A Golden Celebration for a Pioneer Couple
Over 200 neighbors and friends gathered in a homestead grove to honor General and Mrs. M. A. McPherson on their 50th wedding anniversary.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
From Bellingham, Blaine, Ferndale, Custer, and Sumas—in fact from everywhere in the county—came the guests to the Golden Wedding of General and Mrs. M. A. McPherson last Saturday. More than 200 were in the grove of the homestead at one time. They brought scores of presents, more than $75 in gold coin, and many other gifts. A number of the Lynden pioneers joined together and made up a purse of gold, presented by Mrs. Judson, known as the 'Mother of Lynden.' Mrs. Judson said, 'This token of love given by the old pioneers, on your Golden Wedding day is but a type of thine own dear self. While you were doing your part in developing this new country, making it to blossom like the rose—the dross was all burned to ashes, leaving nothing but the pure gold that will live and glow in beauty forever.' The General is now 80 years old and his wife is about the same age. He was a leading spirit in the industrial and political life of the Northwest and the founder and namer of Blaine, intended to be the terminal for a major railroad system before hard times stalled his plans.
“While you were doing your part in developing this new country, making it to blossom like the rose—the dross was all burned to ashes, leaving nothing but the pure gold that will live and glow in beauty forever.”
This event captures the passing of the frontier generation in Washington. Figures like M. A. McPherson, who arrived with grand visions of railroad empires, were being celebrated as the 'pioneers' who laid the groundwork for the modern towns we inhabit today.
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