The Quiet Passing of a Pioneer Druggist
Matthew Kelly, a member of the historic 'Mercer Girls' expedition and a fixture of the early Seattle business district, has died at 44.
Matthew A. Kelly, a pioneer druggist of Seattle, died suddenly yesterday morning at his residence on South Eleventh street of apoplexy. Born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1850, Kelly arrived in Seattle in 1866 after being recruited in New York by Asa Mercer to help bring superior women to the territory. After arriving, he worked on the Duwamish river before apprenticing with Seattle’s first druggist, Gardner Kellogg. Kelly operated his own pharmacy for years, suffering major losses in the Great Fire of 1889, but rebuilding his life and business. He leaves behind his wife, Annie Wood, and four children.
“He was an honest, generous, kind-hearted man, loyal to his friends and a man of fine business ability.”
The mention of Asa Mercer's 'Mercer Girls' program captures a unique, controversial, and vital chapter in Washington's settlement history. Kelly's trajectory from a young man recruited in New York to a pillar of Seattle's business community illustrates the rapid, often volatile transformation of the city in the late 19th century.
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