From the May, 1914 issue of Erie Railroad Magazine
Captain C.W. Watson, master in charge of the "George F. Brownell," was born at Elk City, Pa. He began his marine career in the year 1888 as a fireman on a tug at Buffalo, and sailed on various vessels on the Great Lakes up to the winter of 1892-3, when he sailed out of New Orleans in the fruit trade to Central America, and on the Mississippi and Red rivers.
He entered the Erie Railroad Lake Line employ in 1905, as second mate on the steamer "Owego" and first mate on the steamer "Binghamton" during that season. He was appointed master of the steamer "Tioga" in 1906 and sailed her until August, 1913, when he was changed to the "Brownell."
Captain Watson holds first-class pilot's and master's licenses for all of the Great Lakes, including the St. Lawrence River to Montreal; also chief mate's of ocean steamers on all oceans.
From the January, 1917 issue of Erie Railroad Magazine:
Sympathy for Captain Watson
The tendency is common among skippers to form an attachment to any craft whose deck planks they have trodden under foot. All our sympathy is therefore extended to Captain C.W. Watson, commanding the tug "Wauwatosa" at Chicago, because of the personal regret he must feel in the sinking of the "Chemung" by a submarine in European waters. This vessel was formerly owned by the Erie Railroad Lake Line and when Captain Watson paced the bridge was known as the "George F. Brownell."