Vivian Christiania Hutchinson

The Life of Vivian Christina Hutchinson Carlsen

an Autobiography


The things I remember of my life as I travel back through Memory Lane into my early childhood. I was born in Monroe, Sevier County, Utah, on March 30, 1892. I was the second child of Orson Hutchinson and Martha Maria Sorenson, who owned their own home. This home was situated on a 1/4 block lot which had quite a large orchard, a large garden spot, and ample room for outdoor sheds, a grainery and a woodpile. There was a large white rock barn which was covered with the straw from the threshing each year. My first home was an adobe, three room house with a fireplace in the front bedroom. It had a big bay window which I remember was always full of growing plants, usually geraniums. There was a stairway leading to the attic from the back bedroom. The attic was used as sleeping quarters for a boy named Little Joe. He lived with us and helped father with the chores and farm work. The kitchen was quite large, a square room with deep silled windows. There were spacious lawns on the east and south of the house, with an outside cellar where we kept fruit and milk and butter in the summer. It had a little screened cupboard which was our refrigerator. Next to this was a potato pit and then the grainery. The yard was fenced with a quite high (4 feet or more) board fence. To the east of the house there was a row of Lombardy poplar trees which grew very tall. They were later cut down to use as fire wood and replaced with better shade trees.

Our water supply was taken from a little ditch which ran on each street just beyond the sidewalk. Each morning early father would take a large brass bucket and fill it with water for drinking. This was placed in the cellar to keep it cool during the summer. The ditch water was also used for irrigating the lawns and gardens. Each home had a water turn about once each week, and then the whole lawn and yard would be wet. We children would wade in the water covered grass. My mother died with I was only 2 1/2 years old, so I do not remember her.

My brother Flinn was 1 1/2 years older than I, and we would play together under the trees. [Vivian spelled her brother's name "Flinn". The spelling on the family genealogy records is "Flynn", which is the same spelling as his father's middle name.] He would make corrals and fences for his animals out of little sticks. The animals were usually empty thread spools of all sizes. I would make a play house with dolls and bits of broken dishes. I also made many things from green burrs, and dolls from hollyhocks.

One of my early childhood tasks was to pick up the apples from the orchard to feed to the pigs. One day as I climbed onto the pig pen I fell in. I was so afraid the pigs would eat me up the way they gobbled up everything, but my father came and soon got me out. Another time I fell into a large tub of cold water which was used to rinse clothes after they were washed. This was also a frightening experience.

I can recall the wonderful apples we grew in our orchard, as well as peaches of several varieties, apricots and other small fruit. I never liked to eat gooseberries, but picked lots of them as well as currants. We were taught to work very young and I had dishes to do after school when I was only 6 years old. I also remember standing on a box to wash diapers when I was just a little girl.

Flinn and I were kept quite close to home during the week, but on Sunday, we were taken to Sunday School by my aunt Ethel, who would come and get us. It was on these occasions I would wear my little pink chiffon hat that my mother had made for me. I was so proud of that hat. I have always liked hats and have had lots of them which were very pretty. After Sunday School we would go to grandmother Sorenson's home and play in the afternoon in a grove of locust trees.

Grandmother raised bees and we always had all the honey, in the comb, that we could eat. After playing until we were too tired to walk home, my uncle Nels would carry me on his back part of the way. He was about 10 years older than I.

Our big celebration in summers was the Fourth of July. Another uncle, Abraham Sorenson would always help make the parade. I remember many times riding in a large wagon filled with children. It was decorated and carried a sign which said "Utah's Best Crop." Everyone would be dressed in their best, and a new dress was a part of the celebration.

In those days all the boys had fire crackers and would throw them into groups of people to scare them. At dawn an explosive blast would wake the whole community and begin the day.

The parade would start quite early in the day, followed by a patriotic meeting held on the town square where a bowery had been built for the big day. The program would begin with the flag being raised to the top of a big high pole, called the Liberty pole. This pole was in the center of the square. There was always some sort of a band, and many of the towns people would take part on the program, singing, giving readings, and there was one man chosen to be orator of the day. He would give a patriotic talk. I believe children were taught more patriotism those days.

After the morning program we would go home for dinner and get ready for the afternoon activities, which would consist of a children's dance, foot races for all ages - with prizes for the winners, and usually a baseball game and sometimes horse races and bicycle races. At one time there was a saucer track that I remember on the square. The dance at night would wind up the day's celebration and as I grew up this was a very important part for me.

In the winter, as a child, I would look forward to Christmas at grandmother Sorenson's. Her house wasn't large or fancy, but we had such a good time with all the family of my mother's people, and there was so much fun and laughter. Flinn and I were always at grandmothers on these occasions. There would be a big Christmas tree covered with candles, and gifts for all - especially the children, and Santa would be there, playing a harmonica and telling little stories and jokes. He would try to change his voice so we wouldn't know who it was.

