Katherine Soby Fussell

The headline of this obituary makes a claim that would seem impossible to prove. Was Katherine really the first woman in the entire city to be employed as a typist? The answer is best explained by understanding the culture at the time and the history of the typewriter itself.

The first commercial typewriter was introduced in 1874 but widespread acceptance only began in the mid-1880s. What few typewriters there were in the city by then were in offices, and there were very few offices where women were employed. 

The reason she had the position of typist as early as 1882 was because her employer was the country’s leading typewriter company. That product was about to launch a revolution in the business world, just as the computer did a century later (which, ironically, relies on essentially the same input device called a “keyboard”).

Katherine was always known as Katie or Kate, and her story begins as the oldest daughter in her family. Her father’s life-long work was in printing, and her mother would give birth to two more girls and three boys, although two of the boys died as toddlers.

One obituary about her said the family attended the first world’s fair, the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The most talked-about invention there was the telephone, but Mr. Soby may have also been interested in a machine that enabled a person to write twice as fast as writing by hand. Perhaps he wondered if it could someday compete with his printing business. But it probably didn’t attract the attention of a teenage girl like Katie.

The Sholes and Glidden “type-writer” was on display there, named after the original patent holders. E. Remington & Sons, the well-known firearms company, bought the rights to manufacture it. They also made sewing machines, which strongly  influenced the original design, shown here. (For those who remember how a manual typewriter worked, a hand lever operated the “carriage return,” which was a major improvement over this model where a foot pedal was used. Both the pedal and the table were eliminated after the fair was over.)

The machine wasn’t very popular, partly due to its high price, poor reliability, and because it could only type in capital letters. That problem was corrected in 1878, resulting in what the world knows today as the “shift key.”

Among the first potential customers were lawyers, newspaper editors, ministers, and authors, nearly all of whom were men. By all historical accounts, Mark Twain was the first to have used one to write a novel.

The brand name was shortened to Remington and branch offices were set up in major cities, including one in Philadelphia in 1877. J. Walter Earle was the salesman in charge and he needed someone in the office while he called on prospects. He hired Kate’s brother to handle the daily chores in March of 1882. It was only about this time that competitors entered the market and began to introduce similar models. That helped drive prices lower and demand higher.

John Soby was 18 years old but already had some work experience. He wore the hats of office boy, shipping clerk, typewriter operator, salesman, and repairer. Business was starting to take off, so he recommended that his boss hire his sister that summer. Although 20-year-old Kate had initially aspired to be a teacher, she accepted the invitation to work there “just for a while,” but she stayed until she was 80.

Did Remington have women in other offices? Apparently not in 1882, and it’s likely that Walter Earle boasted of his new hire to the other branch managers. He must have also known the customers for his product only had male employees, which is how the title of “first woman typist” managed to stick. 

At the time, the jobs of office clerks and secretaries were overwhelmingly the domain of men; those women who were employed during the Industrial Revolution were usually in factory positions. The typewriter ushered in a new era where women could earn ten times as much in the office as they could on the factory floor. When the Soby family first saw the typewriter at the fair, fewer than four percent of office workers were women; by 1900 it had grown to 75 percent.

Walter taught Kate how to operate the typewriter but her method of typing was her own creation. The faster technique of “touch typing” wasn’t created until 1888. Kate probably insisted on being accurate rather than fast, but she must have been able to perform her duties as well as others who would join the office. Both she and her brother also became excellent stenographers. 

E. Remington & Sons spun off the typewriter business in 1886, along with the rights to the Remington name. Three former employees incorporated it as the Standard Typewriter Manufacturing Co. and then used the brand name as the corporate name, the Remington Typewriter Co. in 1902.

Walter went to London to set up a branch office in 1889, eventually returning to become a vice president and then president of the company in 1911. John took over his job and ran the Philadelphia office, then continued his career with the company as branch manager in New York.

Kate’s personal life had its share of ups and downs over the next 20 years. She had just one soul mate during her lifetime, but it was not long in duration. On November 17, 1886 Kate joined Alfred Fisher Fussell in marriage and gave birth to a son the following year. 

Joy turned to sadness when the child’s life ended in 1895, with the cause of death listed as influenza complicated by measles. Then tuberculosis took the life of her husband in 1900. She moved in with her parents but her mother died in 1901 and her father in 1903. Meanwhile, John and his family moved to Brooklyn after his promotion.

Another obituary revealed Kate was just five feet tall but known for her independence. That was evident in her choice of residences, since she didn’t live with either of her sisters, both of whom had their own lives and marriages. The census listings in the years that followed showed Kate’s various addresses and various job titles, from stenographer to clerk, accountant, or just “clerical.” Her employer remained the same although the name changed in a 1927 merger to become Remington Rand, Inc. 

Kate’s last residence was on 49th Street in West Philadelphia, commuting to the office at 128 North Broad Street in Center City. Although she had a pension, she insisted on going to work until she was no longer able. Her only survivor was her youngest sister, Clara May, whom she named executor of her will. She told her in advance, and put it in writing, that no one was allowed to view her body after her death, as reported here.

Rather than be buried with her husband and son, or with any other relatives, she chose Mount Moriah for her final resting place.