Helen Godfrey Pullen, 1860-1943

PULLEN

Posted By: Emmet County IAGenWeb Coordinator (email)
Date: 3/6/2009 at 21:17:15

Pioneer Mother Is Buried
Mrs. Warren Pullen Came to Estherville in 1876
Taught In First Two-Room School

Rest after a long illness came Sunday night [Nov. 14, 1943] to Mrs. Helen Pullen, 88, Estherville pioneer. For several weeks Mrs. Pullen's condition has been critical but until her last illness she had been up and about her home which she maintained with her daughter, Mrs. Zella Albertson, and had enjoyed all her mental faculties. Mrs. Pullen was greatly beloved here and will be missed by a wide circle of friends.

Helen Godfrey was born April 8, 1860 at Matts Ferry, Wisc, and came to Estherville as a girl of sixteen with her parents, Silas and Theodosia Godfrey. She often told of the trip by covered wagon from Wisconsin by way of Rochester, Minn., and how she and a sister drove the teams.

For a number of years and until her marriage, Helen taught in the country schools of Emmet county and was a teacher in the original two room school house in Estherville.

In 1882 she was married to Warren Pullen also of a pioneer family and they made their home here together until his death in 1919. Mr. Pullen served several terms as Emmet county sheriff.

Six children were born to the Pullens all of whom survive and all of them but one son coming to see her during her last illness. They are Mrs. Geo. A. Braley, Horace and Perce of Portland, Oregon; Don of Los Angeles; Mrs. Harry Hubbell of Renwick, and Mrs. Zella Albertson of Estherville. There are seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Mrs. Pullen is the last of her immediate family, her parents and the two sisters who came to Estherville with them, Mrs. Henry Pullen and Mrs. Frank Ellis and a brother preceded her in death.

Funeral services were held at the home on North Sixth street Tuesday afternoon at two thirty. Rev. J. P. Kennedy of the Presbyterian church was in charge and Harmony Rebekah lodge of which she was the last charter member conducted the memorial service of the order. Mrs. Pullen had also been an active member of the Eastern Star for many years. Interment was made in the East Side cemetery.

Pall bearers were the sons-in-law, George Braley and Harry Hubbell, her grandson, Keith Albertson of Swea City, grandson-in-law, Kenneth Bixby and nephews, Glenn and George Pullen.

Contributed by: Ruth Hackett. Source: Vindicator and Republican, Estherville, Emmet County, Iowa; November 18, 1943.