Grandmother had a big open fireplace which was the only heat in the room. I can almost smell the pitch wood crackling and burning to make a hot fire. It seems these big parties were on Christmas Eve. There would be gunny sacks of nuts and candies, buckets full of hard candy, and other goodies. Flinn and I were the oldest grandchildren on the Sorenson side and were almost brought up with grandmother's younger children, who were very good to us.

I began school when I was 6 years old and I remember the first little part I had to do on a program. It was to recite the Golden Rule, which was: "Be you to others kind and true as you would have others be unto you. And neither do nor say to man what e're you would not take again."

The first part of school was quite new to me and I did not take too well to it; however, as time went on I liked school very much and had a good time. We used to form long lines out on the school grounds and march in to our classes. If we got out of step, we were pulled out of line by one of the teachers and we had to stand by her and keep time with our feet, then march in at the end of the line. I believe I remember every teacher I ever had during my elementary schooling. Our school house was a big white rock building. All the grades were in the one building. It was located on the south west corner of the public square. Valda Anderson was my chum and we walked together nearly every day, both going and coming from school. We both lived in the same section of town.

I was in the first grade when my father was called on a mission, and I went to live with my grandmother Thueson (father's mother) who was alone most of the time. All of her children were either married or away working. During my father's mission I became 8 years old. My grandmother Sorenson was Stake Relief Society President and she traveled with a horse and buggy over her stake, which consisted of Sevier County and parts of other counties. It was on one of these occasions that my grandmothers got together and planned a nice trip for me. I was taken along with grandmother as she visited some of the ward Relief Society presidents along the way. I know we stopped at Levan and then went to Mt. Pleasant where grandmother had people. She then went to do some work in the temple at Manti, and I was taken on a tour of the temple and remember the beautiful blue room where the people were married. We climbed to the top of the west tower and we could see in all directions for many miles over the country.

I was baptized in the Manti temple, which was a great thrill to me. The whole trip was very exciting as I had hardly been out of my home town before.

From here we went back to Mt. Pleasant and there left the horse and buggy and took the train to Salt Lake City (my first train ride). We stayed with some relatives by the name of Knapp who lived quite away out on 2nd West Street. I went to some meetings with grandmother and she took me to the Relief Society Office where I met President Emiline B. Wells, a little woman in a black dress. Grandmother also took in the Scandinavian Jubilee and we went out to Salt Air for this occasion. I remember how beautiful and large the ball room was. It was here I got separated from grandmother for a while and I was a scared little girl until I found her. This trip has always been a high light in my life. We were gone for one month.

As I grew older and finished the 8th grade, our class all graduated except one. At that time all 8th grade graduates were honored. The graduation that year was for the whole county and was held in Salina. There were a few boys and girls from Monroe chosen to sing a patriotic song on this program and I was among this group. There were 99 graduates from the whole county. We went on the train from Elsinore to Salina and had a wonderful time. (There were very few automobiles at that time). We stayed there over night with towns people who took the graduates into their homes. I had a white china silk graduation dress which was very pretty. Also elbow length white gloves. That was in 1908.

There was only a one year high school in Monroe, so the next year I had been promised that I could go to school at the Snow Academy; but due to sickness of my stepmother I had to stay home and do the household tasks as well as help with the cows and do other outside chores. Father had about 15 cows at this time and I milked 5 of them.

I had always gone to church and had sung in the choir for sometime. My brother took me to the town dances, or we girls would go in a crowd. Sometimes we would go home with some of the boys. We had lots of parties and picnics during the summer. When a couple of newly weds got settled by themselves, our crowd of boys and girls would go to serenade them. We had lots of fun.

It was only a short time until father decided to move to Springville and this was quite a change in my young life - to be uprooted from all my friends end the people I had known all my life. I never really went with a crowd again. I didn't get to high school the next year either. My stepmother didn't think girls needed high school, so I decided to get a job in Provo. I went to work for a family by the name of Corfman. Mr. Corfman was an attorney. They had a beautiful new home and there were 2 little girls. Mrs. Corfman was a club lady and did considerable entertaining, they also had a baby so I had lots of hard work. Anyway I made enough money for tuition and books and a few clothes, so in the fall I started high school in Springville. I was very concerned about being out of school for 2 years and was older than my class mates, but I got along quite well. The next summer I went back to Provo to work and I decided I would find a place where I could work part time and go to a dressmaking school in the afternoon, which I did. The teacher was Lottie Erwin and she was a fine young person. While going to dressmaking school I lived with the family of George Havercamp. I liked this place much better and the work wasn't nearly so hard, and I was treated more like one of the family. They had a large house and many rugs to be swept. There were no vacuum cleaners in those days and it would take almost one day to do the job of cleaning the second floor bedrooms, bathroom hall and stairways, and another to clean the main floor which consisted of a living room, library, dining room, kitchen, pantry and hall besides 2 porches. I also helped with part of the laundry and did most of the cooking. I got along fine with the family. I went to dressmaking school 5 days a week from I to 5 p.m. I made clothes for myself and a few things for others. One spring I was quarantined for a month when the Havercamps young son Gilbert had scarlet fever. They also had a daughter named Norma.

