Peter Johnson Gulick, Luther’s great-grandfather, was the first person of the Gulick clan to embrace missionary work. Born in 1797 in New Jersey, Peter experienced a religious awakening as a young man, deciding to become a Presbyterian minister. Entering the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), he was befriended by a professor named Luther Halsey whose name would be passed on through generations of future Gulicks. During Peter Gulick’s last year at the seminary, in 1827, a returning missionary spoke of the importance of overseas work, leading the young graduate to apply to the recently established American Missionary Board for a position. The Board assigned him to Hawaii, then known as Sandwich Islands, where Peter spent the rest of his career. Of his seven surviving children, six boys and one girl, all became missionaries.

The eldest son, Luther Halsey Gulick, grandfather of our Luther, received an M.D. from the New York College of Medicine in 1850, becoming a medical missionary. Proselytizing in Micronesia, the family was forced to leave due to the difficulty of the living conditions. On the way back to Hawaii they had their first son, Sidney Gulick, the future father of Luther Gulick.

Sidney Gulick intended to become a professor of astronomy, attending Dartmouth College, but after the small school he was supposed to teach in went bankrupt, he became a pastor in New York City. When he found the work unfulfilling, Sidney became a missionary, moving to Japan in late 1887 or early 1888. Influenced by his education, Sidney Gulick espoused a liberal philosophy when it came to religion, believing that it was possible to be both a scientist and a Christian. This led him to try to reconcile evolution with religion. As a result of this work, the local mission board attempted to try Gulick for heresy and have him excommunicated. However, the main governing body, based in Boston, intervened and the case was dropped. Sidney was not the first Gulick to voice support for the theory of evolution. John Gulick, his uncle, was a friend of Charles Darwin and went on to publish a book on evolution where he refuted religious objections to the scientific concept.

Sidney Gulick had four children while in Japan. The first, Susan, was born in 1888, followed by Luther, on January 17, 1892. Another son, Leeds, and daughter, Ethel, rounded out the family.