William T. Bull

{{Short description|American football player, coach, and physician (1865–1924)}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = William T. Bull

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1865|11|10}}

| birth_place = Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1924|11|8|1865|11|10}}

| death_place = Asheville, North Carolina, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| player_years1 = 1886–1888

| player_team1 = Yale

| player_positions = Fullback, kicker

| coach_years1 = 1892–1897

| coach_team1 = Wesleyan

| coach_years2 = 1897

| coach_team2 = Carlisle

| coach_years3 = 1917

| coach_team3 = Newport Naval Reserves

| coach_years4 = {{Circa|1920}}

| coach_team4 = Yale (backfield)

| overall_record =

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards =

| coaching_records =

}}

William Tillinghast Bull (November 10, 1865 – November 8, 1924) was an American college football player and coach, who later became a physician.

Football career

Bull attended William S. Rogers High School in his native Newport, where he played baseball, crew, gymnastics, track and field, and wrestling, as well as football as a fullback and halfback. He then played college football at Yale University from 1886 to 1888, coached by Walter Camp.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1yZnDwAAQBAJ|title=Walter Camp and the Creation of American Football|first=Roger R.|last=Tamte|publisher=University of Illinois Press|date=Jul 25, 2018|access-date=December 28, 2018}} While at Yale, Bull was part of the secret society called Book and Snake.

Bull served as the first-ever head football coach in Wesleyan University history from 1892 and 1897. He then became the head coach at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in 1897.{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/coaches/william-bull-1.html|title=William T. Bull|publisher=Sports Reference College Football|access-date=December 6, 2018}}

Post-football career

In 1898, Bull entered the Yale School of Medicine, but transferred to the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons two years later. He graduated from Columbia in 1902, receiving the Harsen Prize. Bull practiced medicine in New York City at Roosevelt Hospital, the Society for the Relief of the Ruptured and Crippled, and St. Luke's Hospital. As of 1906, he also practiced in Newport during the summers. He was a member of the American Medical Association.

Personal life

Born to Henry and Sarah Munroe Barstow Russell, Bull is a descendant of Henry Bull, an early colonial Governor of Rhode Island. Bull's uncle of the same name (1849–1909) was also in the medical field as a surgeon and professor of surgery at Columbia University.

Bull married Florence Bush on February 3, 1896, in Brooklyn. The couple had six children: Henry (1901–1902), Cecil, Henry, Marguerite, Aline, and Mary.

A known Republican and Episcopalian, Bull died in 1924 in Asheville.{{cite news |author= |title=Dr. Bull, Noted Yale Coach, Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26833971/hartford_courant/ |newspaper=Hartford Courant |location=Hartford, Connecticut |date=November 9, 1924 |page=1 |access-date=January 4, 2019 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}}}}