I had friends who were going to the B.Y.U. and I got a little taste of the school spirit. I decided to work for my board and room and go to school the following fall. I liked school very much and did quite well in my classes. The Havercamps decided to move to Salt Lake City and wanted me to go with them. I went and helped them get settled in their new home at 1228 E. 3rd So. Street, but when fall came again I had saved enough for tuition and books and a few clothes and went back to Provo and the B.Y.U. This year I lived with the mother and a sister of Mrs. Havercamp's, Mrs. Moore and Mr. and Mrs. Lott. Mr. and Mrs. Lott had a new baby and it was terribly fussy and cried a lot so it was quite hard to study. The mother was Mrs. Moore, a dear old lady. I finished my three years of high school at this home, working for my board and room. I was having a good time at school affairs and making more friends. During the summer I went back to Salt Lake City to work with another family by the name of Cleveland. Here I did the cooking and kept the downstairs. I got better pay, I think $7 a week. I was trying to save enough for my final year at B.Y.U. high school.

It was while at this home I first met Ole G. Carlsen on a summer evening. I had a cousin Anna who also worked in Salt Lake City. Her boy friend, Thurwald Carlsen called her up and wanted her to get a friend to go along with them on a date. So Anna called me and asked if I would go out with them. We all went to the Pantagess, I believe. Anyway, I wasn't much impressed with my blind date, but it was nice to go along for the fun. We went out 3 times that week. I thought O. G. was rather forward, saying some sarcastic things, and I had always been warned by my father to be very careful of what he called "city slickers". Ole wanted me to go to a wedding with him, and I didn't want to go, so I told him I was going back to school at the B.Y.U. I neither heard or saw any more of him for over a year and I didn't care as I was having too good a time at school.

My last year at the B.Y.U. I worked at Mrs. Henrie's boarding house. She had 4 roomers and about 20 boarders. She was a good cook and her table was always filled with students. I had to help keep the house clean and serve table and wipe the dishes. I was quite busy and was unable to take some of the classes I would have liked to take, due to the time I had to be there to help with meals. It was in the spring of 1915 when I graduated from the Arts and Manual Training Dept.

During my school days at the B.Y.U. I had met many people and made good friends. I have carried those friendships through life. At that time there was only one building, the Maeser Memorial, on the upper campus. We had devotional exercises every morning and Theology every day. During my three years I took Book of Mormon, The New Testament, and One Hundred Years of Mormonism. We often had members from the 12 apostles at our Devotional Exercises, who gave us wonderful talks and advice. I remember especially Dr. Talmadge., Orson Whitney and Reed Smoot.

It was while at the B.Y.U. that my religion was firmly rooted. I had always been brought up in a religious home and father had taken us along to meetings and choir throughout my young life (choir after age 14). I had a wonderful religious back ground, but as I matured this culture and study deepened into an abiding faith and testimony that has helped me through later years. I am so thankful I had this opportunity in my youth.

It was in the fall of 1914 that Ole wrote me a letter and wanted to see me again. My father wanted to meet this young man who was corresponding with me, so I invited him to come to our home for Thanksgiving Holiday. Father thought he was hard to get aquainted with as he talked so little. However, we kept up our correspondence during the winter. He came again at Easter time to visit me in Provo, and it was after this visit that he proposed to me by letter. I was so busy with my school and getting ready for graduation that I told him I would think about it. I wanted to teach school at least one year, and my plans then were to come back to school and get a teacher's diploma in Domestic Art and Dressmaking.

I had a grade school offer out in Nevada, so I went there in the fall of 1915. Here I had a mixed school of 13 pupils. As I remember, I had 5 or 6 grades out of the 8. This was certainly a challenge for me, as I had little tots and boys who were larger than I was. The little school house was one room and quite well arranged and equipped. On the opening day we sang patriotic songs and got each pupil enrolled in his class and books handed out.

I was living with my Uncle Joe and family, and his family were the majority in the school. This left me with little privacy for planning my work but everything seemed to be going quite well. I had been hired by the school board, but when they had a change of county superintendents, the new superintendent, who was from California, wanted to see our credits and what school we graduated from.

