Shipwright’s son William Barnett commanded freighters, carferries

September 26, 2026

Capt. William Barnett. Photo from Sable Points Media Historical Photograph Collection.

This Great Lakes History Log is presented by Filer Credit Union, the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum and Sable Points Media.

Masters of the Ludington Steamers

Stories of Ludington’s cross-lake rail fleet captains and other port mariners

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief

LUDINGTON — Capt. William James Barnett was part of the generation of Great Lakes mariners who helped bridge the era of conventional railroad steamships and the steel carferries that came to define Ludington’s maritime history.

Barnett, born Nov. 24, 1867, in Michigan, was the son of Alexander Barnett (1840-1910) and Catharine Patterson Barnett (1840-1926). The family was living in Detroit by 1870, but moved to Grand Haven while William was still a child. His father worked as a shipwright in one of the city’s shipyards, placing Barnett in a maritime environment from an early age.

By 1880, 13-year-old William was living with his family in Grand Haven. His siblings included Scott P. Barnett, who was born in 1870 and died in 1879; Cora B. Barnett, born in 1874; and Alexander Ford Barnett, born in 1877. Ford remained closely connected to Grand Haven and later served on that community’s harbor commission.

Barnett went to sea as a young man. The Kenosha Evening News later reported that he received his captain’s papers while still in his early 20s. The vessels on which he served during his earliest years have not yet been identified, but by the turn of the 20th century he was firmly established in the marine profession and was serving in the Pere Marquette railroad’s Ludington-based fleet.

Barnett also started a family at a young age. He married Janet Clark in Grand Haven on Dec. 3, 1886, when he was 19. Their son, William Scott Barnett, was born in Grand Haven on May 5, 1887. Known as Scott, he was the couple’s only known child.

F&PM No. 2. Photo from Sable Points Media Historical Photograph Collection.

One of the clearest surviving records of Barnett’s early Pere Marquette service comes from winter crew assignments originally published in the Ludington Record on Dec. 20, 1900, and later republished by historian Agnes E. MacLaren in the Ludington Daily News.

The assignment placed Capt. John J. Doyle in command of F&PM No. 2 with Barnett as first mate. The same account explained that Barnett and Capt. Neil McIsaac had been given first mate berths because no captain positions were available until spring. The winter schedule had reduced the number of active vessels and therefore the number of available commands.

Other records confirm Barnett was already serving as a master. Bowling Green State University’s Historical Collections of the Great Lakes lists him as captain of F&PM No. 2 in both the 1900 and 1901 Red Books.

A 1904 Ludington Record-Appeal history of the Pere Marquette marine department also included Barnett among the succession of captains who had commanded F&PM No. 2. Others included John Stewart, Joseph Russell, Hugh Clark, Frank Turner, James Mooney, John Doyle, Charles Thompson and Robert Hazelbarth.

F&PM No. 2 and her sister, F&PM No. 1, had entered service in 1882 as the Flint & Pere Marquette Railway developed its own Lake Michigan steamship operation. Both vessels were lengthened by 36 feet in Detroit the following year. The alteration improved their carrying capacity and handling.

No. 2 later survived one of the more dramatic incidents of the early fleet. During the severe winter of 1899, the vessel became caught between rapidly moving ice fields on Lake Michigan and suffered badly crushed frames. The Record-Appeal reported that she escaped destruction through the intervention of the steel carferry Pere Marquette. Her stern was later rebuilt at Manitowoc at a reported cost of $12,000.

Barnett’s service aboard F&PM No. 2 placed him near the end of the railroad’s earlier steamship era. At the same time, the Pere Marquette was rapidly expanding its fleet of steel railroad carferries, vessels capable of carrying loaded rail cars directly across Lake Michigan.

In 1903, the railroad added Pere Marquette 19 and Pere Marquette 20. Unlike their sister vessels, Pere Marquette 17 and Pere Marquette 18, the new ships were designed primarily for freight service and did not have regular passenger accommodations.

