Pere Marquette 19. Mason County Historical Society Rose Hawley Archives
This Great Lakes History Log is presented by Filer Credit Union and the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum.
Masters of the PM Steamers
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
Grounding the PM 19
On Feb. 6, 1904, the Pere Marquette 19, which had been in service for just over two months, went aground on Fox Point, Wis., while approaching Milwaukee in the fog. The $350,000 vessel ($13 million, adjusted for inflation in 2026) had been in operation for just over three months. Ice soon surrounded the ship and efforts to work it free became impossible. It soon filled with water.
“Her bottom plates were badly damaged by the rocks, the boat having grounded while running at full speed, and many of her frames were sprung,” an article in the April 21, 1904 edition of the Ludington Record Appeal stated.
William Mercereau
William L. Mercereau (1866-1955), superintendent of Pere Marquette Railway’s steamship operations, came over from Ludington to supervise the salvage work, which took two weeks. It may have been more than just business for Mercereau since his wife had christened the ship.
A centrifugal pump was brought down from the north and with its aid, it was pumped out and re-floated on Feb. 19. No lives were lost, but damage ran to $60,000 ($2.2 million adjusted for inflation in 2026). The ship was returned to service in early May 1904.
Captain John J. Doyle had been in charge of the vessel since it began service on Nov. 29, 1903. The incident cost him his job as the ship’s captain and he was replaced by William LaFleur, who had served for the previous seven years as a mate under the command of Capt. Peter Kilty, commodore of the fleet.
Pere Marquette 19 was built at the American Ship Building Lorain, Ohio yard and began service on Nov. 29, 1903. It was the third of four vessels ordered by the Pere Marquette Railway, which had been formed in 1899 following the consolidation of the Flint & Pere Marquette, the Chicago & West Michigan and the Detroit Grand Rapids & Western. Those vessels included Pere Marquette (PM) 17 in 1901, PM 18 (I) in 1902, and PM 19 and PM 20 in 1903.
Post card of PM 19, Mason County Historical Society Rose Hawley Archives
The PM 19 was sponsored by Lulu Mercereau, wife of William Mercereau. The new ferry was essentially a duplicate of PM 17, except for an absence of passenger accommodations. The railroad envisioned having regularly scheduled sailings which would carry passengers, and various unscheduled sailings as traffic demanded. It hoped to use three boats regularly on the Milwaukee run, one to Manitowoc, and the rest to be assigned as traffic demanded. Service was extended to Kewaunee late in 1903.
PM 20, which was completed in December 1903, was identical to PM 19 and built simultaneously but at American Ship Building’s Cleveland, Ohio yard. The two ferries were the first actual sister ships built for the PM. Both were equipped with split cabins in the fashion of the original PM.
The four new ferries, designed by Robert Logan, differed from one another only in passenger accommodations and in engine details. They were each 338 feet long, 56 feet wide and had a depth of 19.5 feet.
From left: PM 19, PM 20, PM 15
They were operated by two triple expansion steam engines that operated at 2,280 hp with four Scotch boilers. Their car decks had four tracks that could hold 30 rail cars.
The Feb. 6 incident wasn’t the first accident of the new ship. In late December 1903, less than a month being in service, the ship had been out to sea for a couple hours, heading east to Ludington from Milwaukee when it was struck by a fierce northwest gale. It was fully loaded with 30 rail cars. The rolling of the boat caused a car, loaded with steel rails, to tip over, breaking the steering gear.
“The ferry went into the trough of the sea and the other cars ran amuck,” an article in the Monday, Dec. 28, 1903 Muskegon Chronicle read. “After several hours the boat was headed into the storm and worked its way to Two Rivers (Wis.) point where the cars were straightened. The ferry has arrived here (Manitowoc, Wis.) safely.”
Post card of Assumption College
Personal life
John Joseph Doyle was born in February 1862 in Goderich, Ontario, Canada, located on Lake Huron across from Harbor Beach in Michigan’s Thumb. His parents were James Doyle (1839-1916) and Margaret (Muldoon) Doyle (1840-1920). He had two sisters, Florence (1876-1919) and Gertrude (born in 1877).