There were about 6 young teachers in the county who were let out because the school board decided they wouldn't accept B.Y.U. credits. So my school teaching in Nevada was short lived. Most of the other teachers went back to the B.Y.U., but I had no money to go back so I went to Salt Lake City to work again. I was very discouraged but I found out that I wasn't able to cope with so many different grades, there just weren't enough hours in the day to get all the work done which was prescribed by the school law, and I didn't like Nevada.

I contacted a friend in Salt Lake City who filled replacements in rural Utah schools. There was a convention coming up and she advised me to go to this convention, which I did. I found out there was to be a vacancy in one of the schools after Christmas. This place was Talmage, out in the Uintah Reservation. I worked in Salt Lake until the Christmas Holidays, when I went home to Springville to get ready to try once more at teaching. Ole came down for Christmas and stayed at our home. Before this, he stayed at a hotel. I had promised to marry him, but at no definate time. For this Christmas Ole gave me my engagement ring - a lovely diamond which I have always been proud of and have worn all my life since then. My father thought I shouldn't expect a boy to give me such an expensive ring, but I told him I didn't know what kind of ring I was getting, and I wasn't going to turn it down if he wanted to give it to me.

I had to leave for the school on New Year's day, I took the train to Helper, and was to take the trip over the mountain by mail stage, when I arrived in this mining camp it was New Year's eve and a lot of noise going on. There were many foreigners on the street. I got a hotel room and didn't dare venture out. It was very cold.

The next day we started over the mountain and it started to snow, so that was the last car trip over the mountain until spring. They used sleighs for the mail to come over after that.

When I arrived at Talmage I stayed the first night at the home of the post master. There was no place to get a room, but the people who boarded the principal, Alonzo Smith from Redmond, decided they would take me, too. It was a small home and we never had any privacy, but Mrs. Amanda Allred was a cheerful person and I never before nor since laughed as much as we did at meal time. They told jokes and funny stories. I think that helped to make life livable in that little house which was so over crowded - 4 adults and 4 little children.

The school house was a rough log building - one large room separated in two by a curtain. I had the smaller children including the 4th grade. The people were all quite poor and most of them were homesteading on the land.

We soon had a heavy snow storm which covered the sage brush and wire fences. The man made some home-made skis. For several days we had to ride horseback to school and it was slow going for a big work horse. The principal and I were invited out to Sunday dinner at another home, so we used the home-made skis to get there. The snow was frozen hard on top and we got there alright. The afternoon passed so quickly and it began to be very cold, so we decided we had better get hack to our lodging place. We started across the fields with Mr. Smith leading the way and me trying to follow in the ski tracks. We finally got to the road again after I had fallen off the skis several times and gone down to my knees (and more) in the snow. I was so tired I felt I couldn't go on and wanted to rest, but Mr. Smith insisted I keep coming. When we got near home there was a little hill which I just couldn't get up, so he helped me up and by that time I was about ready to drop. I remember I cried from cold hands and feet which ached terribly when we got where it was warm. I never came nearer freezing to death. My feet were so swollen I couldn't use skis any more, so we went places on horse back again. Most of the pupils travelled on horse back or in sleighs. We put on a play at school and I took part and painted some scenery.

As spring came on I moved to another home where I bad a little privacy. It was a little nearer the school and I walked most every day. These people, Mr. and Mrs. Jensen had no children. Their home was off the main road and every night the coyotes would howl and it sounded like they were very near. They did get into people's yards and chicken coops at times.

When the sagebrush was green we had to be careful to watch out for wood-ticks. When school closed in April again we had to go over the mountain by sleigh, mere were two bob-sleigh loads of teachers from all the little towns and a couple of salesmen. We sang songs to help pass the time. We met the stage coach after we were over the summit. When we finally arrived at the rail road I was glad to be going home by train.

Ole came to see me soon and we had planned a June wedding, but we had to put it off on account of his work. We set the date for September and Ole tried to get a week off, but the only time he could get was in August, so we were married on August 8 in Provo, Utah by Judge Morgan who was a friend of my fathers. My father was one of the witnesses. We had planned for a temple marriage, but the temple in Salt Lake City was closed and as I remember, the only temple open at the time was at St. George, Utah. We had no way of going so far and Ole thought we could go later. This was quite a dissapointment to mae but we did go to the temple on Feb. 7, 1917.

We spent three days on our honeymoon in Salt Lake City at the New Grand Hotel. After that we came back to Ogden and stayed with Ole's folks, Mr. and Mrs. Jens Carlsen, who lived at 2118 Ogden Avenue. We were there about a week while we were looking for an apartment and looking for and selecting our furniture. We bought our furniture at Boyle's store, enough for 3 rooms, kitchen, bedroom, and dining room. We got good furniture and still have the oak chairs and buffet. The bed was brass and I got a lovely little princess dresser in bird's eye maple which I now have given to my first granddaughter, Connie. We still have the large rocker. Don got the brass bed which he cut down and made modern. Norman got the table to cut down for a coffee table, so those who wanted pieces have them. Of course, our kitchen coal range, though good when we sold it, has been replaced by an electric range.

