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The S.S. City of Midland 41 underway with the new S.S. Spartan docked in the background.
This MCP Great Lakes History Blog is presented by Filer Credit Union and the Mason County Historical Society.
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
LUDINGTON — Part of my duties as a member of the Board of Directors of the Mason County Historical Society is to serve as chairman of the society’s collections committee. This committee helps manage the 150,000-plus artifacts that are in the Rose Hawley Archives and it also has the honor of accepting additions to the collection.
Last week we received a wonderful donation of a collection of over 60 black and white photographs of the C&O and Ann Arbor carferries taken in the 1950s by the late Ernest Beimer of Ludington. The collection includes images of the C&O Railroad carferries S.S. Pere Marquette 18 (II), built in 1911; S.S. Pere Marquette 21, built in 1924; S.S. Pere Marquette 22, built in 1924; S.S. City of Saginaw 31, built in 1929; S.S. City of Flint 32, built in 1930; S.S. City of Midland 41, built in 1941; S.S. Spartan 42, built in 1952; and S.S. Badger 43, built in 1953; and the Ann Arbor Railroad carferry Ann Arbor No. 7, built in 1925.
City of Saginaw 31 entering Ludington channel.
My estimation is that the majority of these photographs were taken in the early 1950s when the Spartan and Badger were brand new. There is also a series of photographs showing the Pere Marquette 18 (II) being towed by a tugboat. It is possible that these were taken in 1957 when the boat was sold for scrap. I believe the images taken in Elberta/Frankfort of the Ann Arbor 7 were possibly created in the mid- to late-40s based on the automobiles and also based on the type of photographic paper they were printed on. Typically, the standard of accepting gifts is that the item must be relevant to Mason County’s history. While the Ann Arbor carferries are not directly relevant, certain topics tend to allow for exceptions, such as the Great Lakes maritime and railroad industries.
Ernest Rolin Beimer was a professional printer who enjoyed the hobbies of photography and model trains.
He was born on August 19, 1906 in Kalamazoo where he grew up and graduated high school, the son of Yetsie James Beimer (1879-1966) and Orra C. Beimer (1878-1967). On March 12, 1927 he married Ruth Kronemeyer (1908-2000).
Pere Marquette 21
The couple moved to Ludington in 1943 They lived at 510 N. William St.
Ernest and Ruth had three sons, Richard of Ludington, Dan (and Carol) of Mt. Prospect, Ill., and David (and Marilyn Anne) of Grants Pass, Ore. They also had six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
During his career as a printer in Ludington, Ernest worked for Lakeside Printing in Ludington and Danielson Colorprint in Hamlin Township.
It appears that Mr. Beimer was working on placing the C&O photographs into a second volume of a book, but I have not been able to find a book that references Mr. Beimer. In 1955, Lakeside Printing published a small soft cover book titled “Pictorial History of the C&O Train and Auto Ferries and Pere Marquette Line Steamers” written by Arthur and Lucy Frederickson. However, non of Mr. Beimer’s photos are in that book nor was there ever a second volume. There was a revised edition printed in the 1960s, which is at the Rose Hawley Archives and in my personal collection. Again, that revised edition does not contain any of the photographs in Mr. Beimer’s collection.
The donation came from his daughter-in-law Marilyn Anne (Tracy) Beimer. Marilyn grew up in Scottville, the oldest of the seven children of Mary and Robert Tracy. She is a 1959 graduate of Mason County Central High School and was in Mason County last week visiting the home town with her sister, Margaret “Peg” Finkelstein. Their father, Robert, worked for the C&O Railroad. Marilyn’s husband, David Beimer, passed away in 2016. He graduated with the Ludington High School class of 1956.
“I wanted this collection to be back in Mason County where it belonged,” Marilyn said. “The Mason County Historical Society is the right place for such as great collection of photographs of the carferries.”
If anyone has any information about Mr. Beimer and his collection of photographs, we would love to hear from you. You may contact me directly at editor@mediagroup31.com. Additionally, in anticipation of the 2027 10th anniversary of the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum, the society is seeking collections of artifacts, photographs, documents, and stories from the people who worked on the carferries. Again, you may reach out to me via email or phone/text at 231-757-3202.
Spartan and Badger
The Spartan, foreground, and the PM 18 (II).
Ann Arbor No. 7 in Elberta.
The Mason County Historical Society is a non-profit charitable organization that was founded in 1937 that does not receive any governmental funding. It owns and operates the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum in Ludington, Historic White Pine Village in Pere Marquette Township, and The Rose Hawley Archives and the Mason County Emporium and Sweet Shop in downtown Ludington.
For more information about donating to and/or joining the Mason County Historical Society, visit masoncountymihistory.org.
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