by Susan Couso
Granville Pullen had a dream to keep the past alive for the modern generations, and he never gave up. He had been born in Maine in 1838, and came to California in 1859, where he worked at ranching in the Central Valley.
Granville finally arrived in the Honey Lake Valley in 1870, settling on a farm just east of Johnstonville. In 1882, he married Mary Stevens Talbot in Susanville.
Mary had come to Susanville in 1881, with her family. Her Parents, Enoch and Susan Talbot, and all five of their children, settled in Lassen County.
The newly-weds traveled to Sonoma and then the San Francisco Bay area to establish their new home. It was here, in San Francisco, that their son, Granville Talbot Pullen, was born in 1883, but it just was not the place where they wanted to ‘set down roots’. So, they traveled back to Maine, where both Granville and Mary had been born.
But, once again, something drew them back to Lassen County.
They had returned to visit Mary’s family through those years that they had been away, and now they decided to make Lassen County their permanent home. The Pullens finally settled down on a dairy farm near Janesville in 1901, and it was difficult work to keep up with the farm.
In 1914, Granville was 76-years old, and had enough of the hard work. He and Mary leased out the farm, left the strenuous work behind, and moved into the town of Janesville, where Granville opened a little museum in his home. He had been collecting historical items for about 50 years, as he moved from place to place, and now he had a place to showcase them.
So, while Asa Fairfield was amassing information for his History of Lassen County, Granville Pullen was amassing various items. His love of history created a large number of antiques and oddities, which Granville felt were important to understanding the past. He enjoyed displaying these relics for anyone.
In 1920, Granville and Mary decided to retire to Susanville. They bought a house on South Roop Street, and Granville decided to build a small building next to their home to house his museum. The little concrete museum was opened to the public in June 1921.
Unfortunately, Granville suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in 1923, and never did fully recover. He died on May 21, 1926. The contents of Granville’s little museum were slowly given to individuals until 1928, when Mary gave the remaining items to the county. For many years, they were displayed in cabinets in the entrance to the Veteran’s Memorial Building in Susanville.
Granville Pullen is buried in the Susanville Pioneer Cemetery beside Mary, who died in 1945.
