where 
        he
was 
        born 
        January 
        25, 
        1832. 
        His 
        parents 
        were 
        Daniel 
        and 
        Eliza-
beth Burdette 
        Bull. 
        After 
        receiving 
        a 
        common 
        school 
        education,
he 
        engaged 
        to 
        learn 
        the 
        printing 
        business, 
        at 
        the 
        age 
        of 
        fourteen.
The 
        firm 
        to 
        which 
        he 
        was 
        apprenticed 
        failed 
        before 
        his 
        time 
        ex-
pired, but 
        the 
        qualifications 
        he 
        had 
        thus 
        far 
        developed 
        helped 
        him
to 
        obtain 
        a 
        situation 
        in 
        a 
        leading 
        printing 
        establisment 
        in 
        Birming-
ham. He 
        remained 
        at 
        this 
        latter 
        place 
        until 
        the 
        end 
        of 
        the 
        year
1850. 
        In 
        the 
        meantime 
        he 
        had 
        become 
        interested 
        in 
        the 
        teachings
of 
        the 
        Latter- 
        day 
        Saints, 
        and 
        in 
        February, 
        1848, 
        when 
        sixteen
years 
        old, 
        united 
        with 
        the 
        Church.
His 
        object 
        in 
        leaving 
        his 
        situation 
        in 
        Birmingham 
        was 
        to
gather 
        with 
        the 
        Saints 
        in 
        Utah, 
        and 
        on 
        the 
        6th 
        of 
        January, 
        1851,