According to his obituary, he attended what was referred to as Sandwich college in Ontario. This was most probably Assumption College in Windsor, Ontario. While a modern ship’s captain holds a bachelor’s degree, earned at one of the national maritime academies, a formal higher degree amongst lakes mariners was not common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Doyle was likely one of the highest educated carferry captains in his time.
On Oct. 18, 1893, John Doyle married Dora E. Duffy (1871-1907) in Milwaukee. Together, they had a daughter, Virginia G (1899-1964). Dora died of acute alcoholic toxicity (alcohol poisoning) on Oct. 15, 1907 at the age of 36. Virginia was 8 years old at the time. Growing up without a mother and with a father who worked long hours and days was likely a challenge. According to John Doyle’s obituary, he was devoted to raising his daughter.
Her grandson, John Fuger of Grand Rapids, said she was raised in Detroit while her father worked on the boats. Doyle’s parents lived in Detroit and were alive at the time of his death. However, Fuger said family lore tells of Virginia being raised by nuns.
Sadly, Virginia, at the age of 18, would lose her father just six years after her mother’s death.
Flint & Pere Marquette No. 1
Career
Not much is known about Doyle’s early sailing career. He is listed as captain of the Flint & Pere Marquette No. 1 break-bulk steamer in 1894. In 1895, he was captain of the F&PM No. 4 and in 1896 was skipper of the F&PM No. 5. In 1900, he was captain of the F&PM No. 2. The break-bulk steamers were predecessors to the carferries and began operating out of Ludington in May 1875, six months after the Flint & Pere Marquette Railway’s final tracks were completed along the shores of Pere Marquette Lake. Carferry service out of Ludington began in 1897 with the introduction of the steamer Pere Marquette. The F&PM, which became part of the newly-formed Pere Marquette Railway in 1900, continued to operate and then contract break-bulk service for many years after the carferry fleet grew.
It is also not clear if he returned to commanding a Pere Marquette ship after the 1904 incident with the PM 19 but he apparently remained employed there. In 1908, he is listed as first officer of the PM 17.
SS City of Grand Haven
SS Grand Haven
Doyle started working for the Grand Trunk Milwaukee Car Ferry Company about 1908, commanding the SS Grand Haven.
The Grand Haven was built in 1903 by Craig Ship Building Company in Toledo. It was 306 feet long, had a beam of 54 feet and a depth of 17 feet. The ship was sold to West India Fruit & Steamship Company on May 12, 1946 and placed in Honduran registry. It operated between the Port of West Palm Beach, Fla. and Havana, Cuba. It was laid up in 1960.
Despite the 1904 grounding of the PM 19, Capt. Doyle seemed to have remained a respected mariner.
“The captain was one of the most popular masters on the Great Lakes and all who knew him expressed deepest admiration for him,” his obituary, published on the front page of the Wednesday, Sept. 10, 1913 edition of the Grand Haven Daily Tribune stated.
Death
John Doyle had been afflicted with diabetes which had greatly impacted his health the last year of his life. On Monday, Sept. 8, 1913, while working onboard the Grand Haven, en route from Ludington to Milwaukee, he became extremely ill. Upon arriving at port, he was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee.
“Little hope was held out for his recovery, and the captain’s many marine friends anxiously followed his condition, many of them calling at the hospital to inquire for him,” the Grand Haven Daily Tribune reported. “On board of his own ship, and on the other translake steamers where he was well known the deepest sorry is expressed over his death.”
According to the newspaper, Doyle passed away at 3 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 1913. Out of respect of the memory of the captain, some Lake Michigan ships flew their flags at half staff the day he died.
John and Dora are buried at Calvary Cemetery in Milwaukee.
Masters of the PM Steamers series:
Capt. John Stewart was first skipper of the Ludington fleet 150 years ago
Capt. Muir commanded first Ludington ‘black boat’ until his death
Ludington fleet captain Duddleson skippered the famed L.C. Waldo during the 1913 storm
The remarkable career of Capt. Joseph Russell
Filer Credit Union with offices in Manistee, Ludington, East Lake, and Bear Lake; filercu.com; 800.595.6630
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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