Born in the state of Maine in April 24, 1829, Ithiel went to California as a youth, then drifted up to British Columbia in 1858. First went to Yale BC, where for a year he ran the old sawmill owned by Thaddeus Harper. He then went to Cariboo where he shortly afterwards became a member of a firm named Meacham and Nason, saw-mill owners and general traders. In 1870 the firm dissolved partnership and Mr. Nason carried on the business in his own name, owning it up to the time of his death. In 1875 he was married to Miss Mary A. Watson, in Victoria.

For fifteen years he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Cariboo Hospital, and for six years was a school trustee. In November 1884 he was first elected to the Legislature and in 1891, on January 12, was reelected by the by-election caused by the death of Mr. Joseph Mason. Of genial disposition, liberal to a fault, he was, although retiring and quiet, one of the most popular men in the Legislature, and more particularly among his associates was his loss felt, while in Cariboo, where the best part of his life was spent, the gap thus made was hard to fill. He died May 27, 1893 of cancer.

He was closely connected with development projects in British Columbia - projects which led to the utilization of natural resources of the coutry and improvement of business conditions. In 1857 he went to California for milling and mining but during the gold excitement in British Columbia he came up the Fraser River. After a year he returned to California but was induced to come back to the northwest. He mined Williams Creek, near Cariboo, then turned to the lumber business. He lived in Cariboo from 1876 until 1893 and then returned to the city, being a resident of Barkerville, although his death occurred in Victoria as he was a Member of Parliament at the time.

From Biographical dictionary of well-known British Columbians: with a historical sketch(Vancouver : Kerr & Begg, 1890.) ... "Ithiel Blake Nason, M.P.P. (Barkerville), was born in the town of Limington, Kennebec County, Maine, USA. His father, who was of English origin, married Miss Anne Elwell, a lady who was also of English descent. Mr. Nason was educated in his native town and left home early in life. He came to British Columbia in May, 1858, at which date the capital city was merely a trading station of the Hudson's Bay Company. Directly after his arrival at Victoria, Mr. Nason went to the mines on the Fraser River and delved for gold, but meeting only with ordinary success returned to Victoria in the fall staying there two months. During the winter of 1858-9, Mr. Nason, in the company of five others ascended and explored the Fraser River in an open boat searching for gold, often dragging their boat over long fields of ice (sometimes two or three miles in extent) and rapids of foaming water.

An incident which occurred during the above mentioned expedition will give some idea of the generosity and bravery of the mining pioneers of those early days. Mr. Nason and his companions had journeyed up the river with another party of six men who travelled in a large flat-bottomed boat - sharing hardships and dangers until they reached a point between Boston Bar and Lytton where there is a long succession of foaming falls and rapids. Mr. Nason's boat had already ascended one rapid and Mr. Nason and his crew were assisting from the shore to haul up the other boat by means of a tow-line, when the immense power of the water turned it around and the boat with its occupants was whirled down the deadly current. It semed as if all who had been in the second boat must meet with certain death, and Mr. Nason and his party saw their boat fill with water and were powerless to hold the tow-line which flew through their hands like a red-hot bar of iron. During this fearful scene, Mr. Nason preserved his presence of mind, and calling to some men on the bank to jump into his boat, he cut loose the tow-line and with the other volunteers was whirled down the frightful rapid after the other boat to which two men were clinging desperately. Mr. Nason guided the rescuing boat and followed the other which he saw disappear into one of the awful whirlpools for which the Fraser River is noted. When it came up again one man had disappeared, and the other was so exhausted that but for the timely arrival of the rescue party he would certainly have succumbed in the fearful torrent. With the greatest danger to their own lives, Mr. Nason and his crew succeeded in rescuing both men, one of whom they picked up far away from the boat in a semiconscious condition, and brought them ashore. The unfortunate men were now in a perfectly destitute condition having lost not only their mining outfit but their provisions as well. The rough miners, however, made their loss good by each one contributing something from his store, and the rescued men were sent on their way rejoicing.

The expedition not being very successful, Mr. Nason sold out and went to California, where he remained for twenty months. On his return to British Columbia he found his way into the Cariboo mountains where he engaged in mining until 1867. At Barkerville, Mr. Nason, in partnership with a Mr. Meacham, erected a saw mill and until the present time has been engaged in the lumber trade. Since his arrival in the Cariboo he has spent more than $110,000.00 in prospecting for gold. Over sixteen years Mr. Nason served as Trustee of the Royal Cariboo Hospital and during eight years was a member of the board of school trustees, besides being president of a number of corporated mining companies. In 1885 he became a British subject and three years later was elected a member of the Legislative Assembly at a bye-election. The worthy member for Cariboo is an adherent of the Church of England of which he is a staunch supporter. In 1875 Mr. Nason was married to one of Victoria's fairest and best daughters and had six children. The residence of Mr. Nason is at Barkerville, a little town situated in the heart of the Cariboo mountains, which, we venture to say, is one of the richest mining districts in the world. At the present time Mr. Nason is using every effort in the Provincial Parliament to promote railroad enterprise in that region, and has every reason to believe that his labors will, at no distant date, be crowned with success. He is universally esteemed and is considered one of the best mining experts in the Province, while as a sawyer he stands at the top of the tree."

The Family of Marguerite Maude Nason (1892-1989), http://www.earlham.edu/~liffeyt/genealogy-files/NASON/Nasonfamily.html