Benjamin Alfred Gunn, was born July 25, 1886, a song of William Baker and Sarah Mills Gunn, at Randolph, Rich County, Utah. He was the ninth child in a family of twelve. There were six brother and five sisters: Laura, William Richard, Charles Dewey, George Thomas, Frances Emma, Lois Sarah, John Archilbald, Edward Daniel, Mary Elizabeth, Franklin Alonzo and Henrietta. Ben was the last survivor of this large pioneer family. His father was one of the first men who came to Randolph in 1870.

Ben received his education in the Randolph Schools and spend his childhood helping his father with their small ranch. As a young man, he worked for the Union Pacific Railroad at Almy and Evanston, Wyoming. He also found work on the ranches in the Woodruff and Randolph Valley. In the spring of 1907, he was employed by David Rees at the Brick Ranch near Woodruff, where he met Elinor (Teen) Rees, the daughter of David and Jane Crompton Rees. They were married on November 20, 1907 in Randoph, Rich County, Utah by Bishop John Gray. He continued to work for David Rees. To this union were born two children, Carl Benjamin and Lois. He has 14 grandchildren and 27 great grandchildren.

About 1914, Ben and Teen bought a home from Hendersons. They also acquired a small farm from the Rees Land and Livestock Company. Ben worked hard on his small farm and the surround ranches. Ben had some of the finest teams of work horses in the valley and he would hire out his teams to work in the fields. Ben hired out with his teams to Utah State Road Commission, helping to build the highways from the Wyoming line to Woodruff and from Woodruff to Randolph. He worked his teams to help build the Lone Pine Reservoir up Woodruff Creek and irrigation ditches and canals in the valley.

Because Ben could make a small stream of water cover a larger area of ground than most fellows, he had the reputation of being the best irrigator in the valley and he always had a summers job. He enjoyed taking care of the animals and had one of the finest and largest Holstein dairy herds in Woodruff.

Ben and Teen celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary at the family home in Woodruff on November 24, 1957. It was quite a family gathering with the families and their little ones around.

Ben was a tall man with a twinkle in his eye and a full head of thick gray hair. He never said an unkind word to anyone and would speak to the young, never being cross with them. Not a one could say they got a spanking but each had respect for him. He spent hours dancing, playing and entertaining the little ones with his clowning and funny antics and amused them with different sounds he could make by whistling through his thumbs. There was room in his arms or on his knee for one more baby, as he rocked and cuddled them as he sang his make-up lullabies. Each child ran to meet Ben when they saw him coming and each received a tender hug. Ben was always on hand to help to help a neighbor or a friend if they were sick or needed an extra hand. Never a penny did he take in pay.

Benjamin Alfred Gunn passed away in his sleep on January 6, 1965, in the Memorial Hospital of Uinta County at Evanston, Wyoming. Burial was in the Woodruff Cemetery.

**Taken from the book "The First 100 Years in Woodruff".