Person:Merritt Upson (1)

It was nothing short of a shock to the community when on last Friday evening it was learned that M. H. Upson has passed to the Great Beyond. He had been ill but a few days and up to within the last forty-eight hours of his life his condition was not at all considered serious. On Wednesday acute inflammation of the bladder set in and from that time on he grew rapidly worse and the end came as above stated.

M. H. Upson was born at Elkhart, Indiana on February 24th 1841. In 1848 moved with his parents to Wisconsin and resided there until 1864. On Nov. 7th 1861 he was married to Miss Mary Upson. In the spring of 1864 Mr. Upson started with others across the plains to carve for themselves a home and fortune in the great west. This party was made up of neighbors and relatives and the caravan consisted of nine wagons. They traveled all that summer and in the autumn arrived at Lake Tahoe where they spent the winter. In the spring of '65 they proceeded on their journey and arrived in Sonoma county California. From this place a part of the party found their way up to Puget sound and made settlement. They gave a good account of the country up here and this induced Mr. and Mrs. Upson to decide to make their home on Puget sound. Mrs. Upson with a party of relatives came to what was then called Semiahmoo in the fall of 1871 and Mr. Upson came the next autumn. They settled on a homestead up on California creek and soon had a good home provided.

Mr. Upson was one of the active men in the pioneer work of opening up the country. He helped to build the little church that stood so long up on California creek and after it was built he took care of the church. Services were held by Rev. Stewart, who lived with his son nearby. At that time no steam boat came here except on special order and the only communication with Whatcom was by canoe. The provisions were brought this way for the community as was also the mail. These trips were generally made by Mr. Upson and the journey would often take a weeks' time when conditions were unfavorable. He was sheriff of Whatcom county during the years of '74 and '75 and for a number of years was local justice.

Of Mr. Upson only good words can be said. He was a kind and loving husband and father and a good neighbor and citizen. He leaves a wife and five grown children all of whom reside here except the eldest daughter, Mrs. W. W. Stewart of Tacoma. The funeral occurred on Sunday from the Congregational church and was one of the largest attended in the history of this city. The funeral oration was by Rev. Stayt who paid a glowing tribute to his lifes work. The pall bearers were: S. P. Hughes, Byron Kingsley, E. A. Boblett, D. S. Miller, E. Holtzheimer and J. N. Lindsey. These are all old settlers of the place and came here about the same time as Mr. Upson. The body was placed at rest in the cemetery on the hill in the east part of the city.
(From The Blaine Journal, April 25, 1902)