M. L. (Marc La Riviere) Stangroom was born in 1832 in England. After attending school in Switzerland, he relocated back to England where he worked for the North Staffordshire Railway. Following a brief stay in India, Stangroom immigrated to the United States, landing initially in New York. Stangroom then traveled to California and Nevada where he engaged in mining speculation and railroad surveying. In 1888, at the request of railroad magnate Pierre Cornwall, Stangroom moved to Bellingham, Washington to assist in building the Bellingham Bay and British Columbia railway. In 1901 he was appointed State Supervising Engineer in Seattle. Stangroom died in 1913 at the age of 81.