Charles H. Elwell was well-known as a tug boat captain of the Skagit Chief and other boats around Puget Sound. Among the historical family archives of his descendant, Keral Ellingsworth, she shared the certificate from Seattle’s US Department of Commerce for Elwell’s License to Master of Steam and Motor Vessels.
United States Department of Commerce
Steamboat Inspection Service
Serial Number 135597
Issue Number 7-8
License to Master of Steam and Motor Vessels
This is to certify that Charles H. Elwell has given satisfactory evidence to the undersigned United States Local Inspectors, Steamboat Inspection Service, for the district of Seattle, Washington, that he can safely be intrusted with the duties and responsibilities of Master of Steam and Motor Vessels of not over 500 gross tons, upon the waters of Bays, Sounds and Lakes other than the Great Lakes and Pilot on Puget Sound and adjacent inland waters between Tacoma and Bellingham on vessels of same tonnage, and is hereby licensed to act as such Master and Pilot for the term of five years from this date.
Given under our hands, this 8th day of August, 1934.Daniel B. Hutchins, Acting U.S. Inspector of Hulls
William N. Campbell, Acting U.S. Local Inspector of Boilers
For more information on Charles Elwell, see:
- Cooking On The Tug Boat Skagit Chief
- The Famous Elwell Boat Captains of Snohomish County
- Towing Logs On The Skagit River
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