We found an apartment at 361 28th street for $12.00 per month. It was an old home made into a duplex. We had a kitchen and living room down stairs, and a bath and bedroom up stairs besides 2 rooms we didn't use. We lived in this place for about one and one half years. The people in the other apartment were Mr. and Mrs. Wilford Nuttal. They were very fine people and we became close friends.

On May 30, 1917 our first son was born. He was quite a fussy baby and weighed about 61/2 pounds. I had such a dainty girl's layette for our first baby, with lots of hand work on the little clothes.

Our apartment was only about 3 blocks from Ole's work at the Utah Cereal Food Co, which is now a part of General Mills Co. While living here I worked in the Eleventh Ward Sunday School. Soon the owner of our apartment put the place up for sale, so we began looking for a house to buy. I looked at a lot of places, but some of them were such shacks that I told the real estate man they weren't the kind of places I was looking for. We only had $100.00 to pay down on a place, which we got from a little 10 cent insurance policy of Ole's which was paid up. The real estate man said to me, "What kind of a place do you think you can get for that much down?" I said, "Well, I don't know. Maybe we will have to wait until we can get more." However, a Mr. Sam Hinckley, who was also a realtor, heard we were wanting a place and he contacted Ole and took him to see our present house at 774 20th Street. This place had been built by an investment company and was only about 4 years old. It was now being rented to people who were so dirty and careless the company was anxious to sell it. They said they would cut $100 off if we would take it as it was.

Ole told me to just look for arrangement and the way it was built. So we took the place and had it all cleaned up before we moved in. There was a wagon load of ashes and junk in the basement. The front lawn was dead and had to be replanted. Nails had been driven into the door frames and there were grease spots on the floors, but these were covered up with our rugs and linoleum. The furniture we had fit well with the house and we bought a library table, another rocking chair, a rug and a lovely table lamp for our living room, besides new curtains. When it was all fixed up we were really proud of our new home.

Ole's folks thought we had moved way out in the sticks, but he commented that it had taken me to a nice quiet place with the Deaf and Blind school on one side and the cemetery on the other. There were no houses on the 2 lots east of us, or none on the corner across the street.

The cemetery was below Madison Ave. and next to us west was the city shop and a long shed for the water wagons. Our neighbor was a Mr. Ingebretson, who lived alone. The third house north around the corner on Monroe was a house almost like ours. David Fletcher and his young family lived there. They had one baby. Ole had known Mrs. Fletcher all his life, so we had friends at the start. The Hinckleys lived at 1963 Monroe and they were such nice people we soon became good friends. Their children were just young girls and they loved to take Merrill (our baby) out around and to their home. Sister Hinckley was the Stake Primary President and she soon got me working in the Fourth Ward Primary. Mrs. Viola Wooley was Ward President at that time. I worked in the Primary off and on while we were having our family, over a period of about 18 years. I took all our children to Primary and they all went through all the classes until they were old enought to join the Priesthood groups. During this time I knew most every boy and girl in the ward.

In May 1920 our second son was born. Merrill was then 3 years old. We named this baby Roy J. He was dark complexioned and a healthy, happy baby. Ole did so want a girl. We had a girls name picked out for the first one (Bonnie), so all our children were called "Bonnie" before they were born. I, too, would have liked a girl, but since we lived so close to the Deaf and Blind school and I saw so many little handicapped children, I have always been so thankful our children were normal and healthy.

It was along about this time that the Cereal Co. changed hands and Ole was laid off. He took summer work with the city for a short time, then he was hired by the Globe Mills for a while. On the last day of the year he was laid off. This made a sad New Year for us. Work was hard to get. He worked for the Prudential Insurance Co. for a time. After trying to find something here in town and not being able to, he went to the Southern Pacific railroad. He was hired on as a time keeper for an extra gang out in Nevada. The men on the extra gang were Japanese.

My brother, Harvey, was staying with us and working as a motorman on the street car line, so with his help we were able to keep things going until Ole got a pay day, which took a month. I shall never forget how long that first three weeks seemed. Ole got so homesick the first three weeks that he came home for the week end. But he was thankful to have the work, even if he had to be away and out in those tunnels. That started his railroad career. The following winter the extra gang was transferred to Tucson, Arizona. I decided to go with Ole. Merrill had started to school, but I didn't want to be alone all winter and we would be going to a warmer climate. We rented our house and just took our bedding and dishes with us, for we would be living in an outfit car on the railroad siding. On our way down Ole got a case of hiccoughs and was real bad.

