Mewa Singh worked on the green chain at Fraser Mills. He was also a member of the Ghadar Party- a North American group formed in 1917 calling for independence from Britain. He was hanged for the murder of police officer and immigration official, W.C. Hopkinson. The story leading to this shooting is one of clandestine border crossing, arms dealing and Sikh spies working for Hopkinson. Mewa Singh is considered a Sikh martyr. After his hanging he was cremated at Fraser Mills and for many years a yearly commemoration was held at the Fraser Mills Gurdwara on the anniversary of his death.
“Down in the East Indian community, they would have cremations down where it was real windy, down beside the river. On Sundays, we used to see all these wagons, trucks and cars going down the main street, and we always figured, ‘Oh, oh, something’s going on down there.’ You could see all the people involved were East Indians with turbans. We used to take off along the railway tracks down there. I can remember some of the funeral pyres for the cremations; they always had a wonderful supply of wood, you know, from the mill.”