Mary Margaret Peterson Life History

Mary Margaret Peterson Life History

MARY MARGARET PETERSON CREER

Mary Margaret Peterson Creer was born in Spanish Fork, Utah on April 25, 1871. Her parents were Soren Peterson and Margaret Matilda Rigtrup.

Her father, Soren Peterson,was born in Rorbeck, Denmark on July 23, 1840. He accepted the gospel at age twenty-one. He came to America in 1864 with his mother and sister. He crossed the plains with an Independent Company. He walked all the way from the Missouri River to Spanish Fork, Utah, stopping at various towns along the way to work. They eventually settled in Spanish Fork where he lived the rest of his life. He died Sept. ll, 1924.

Marys mother was Margaret Matilda Rigtrup. She was born in Randers, Denmark on April ll, 1848. She was the fifth child born to that union. Her family came to America in 1855. They settled in Spanish Fork, Utah in 1859. Mary married Soren Peterson April 11,1867. They had eleven children. Mary was the third child born in the family. Margaret died May 11, 1886 leaving her husband and five children. Mary was fifteen at the time.

On March 25, 1892, Mary married Charles Cannon Creer in the Manti Temple. Their wedding reception was held in the white brick house, on the corner across from the City Park, which Charles had built for his bride. It was two stories. A living room, kitchen and bedroom down stairs and two bedrooms upstairs. The house was enlarged several years later to accommodate the large family they eventually had. This consisted of a parlor and bathroom downstairs and two more bedrooms upstairs.

Mary and Charles had eleven children. All of them were born in this house. Two of their eleven children died. Their daughter, Mary, was stillborn and it was said that another baby, Christina, lived for only a few moments. Within a year of their marriage, Mary gave birth to their first child. Ten more were to follow. Six of these children were girls. They all had long beautiful hair and wore large ribbons Their first child was Florence Matilda.

Florence Matilda was born December 12, 1892. She married Edward Raymond Kelsey. Before marrying Ed, she taught school for one year at Castella which was located up Spanish Fork canyon. She was the Librarian at Spanish Fork High School for four years. One summer she attended the LDS Business College in Salt Lake where she learned to type so she could teach typing at Spanish Fork High School. She also had intended to teach swimming. She married Ed Kelsey in November of that year (1916) so she never was able to teach.

Elizabeth Ann was born February 18, 1896. After Mary's bad accident, which left her disabled for the rest of her life, Ann stayed home from school to help take care of the family. She eventually worked at the telephone office before her marriage to Joseph Leslie Anderson.

Lillian Irene was born November 25, 1898. She married Boyd Roberts. Lil also stayed home to help with the family. She was very good at everything. She could cook, sew, play the piano, do church work and eventually took up china painting. She and Boyd lived in Provo, Utah and Costa Mesa, California.

Sarah Jane was born December , 1900. She married Byron Dastrup. She attended public schools in Spanish Fork and the LDS Business College in Salt Lake and then worked at the Utah County Court House. She had a beautiful singing voice.

Clara Lenore was born December , 1904. She married Stewart Mason. Clara graduated from BYU and taught school. She was very good at everything she under took such as sewing, cooking and in latter life she did china painting and oil painting.

Alvera was born December 1904. She married Walter Devey. Alvera graduated from BYU and taught school before her marriage. Literature was her great love. She surrounded herself with good books.

Three boys were born to this union. Charles Clarence (Pets), the second child was born July 30, 1894. He married Merl Dahle. He attended school in Spanish Fork and became engaged in farming. His main interest was cars and going to dances when he was young. He was a handyman and he could fix anything.

Harold Mark was born April , 1907. He married Laura Belle Maughn. Harold served a mission for the LDS church in Germany. He attended college at BYU and Louisiana State University. He eventually farmed with his Dad and worked at the Post Office.

Ronald Soren was the eleventh child born to Charles and Mary on May 26, 1915. He married Beth Rose. Ronald (Bonnie) was only eleven when Mary died. He and Charles continued to live in the family home. He graduated from high school and engaged in farming and in trucking. He worked for Premium Oil Company for many years.

Charles was a farmer, he accumulated a lot of land in and around Spanish Fork. Their three sons helped on the farms as well as some of the girls. Mary was a busy house wife. With six girls, there was a great deal of sewing to do to keep them well dressed. The sewing machine was never closed. Holidays, Easter, " of July and Christmas were important occasions and called for a new dress. One time she bought a bolt of red surge material and made dresses for all of them. A neighbor said Cant Mary ever put her girls in any other color than red. Every Sunday they went to Sunday School and Mary made sure their clothing was clean and attractive.

They were a compatible family and worked and played together well. As the children were growing up, there were a lot of neighbor children about the same age. During the summer months, they played games in the street. There was a large light on the corner of their home which gave them enough light to play these games such as kick the can, “run sheep run, “hide and seek” and many others.