By now our third child, Norman, was about a year old. This trip was my first to travel on a pass. We stopped in Los Angeles and then went on to Tucson where we were sent to a little place out in the desert east of town. We had rather cold nights but the days were nice and warm. On New Year's day we took our lunch and went to an old river bed where the children played in the sand, which was so clean and almost white. Ole carried a 22 and shot at some rabbits. We enjoyed the winter there, even though I was the only white woman in the group. We did meet some other nice people, such as telegraphers. One man and his wife were from the south. She had an arrested case of TB so of course we didn't associate closely with them, but they came by and talked to us. This woman had to live on the desert for her health. I soon found that most of these railroad people were out in the desert for this purpose.

Ole got a pass to El Paso for a week end and we went over into Juarez in old Mexico on Sunday morning. We were going into a beautiful park when an old negro said, "Good morning, folks." It quite startled me when I looked at him, as he had blue eyes. We walked around and had expected to eat our dinner there, but every place looked so dirty I didn't want to eat there. There was a bull fight which Ole would have liked to see, but I didn't want to take 3 little children to that, so we went back into El Paso and enjoyed our dinner in our hotel room.

We had brought our Edison phonograph along with us, and enjoyed listening to the music. We started Merrill to school down there, but he had to travel so far on the bus and over such bad roads, that we decided to let him stay at home and I helped him with reading each day. He liked to play too well, and it didn't work out. The outfit cars were moved along the line and in one place there was an outbreak of measles and our children caught them. We had some quite sick children. Roy, our second child, had them hardest and had some ear trouble after. It was at this time I wished to get home where I could get medical help.

The gang was called out one time and was gone to clean up a wreck for several days. When Ole came home he had a number of little colored Easter baskets and almost a case of fresh lettuce. Another time one of the Japanese men had been drinking wood alcohol and was very sick. He had to be sent to the S.P. hospital in Tucson. A day or two later Ole got a wire to come to the hospital, so he left us and went. I didn't appreciate being left in camp alone with all kinds of people, and the only white woman within five miles. I couldn't lock the car at night, so I barricaded the door with the water barrel and had the stove poker as my weapon in case I was disturbed. We weren't bothered and the next day Ole came back, He was very disgusted, because when he got to Tucson, the Japanese fellow told him that he was just lonesome and wanted some company.

It was now April and the gang was going to move back to Utah. We took a passenger train to Tucson, where we got a nice hotel room with bath, and did we ever appreciate a nice hot bath and good beds. From there we got a pass for home, coming by way of Los Angeles and up the valley. We were surely glad to be coming home. We were on the train on Easter Sunday, and all the children on the train were given an Easter basket full of candy eggs and an artificial chicken.

We put Merrill in school again, but he was behind in his class so he had to go to summer school to make up what he lost during the 4 months away.

Ole was time keeper for this gang for quite awhile, which meant being away from home during the week and coming home for Sunday. During the summer he made good wages with a lot of overtime. During this time I was working in the Primary as a teacher, taking our 3 boys with me. I felt I could be there and see that they behaved in church. We took our children to church when they were little, unless they were too noisy, then we took turns going to sacrament meetings.

I always sewed the clothes for our boys from their infancy until they needed suits. These I didn't try to make, but I have made overcoats and pants out of cast-off clothing for all our family, which helped to keep them well dressed.

On October 25, 1926 our fourth child was born. We had so wanted a girl, but Don was a beautiful baby with lots of dark hair. The Primary officers and teachers group had given me a baby shower and a lot of nice things for a girl, so I dressed him up in all those fancy clothes while he was a little baby. I kept on with my Primary work and now took the baby along, too.

Merrill and Roy were both in school and went to the Dee Elementary school. This was Roy's first year at school and he had a little difficulty as the teacher thought he didn't try to learn and scolded him. It was along in the Spring when I noticed he wasn't eating very well and while playing he was always lagging behind the other children. He had a lot of sore throat and his tonsils were bad, but the doctor wanted to wait until summer to take them out. He finished the first grade.

In June of that year we went down to visit with my brother Flinn (Flynn) and family in Kanosh. While there the children played so hard Roy was always worn out. He tried to keep up with the other children, but he started to have nose bleeds which were bad. On our way home we stopped at Springville to visit my father and the rest of my family. Roy still didn't feel good so we came home and I got advice from the doctor about his food and tried to build him up so he could get his tonsils out. On the morning of the 4th of July I remember Ole and the children were out shooting off fire-crackers and having fun. After noon Roy was tired and had a nap. When he woke up he couldn't walk. His legs were weak and hurt him. We had the doctor come and he decided to take his tonsils out, which he did. They were imbedded, and worse than the doctor had anticipated. He also had rheumatic fever and was put to bed, but the damage was done to his heart and he was very sick. His feet were very swollen. We would get one thing under control and improving and another ailment would develop. This went on all during July and August. He was put in the hospital and then home again, as I couldn't let him lay up there calling for "mother". They didn't let parents stay after visiting hours. One morning I found him all wet and crying. He had tipped over some water. Well, I told the doctor I could care for him better than that, so they let me take him home. He seemed so happy to be home, and even though I was up during the night several times with him, I could manage better than going to the hospital 2 or 3 times a day.

