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Remembering
With Joy
Cover
Maps
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Family Reunion
Notes
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Notes
Julius Guelck joined the family around 1894 and remained with them for more than forty years. He had left Germany to avoid military service, and was working in the U.S. as a paper hanger and house painter. He heard that there was work in Alicia, Arkansas, and Will McCullough hired him to help build the new house. By the time the house was finished Guelck had fallen in love with the family. He helped run the general store under the sign of McCULLOUGH AND GUELCK'S GENERAL MERCHANDISE.
There is one family story connected to the death of Mr. Guelck.
One of the favorite activities in Alicia considered suitable for mixed gender gatherings was a hymn-sing. On Sunday evenings, all the young men and women would gather on someone's veranda and sing hymns. As the light began to fade they would mount their horses for the trip home, and still singing, depart into the shadows. And with that romantic image in mind, here is the story of one such hymn sing.
On this particular evening Uncle Lynn returned from the hymn-sing in high humor, hardly able to contain his laughter. It seems that he was helping a young lady mount her pony as they were singing "Come Thou Fount of Many Blessings." He held his fingers locked together as a "stirrup" and meant to lift her to the saddle. But just as the singers reached the line "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it" the young lady's foot slipped and Lynn caught her square in the crotch. Ever after the hymn provoked the most undignified giggles from members of the McCullough family.
In 1937 the now scattered family gathered again for a solemn occasion. Their beloved friend Julius Guelck had died after a long and painful illness. Grieving, they assembled in the church to bid farewell to the faithful retainer. Lynn had a brief word with the minister. When it came time for the hymn they rose to sing and as that memorable line filled the hall, they couldn't help smiling -- to the bewilderment of the minister who only picked that hymn because Lynn had requested it.
Julius Guelck's gravestone
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