Charles W. Wells was a charter member of the Juneau Men's Igloo.

Wells was born in Pennsylvania on July 17, 1847. He came west to California in 1867 and later moved to Washington Territory. In 1870, he went to the Omineca mining district in British Columbia, and in 1874 to the Cassiar district.

In 1879, he traveled to Sitka and was hired by George Pilz as a blacksmith. There, he worked on building a stamp mill at Silver Bay. Wells was among the first men to come to Juneau from Sitka in the late fall of 1880.

He staked both lode and placer claims along Gold Creek, some of which later became part of the Ebner Mine and provided Wells with substantial dividends.

Wells claimed a town lot on Main Street, now partly occupied by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and purchased half of another lot at the corner of Front and Main Streets from George Pilz. He constructed a building on the waterside of Front Street but was ordered by a town meeting to remove it.

At that time, it was considered important to keep the waterfront open so canoes and rowboats could be pulled up along the shore. Wells later leased a portion of a lot on Front Street from Pierre Erussard, built a blacksmith shop there, and operated it for nine years.

In addition to his work as a blacksmith, Wells continued prospecting and staked several mining claims, which he later sold.

On December 21, 1894, Wells married Miss S. B. Fisher in Juneau. He later became active in politics and in 1905 was appointed to the Republican Territorial Committee, serving on it until his death.

Charles W. Wells died in Seattle, Washington, on January 12, 1917.

Source
The Founding of Juneau, R. N. DeArmond, 1980, p. 200