Florence (Creer) Kelsey and the Challenge of a First Job

Do you remember your first job outside the home? You may have flipped burgers, pumped gas, or babysat.  Our ancestors also may have taken a job outside the home at some point. This would have brought challenges of answering to a boss, perhaps moving to a new location, and learning new skills. Learning about an ancestor’s first job can be a fun way to add context to their life. For this 52 ancestor post, I’m writing about my maternal grandmother, Florence Matilda (Creer) Kelsey, and her experience leaving her home to teach school while still a teenager.

Florence was born on 12 December 1892 in Spanish Fork, Utah County, Utah. The oldest of twelve children (three died at birth), she helped with the household and her younger siblings as new babies came along.  When Florence was about fifteen, her mother suffered an accident that left her mostly in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Florence and her sister, Ann, took on additional responsibilities and soon began working outside the home to help with the family finances. Florence wrote about those early years.¹

I attended schools at Spanish Fork. After I had completed my junior year in high school, Uncle John Creer, who was the County Superintendent, asked me to go to Castella [sic](a little town in the mountains above Spanish Fork) to teach school. It was a most unpleasant experience as there was real deep snow and it was difficult for the pupils to attend regularly. Each weekend I would catch the train and go home. After one year, I came back to Spanish Fork and was a Librarian in the new high school. I was glad for the job so I could help out at home.

Florence was about seventeen in 1909 when she left home to start teaching school at Castilla. This was the height of Castilla’s popularity, with its hot springs attracting trainloads of summer visitors seeking a cure for their affliction. During the school year, however,  when Florence was living there, it was likely not as busy.

William Fuller obtained the swampy land via a federal land patent in 1889 and built a small house with a wooden tub for bathing. Historian Linda Thatcher wrote:

The Southworths obtained the land from Fuller and began to improve it. They filled the swampy area with gravel and built a three-story, red sandstone hotel. Other structures included indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a store, a dance pavilion, private bathhouses, several private cottages, and a saloon. Picnic areas, a baseball diamond, and stables were also provided.

During the summer months the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad ran excursion trains to Castilla. One of the most popular runs was the “moonlight excursion” from the Tintic Mining District in Juab County to Castilla. The train stopped at stations along the way to pick up passengers for an evening of dining and dancing.²

Who were the students Florence would have taught at Castilla? Her history talks of the students’ difficulty reaching the area to attend school. Since this was a recreational area in the summer, her students were probably children of the locals who lived in the canyon or the small town of Thistle, 6.5 miles further in. A cigar factory and a quarry in the area provided jobs for the men.

From Florence’s history, we learn more about her experiences.

While I taught at Castella, I lived with the Southworth family. Mrs. Southworth was a sister to the sculpturer, Siris Dallen, who lived at Springville.

Daisy Dallen Southworth was indeed the sister of Cyrus E. Dallin, a world-famous sculptor. Her obituary ran with the headline,” Sister of Famed Springville Sculptor Dies.”³ Daisy was born in Springville, Utah, in 1869 and married C.K. (Sidney) Southworth on 25 February 1891 at Castilla in Utah County. ⁴

The 1910 census shows the family of C.K. and Daisy Southworth included six children ages four to eighteen. ⁵ The younger ones were likely Florence’s students. She would have been teaching children just younger than herself!

E K Southworth 43 Head
Daisy Southworth 41 Wife
Kenneth Southworth 18 Son
Colonna Southworth 16 Daughter
Dallin Southworth 14 Son
Alice Southworth 12 Daughter
Katherine Southworth 7 Daughter
Pauline Southworth  4 Daughter

Although Florence didn’t enjoy this first paying job, calling it a “most unpleasant experience,” she did take pride in her ability to help provide for her family – and buy something lovely for herself!

Florence with fur neckpiece and muff, circa 1908

With my first paycheck, I bought a fur neckpiece and muff – I had my picture taken with it on. I also bought several things for my parent’s house, such as curtains, a bedspread, etc. I enjoyed the pink and black willow plum I bought for myself.

Researching this part of Florence’s life added fascinating context to her story. Now when I read her history, I can picture a young teenage girl taking the train each week to travel the five miles up the canyon to teach school. She persevered through the challenge and was certainly thankful for a new job the next year as a librarian at the new high school in Spanish Fork.

Best of luck in all your genealogical endeavors!

 

 

 

1. Florence Creer Kelsey, Life History, Winter 1977, Florence Matilda Creer,(1892-1977) KWZL-MQ7 Memories, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/6478936 : accessed 9 February 2025).
2. Linda Thatcher, “Catilla Hot Springs Attracted Trainloads of Visitors,” History Blazer, October 1995; Utah History ToGo (https://historytogo.utah.gov/castilla-hot-springs/ : accessed 9 February 2025).
3. “Sister of Famed Springville Sculptor Dies,” The Sunday Herald, Provo, Utah, Sunday, 9 October 1955; Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/468055284/ : accessed 9 February 2025).
4. “Utah, U.S., Select Marriage Records, 1860-1944,” Utah > 1863-1899, C.K. Southworth and Miss Daisy Dallen, 25 February 1891, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1971/records/29111 : accessed 9 February 2025).
5. 1910 U.S. Census, Utah County, Utah, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 0193, sheet 10a (penned), dwelling 168, family 186, Daisy Southworth; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884/ : accessed 9 February 2025).