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Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott
for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/
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Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott
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History of the Great Lakes
Illustrated, In Two Volumes, Vol. II
Chicago, J. H. Beers & Co., 1899

        [163]

              WILLIAM E. ELLIOTT is a skilled mechanic, and a man who has
           advanced by merit to the position of chief engineer of the
           Goodrich Transportation Company, a line of passenger steamers
           operating out of Chicago, comprising a fleet of nine vessels.
           He won the confidence of CAPT. A. E. GOODRICH, the founder of
           the line, many years ago, and retained the same up to the time
           of the demise of that gentleman. When the management passed into
           the hands of his son, A. W. GOODRICH, MR. ELLIOTT was continued
           in his responsible position. He was born in Nottinghamshire,
           England, in 1840, and came to the United States in 1854, with
           his parents, locating in London, Canada, where he attended the
           public schools.  In 1855 he entered the employ of the Great
           Western Railroad Company as an apprentice to the coppersmith's
           and machinist's trade, remaining with that company six years,
           and becoming a skilled workman in every respect. When he reached
           his majority he went to Detroit, Mich., and was employed by the
           Detroit Locomotive Works for two years.
              It was in July, 1863, that MR. ELLIOTT determined to follow
           the lakes, his first berth being assistant engineer in the new
           steamer Reindeer, plying on the Saginaw river, and he worked on
           her machinery when building in the shop the early part of the
           season.  The next spring he was appointed assistant engineer of
           the steamship Milwaukee, plying between Grand Haven and Mil-
           waukee. In the spring of 1865 he entered the employ of the Ward
           line as chief engineer of the steamer Reindeer, retaining that
           office until the new steamer Marine City was completed, when he
           took charge of her machinery. When the Goodrich Transportation
           Company purchased the steamer Alpena, Mr. Elliott was appointed
           chief, and ran her that season, and in the spring of 1868 re-
           moved to Milwaukee, and in 1894 to Chicago, where he has made
           his home ever since, remaining in the employ of the Goodrich
           Transportation Company thirty-one consecutive years. After
           passing four seasons in the steamer Sheboygan, as chief engi-
           neer, he was appointed chief engineer of the line, and if
           occasion requires he engineers other steamers. His duties con-
           sist in superintending the construction of the engines and
           machinery and bringing out the new steamers for the company, and
           he also has general supervision of the machinery of all the
           boats of the fleet.
              MR. ELLIOTT is a close student of the modern theory and
           practice of marine engineering, and is a member of the American
           Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society of Naval
           Engineers, and of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association.
           He has held the office of national vice-president and president
           of No. 9, of Milwaukee, several terms, and has also represented
           that body as delegate to many of its annual conventions. His
           home is at No. 886 Warren avenue, Chicago, Illinois.

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