Holidays were always a big event. Christmas was the most exciting of them all. The gifts were great which consisted mainly of what the children had made for each other. It was a tradition for Mary to cook a goose for their Christmas dinner. They had a live Christmas tree with tinsel, strands of popcorn and live candles on the branches which were only lighted for a short time on Christmas Eve.

Valentines Day and Easter were also exciting events. On the 4" of July there was always a big celebration. Several cannons were shot off just a block from where they lived and they knew it was time for the parade. The main float was the Goddess of Liberty. At one time Sarah was the Goddess of Liberty and another time Ann was. They wore beautiful gowns for the occasions.

There was always a lot of good books and magazines in the house. They lined the shelves in the living room. All of the children enjoyed reading. This may have been the reason they liked to read so much as they were growing up.

All of the children had pleasant memories of growing up in that house. Ann recalls a time when the Indian Squaws and their young children would come out of the mountains begging for food, especially flour. They always had a sack. Mary would give them a sifter full of flour and then they would go to the next house. When the children didn't act as they should, Mary would say the next time the Indians come around, I'm going to give you to them. It made them afraid their mother would actually give them to the Indians so when the Indians would be seen walking down the street, they would hide behind her skirt for fear she really would give them away.

Mary had two exceptional talents. She was very musical and a great story teller. Her father, Soren Peterson, bought her one of the first organs to Spanish Fork. When she was very young, she showed unusual musical ability and became the organist of several organizations in the church. She was often the accompanist for the leading vocalist in the city. Her instrument was the organ but she could play the piano well whenever she could. Even though Charles was a farmer, he was the private secretary to his father, William, when he was in the state legislature. His business took him to Salt Lake City once in awhile. He kept his business affairs to himself but he loved to surprise the family with unusual gifts when he came home. On one occasion he was so excited about a special piece of freight that was coming on the next train. It was a gift and a surprise for Mary. When it arrived it was in a large crate. The family was all in awe when they saw the biggest and most elegant upright piano they had ever seen. It didn't take Mary long to sit down at the piano and play some of the greatest music they had ever heard. Charles surprise gift was complete and Mary's joy was immeasurable. Most of the girls learned to play the piano. Charles brought home a mandolin for Mary to learn to play. This also gave her a lot of enjoyment. From then on, even during the sad times, there was music in the home. Many times she would tell a story with a musical accompaniment. The children could not get enough of this kind of entertainment. As soon as she would finished a piece, they would eagerly say play it again, play it again.

She was a great story teller. She could read a story and retell it in a more interesting way than the original version. She was very creative and had a great imagination. Occasionally she would tell a story and accompany herself on he piano.

Mary always looked after the welfare of her family. She not only cooked and sewed for them, she canned fruits, vegetables and meat, and kept a clean house.

Charles had a dry farm in Thistle Valley, up Spanish Fork Canyon, located about fourteen miles from their home in Spanish Fork. The land was homesteaded and half of one hundred fifty acres were cleared of sagebrush and farmed. He would take the family up to the little cabin he had built on this farm. The cabin was on the top of a hill. It took a buggy and a wagon to transport them there.

After Charles and Mary had been married for about fifteen years, Mary met with a severe accident which rendered her an invalid for the rest of her life. They went to this little cabin on the hill in the Thistle Valley. Mary became anxious to go home when a storm was approaching. She decided to walk down the hill. She took two of the children with her and took a short cut. A stiff wind was behind her. She lost her balance and fell and broke her knee cap. In those days the doctors were not too experienced in treating this kind of a wound. She was treated improperly and the bone in her leg decayed. She suffered with this pain for sixteen years before she died. Because of this accident, she never walked without a crutch or cane and usually sat in a wheel chair.

Their daughter Ann was fourteen years old when she helped her Dad cook for the threshers on their farm in Thistle. She helped drive loads of grain from there to Spanish Fork. There were two teams of horses pulling these wagons full of grain. Clarence (Pets) would take the lead wagon. Charles would drive Ann's wagon down through Thistle and over the hill and then she would drive it the rest of the way.

Although Mary was not able to do too much work after her accident, she was a wonderful manager and organizer. All of the children had special work to do. When she told them to do something, she meant business. As she grew older she became heavy due to lack of exercise and a dropsical condition.

Mary was a loving mother and did all she could to help the children grow up well. She died peacefully in her home in Spanish Fork on September 25, 1926 at the age of fifty-five. The summer before she died the family had all gathered together for a family reunion. Bonnie was only eleven at the time. Charles and Bonnie continued to live in that white brick house across from the City Park. Bonnie married Beth and eventually moved to a place of their own. When Harold married Laura, they moved in with Charles. Charles continued to live there until his death on December 19, 1939 in the Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, Utah. He was in his seventy-fifth year.