He just grew weaker and his fever was worse. I really didn't think he was going to live, but we did everything we could. We had the Elders come and he was told he would go on a mission to his father's people. This I hope he has done, even if it wasn't in this world. He died on Sept. 1, 1927. It was very hard to lose him. He was a handsome little boy and had such a mild, sweet disposition. But it was easier to see him go than to stay and continue to suffer. I asked in prayer that the Lord's will be done and to help us over our grief. My prayers were answered and I was grateful for having our baby Don, who was then about a year old. If Roy had lived, he would have been 38 years old now, and I hope to see him and have him again before too long.

Going back to 1928, Ole was bumped off his job here and had to go to Carlin, Nevada. He went out there for awhile alone, so we could pay on our doctor and hospital bills. When school closed he got a furnished house for us and we moved there. We could take our washing machine, sewing machine and phonograph, besides bedding and dishes. We lived just across from the church and were asked to work in the organizations. I had a Primary class and Ole was Sunday School Superintendent. I also helped for a time as chorister. The branch was small and everyone who would help were given many different things to do. We often had the missionaries at our house for meals.

I never liked Nevada and Carlin was windy and cold. Being a railroad town there were many saloons and a big variety of people and religions. The school was new and had good teachers. Merrill and Norman went one year out there. Ole got a chance to go back to Ogden, so our life at Carlin lasted about a year.

Being back in our home again made us happy, and in June 1930 Vern was born. He was a healthy and very happy little child. He used to play and sing to him self. Things were rather hard, as the depression was on, and we called Vern our depression baby. However, Ole kept on one job or another here until about 1931. Another great shock came to me on Oct. 30, 1930 when I received a telegram saying that my father had died of a heart attack. I had visited him just a couple of months before and he was quite well. He had been father and mother to me for so many years, and we all loved him dearly.

There was so much bumping on the railroad by this time that again Ole had to go to Nevada to hold any kind of a job. He went to Sparks this time and boarded for quite some time with friends, Mr. and Mrs. Griffin. He was engine dispatcher and later had to take a calling job there. It was mostly night work, and it was a long way to travel home on his day off, so again we rented our home furnished and moved to Sparks. The weather was quite mild and we got a small house to rent. We hadn't been there long when Ole became violently ill. I thought he was going to die. He had terrible pains and his legs cramped. I got the doctor and he gave Ole some medicine, but he was still very sick and his eyes looked glassy. I had sent for the Elders early in the morning, but no one came. It seemed the Branch President was out of town for a funeral, and he controlled these things. I prayed myself, but I finally got desperate and went to a young man who I knew held the priesthood and begged him to come and administer to Ole, which he did. We knew very few people and our best friends were not LDS. This really hurt me and I never have been able to understand why the Branch President did have the members feel they had to have his permission to administer to sick people. All my life I have lived where the members of the priesthood could be asked to administer to the sick. Well, Ole got better and the doctor said the poison from his sinus' had filled his system, causing the violent attack. Ole suffered a lot with sinus trouble and had to go to the doctor in Reno for treatments and operations.

We lived in Sparks about a year. Merrill was taking cornet lessons and was in the 8th grade I believe. Don started to kindergarten out there and had so much fun he didn't want to work when he got in the first grade. One day he got lost and I was looking for him. He finally came home and said he had been playing in the round house. We found he had been playing in a band stand down town, which was round.

Some of our neighbors went out of town and asked if we would take care of their chickens, so Don helped me do this. But one day he got the garden hose and had all the poor chickens just soaked and backed up against the chicken coop. He thought it was great fun to turn the water on them.