Pere Marquette 20. Photo from Mason County Historical Society Rose Hawley Archives.

Pere Marquette 20 arrived at Ludington on Dec. 23, 1903. Her officers included Capt. John C. Ackerman as master, Frank Butler as first mate and Barnett as second mate. Robert MacLaren was chief engineer, George White was first assistant engineer, William Brown was second assistant engineer and A. Harvard was steward.

Barnett’s appearance as second mate aboard one of the railroad’s newest carferries came after records had already documented him as captain of F&PM No. 2. The assignment illustrates the changing crew structures that could accompany seasonal schedules and a rapidly expanding fleet.

When Barnett died more than three decades later, Grand Haven newspapers remembered him as a former master of one of the Pere Marquette carferries sailing from Ludington and as one of the better-known older Great Lakes marine men.

By 1910, William and Janet were living in Kenosha, Wis., where Barnett entered another phase of his maritime life. His father, Alexander, died in Grand Haven on Nov. 10 that year. His mother, Catharine, later moved to Kenosha and died there in 1926. His sister Cora died in Grand Haven in 1922, while his brother Ford remained closely associated with Grand Haven.

The Barnetts’ son, Scott, attended Grand Haven public schools and later worked for Ford Motor Co. in Detroit. During World War I, he worked in a mechanical capacity at government aviation facilities near Pensacola, Fla. While there, he married Nathalie Milbrath of Kenosha.

William Barnett remained closely tied to Lake Michigan after leaving active Pere Marquette service. The 1930 federal census listed William and Janet at 437 50th Street in Kenosha, where they owned their home. Barnett’s occupation was listed as ‘Master Mariner’ in the steam boat industry, although he was not employed at the time.

He also became involved in commercial fishing and at one time owned a fleet of fishing tugs at Kenosha. Contemporary accounts differed on the size of the operation, with one describing a small fleet and another calling it a large fishing fleet.

Barnett eventually became one of Kenosha’s leading advocates for harbor development. His interest in improving the harbor began before the creation of the Kenosha Harbor Commission. He later became a member and officer of the commission and was serving as its president at the time of his death.

The Kenosha Evening News wrote that Barnett’s many years on the lakes had given him knowledge of harbor conditions in numerous communities and that he used that experience in efforts to improve Kenosha’s position as a Lake Michigan shipping center. Even after leaving active sailing, he continued to advise others on harbor matters.

His brother Ford’s service on the Grand Haven Harbor Commission created a family parallel: the two sons of a Grand Haven shipwright eventually became involved in harbor development on opposite shores of Lake Michigan.

Barnett was also a member of the Masonic lodge in Kenosha and had friends throughout Great Lakes maritime circles.

William James Barnett died suddenly at his Kenosha home on April 10, 1936. He was 68. He was survived by Janet, their son Scott, his brother Ford and two grandsons. Janet later served as executor of his estate. Barnett was buried at Green Ridge Cemetery in Kenosha. Janet died the following year.

Masters of the Ludington Steamers series to date:

In search of information

Editor’s Note: I am seeking historical artifacts and stories from people whose family members worked as ship captains or in Ludington’s maritime industry. While this project focuses on the Ludington carferry fleet, I am also interested in items related to anyone from Mason County who worked on the Great Lakes or oceans.

This series has three goals:

To share Ludington’s rich maritime history with readers of the Mason County Press.
To publish a biographical book about the Ludington fleet captains.
To create an interactive kiosk exhibit at the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum for historical research.

I am looking for artifacts such as photographs, written documents, or digitized materials. Items will be placed in the Mason County Historical Society archives, and donors will receive documentation of their contribution.

If you have items or stories to share, please email editor@mediagroup31.com or call/text 231-757-3202.

Note: I am also interested in collections related to the Mason County railroad industry.

If you would like to financially contribute to the book project, please click here for more information.

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