Brought up in Manchester, England, Charles Farr emigrated in 1873 to Canada, and then in 1881 to the United States. He became a Christian missionary to Great Lakes sailors in Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio, from 1897 to 1901. He and his wife, Maria, then moved to the Port of Los Angeles, and started a new mission in San Pedro under the auspices of the Seamen's Friend Society of Southern California. He operated his mission aboard the old retired tugboat-passenger boat, THE WARRIOR I , from 1901 to 1920, and called it the Bethel Mission Ship. Later he retired to Tujunga and built a stone house in the shape of the old tugboat. The house is no longer there, but there were articles and photos in the newspaper about his unusual home. In 1926, he was honored by the U.S. Secretary of the Navy, Curtis D. Wilbur, at a luncheon after the dedication of the new YMCA Building in San Pedro. A book has been written about his life, Captain Farr and the Tugboat, Warrior, and a website is dedicated to research about him: www.captainfarr.com
Brought up in Manchester, England, Charles Farr emigrated in 1873 to Canada, and then in 1881 to the United States. He became a Christian missionary to Great Lakes sailors in Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio, from 1897 to 1901. He and his wife, Maria, then moved to the Port of Los Angeles, and started a new mission in San Pedro under the auspices of the Seamen's Friend Society of Southern California. He operated his mission aboard the old retired tugboat-passenger boat, THE WARRIOR I , from 1901 to 1920, and called it the Bethel Mission Ship. Later he retired to Tujunga and built a stone house in the shape of the old tugboat. The house is no longer there, but there were articles and photos in the newspaper about his unusual home. In 1926, he was honored by the U.S. Secretary of the Navy, Curtis D. Wilbur, at a luncheon after the dedication of the new YMCA Building in San Pedro. A book has been written about his life, Captain Farr and the Tugboat, Warrior, and a website is dedicated to research about him: www.captainfarr.com
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