We were active in the branch out there. I worked a short time in the Mutual and also in the Primary. It was quite an active branch and we had some good times while we were there, but I decided I didn't want to bring up our children in Nevada where there were so many temptations, and Reno so close by with all the gambling and vice. Ole got a chance to go back to Ogden on a job and we moved back after about a year in Sparks. A while before this we read in the newspaper that our house had been raided because the people in it were operating a still in the basement. This made me so furious that I went into Ogden several times within the next few weeks, trying to get these people out of our home. They promised to move, and I went in again, but on arriving the woman said they hadn't been able to find a place to move to. The sheriff said all I could do was to move her belongings out on the side walk. I went over from Grandma Carlsen's home to our home with my suitcase and baby Vern. I told the woman that I had come to clean up the place and had no intentions of leaving again. Her husband was in jail and had been for a month. I told her we could both live in the house until she got moved. This caused her to make the threat that possession was 9/10 of the law, and this boiled me over. I said, "Well, you are in my house and using my furniture, and I would like to see who is in possession here!" She got ready and went to see a lawyer, but being Saturday, she could not find one and she finally came back and brought a brother-in-law to stay overnight. She was very indignant when I told her I was staying too. I had bottled fruit in the basement and Grandma Carlsen and some of her neighbors came by to see how I was making out, bringing milk and bread for us. Sunday I just stayed home and she had a house full of her people come. I treated them civil, but told them she had as much of a place to go (her folks) as I did. Well, she was getting ready to move next morning, but very leisurely, when unexpected to all of us, my husband came in. Then Mrs. Southwick really got busy and her few belongings were hurridly put into a small truck and we were again alone in our home. Ole said he had been worried about me doing this alone, so he came to help. I was never so glad to see anyone as I didn't want anymore trouble. Now I needed to get the house cleaned up and re-rented and back to our other children in Sparks. Ole left that same night and I soon rented the house again to a Mr. and Mrs. Lemon. I think it was about 2 or 3 months when Ole got the chance to go back on a job in Ogden, so we came back, but had to take an apartment for a week before the people in our house could move out. This time we decided that if Ole had to go away again, the children and I would stay in our home and take care of it. The depression was on and work was uncertain but Ole managed to keep on some sort of job, even if it was low pay. Jay was born the next spring after we came back from Sparks.

About a year after we came back we thought if we only had a garden spot and some chickens it would help out a lot with the living. There as an old man by the name of Grandean who almost had Ole convinced that we could trade our house for one down west of Wall Ave. which had a nice garden spot. The house wasn't as good as ours and I wouldn't consent to go down there across the tracks. I heard of a place on Canyon Road which was selling for $1800. It had a big lot and a big house, which was good, because at this time Grandma Carlsen was really having trouble trying to pay her taxes and make repairs on her house, besides paying for street paving and curb and gutter assessments, so she lost the home and we had her come and live with us. We fixed up a room where she could be alone if she wanted to. Our boys had little jobs during the summer. Merrill helped pick fruit and Norman helped weed gardens. Money was very scarce. Merrill later went to work for the forest service.

Ole had to work out on the lake in a bridge gang. It was hard work, and I fully remember that his pay check was about $25 for two weeks. He fixed up the chicken coop and got about 200 little chicks, planted strawberries and a garden. We had a good living from the chickens and garden. When we first got the chicks we had them in the grainery and had a brooder to keep them warm. More than once during windy weather I was up during the night to see if they were alright. I would have to turn the flame lower sometimes. Any way we had plenty to do. The boys cleaned the coop and helped with the irrigation water.

We fixed that home up by taking a mortgage on the house on 20th Street. I papered most of the walls myself, but I had a man do the ceilings, as they were about 10 feet high. Our furniture didn't fit the house as they were big rooms. Our curtains were too short, too. But I have never been able to raise such beautiful flowers as we had there, huge peonies and lots of lilacs and fruit trees. We even planted a little cactus garden, but one of the children fell into it, so that didn't last long.

While we were on Canyon Road we lived in the 7th Ward, and the people were nice to us. I was asked to work in the Primary, for which I was glad, for it helped us get acquainted and the children were able to be active in scouting and Primary work. Merrill was Assistant Scoutmaster while he went to Weber College the first year. Norman was just at an age where he wanted nice clothes and shoes and he went with boys whose parents had much more than we did, so he wasn't happy and got into mischief several times. One night he came home drunk. One of his friends father had given them a bottle of hard cider and he had too much. He couldn't walk home, but laid down in the muddy gutter. His new suit was almost ruined and when he came in he didn't turn on any lights and was mumbling around. I got up to see what was the matter and he looked so funny that I asked him what was wrong. Then I could see that he was drunk, and he just sat there. Ole got up and when he saw him he shoved him onto the couch so hard it broke the couch. I said, " Let him be sick!" I wouldn't give him anything to sober him up. He was in bed all the next day, sick and vomiting, before he could eat anything. He also had his appendix out while we were down there. He came home sick from Sunday School and when the doctor came he wanted to wait until Monday to operate, but we took him to the hospital for a blood test and the doctor operated immediately.

Note: This personal history ends in 1936. The family moved back to the house at 774 20th St., where Vivian lived until her death on May 17, 1962 at the age of 70. This account was typewritten in February, 1982 and was taken from the original hand written history which is in the possession of a son, Vern R. Carlsen.

[Ole and Vivian Hutchinson Carlsen in a 1948 photo taken at the wedding of Don & Josie Carlsen.]


 

 

 

 

 

[Ole and Vivian Hutchinson Carlsen in a photo taken about 1955 at a family reunion in Don & Josie's back yard.]


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Last Updated 27 April 2011