Capt. William LaFleur became PM master at 34, later took his career to the oceans

September 23, 2026

Capt. William LaFleur, right, on board a Pere Marquette carferry in 1903. Photo from Mason County Historical Society Rose Hawley Archives.

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

Masters of the PM Steamers

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

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief

LUDINGTON — When William H. LaFleur was placed in command of Pere Marquette 19 in April 1904, he was only 34 years old.

The Ludington Record-Appeal reported that the promotion made LaFleur the youngest master in the Pere Marquette Railway fleet and the youngest railroad carferry captain on the Great Lakes.

That distinction appears to have stood within the Ludington fleet for almost 90 years. Based on the author’s research into Ludington carferry captains, no younger master has been identified until Gregg Andersen became captain of the SS Badger in the spring of 1993 at age 30. Andersen had first worked aboard a Ludington carferry as a relief mate on City of Midland 41 in 1983 and joined the ferry operation full time the following year.

LaFleur’s rise was also part of the closely connected world of Pere Marquette masters in which experienced captains trained the officers who later succeeded them.

Capt. William LaFleur. Photo from Mason County Historical Society Rose Hawley Archives.

LaFleur joined the carferry operation in the spring of 1897 as a wheelsman aboard the original Pere Marquette, later numbered Pere Marquette 15. The vessel had entered service only weeks earlier under its first master, Capt. John Joseph “Joe” Russell (1853-1913), who was also LaFleur’s brother-in-law.

As LaFleur advanced, he served under Capt. Peter Kilty (1860-1910), another of the formative masters of the Ludington carferry fleet. By the winter of 1900, Kilty was captain of Pere Marquette 15 and LaFleur was his first mate. LaFleur later served aboard Pere Marquette 17 and the original Pere Marquette 18, built in 1902, again serving as Kilty’s first mate.

The original Pere Marquette 18 sank in Lake Michigan on Sept. 9, 1910. A second vessel bearing the same name entered service in 1911 and is referred to here as Pere Marquette 18 (II) to distinguish it from the first ship.

LaFleur was born Feb. 5, 1870, in Milwaukee, the son of Anthony and Margaret Scott LaFleur. His father worked as a stationary engineer and later reportedly served as an engineer aboard steamers operating on Wisconsin’s Fox River.

His sister Mary LaFleur Russell (1856-1939) married Joe Russell in 1876. Russell had already established himself as a Great Lakes mariner before William began sailing and appears to have influenced his younger brother-in-law’s choice of profession.

The Pere Marquette 15. Photo from the Mason County Historical Society Rose Hawley Archives.

LaFleur went to the lakes at about age 16. The 1904 Record-Appeal account stated that he had sailed throughout the chain of Great Lakes and had held both pilot’s and master’s papers for several years before receiving his first carferry command.

His early vessels included a steamer identified in the 1904 newspaper as L.D.E., which sailed out of Manistee, along with Alva, owned by M.A. Bradley of Cleveland, and Helena, owned by Starke & Meyer of Milwaukee.

LaFleur married Emma Tank (1877-1970) on Aug. 23, 1894. The couple had two children, Beulah Lorraine LaFleur (1896-1978) and Harold William “Loppy” LaFleur (1906-1985).

After joining the Pere Marquette operation in 1897, LaFleur advanced quickly. The April 21, 1904, Record-Appeal stated that after approximately one year he became second mate and six months later was promoted to mate.

His specialty became the unique work of railroad carferries.

Unlike a conventional freight steamer, a carferry carried loaded railroad cars directly aboard the vessel. Their weight had to be distributed properly, while loading and unloading had to be coordinated with railroad crews on shore.

A March 10, 1904, Record-Appeal article about Pere Marquette 18 described LaFleur as “one of the most valuable men in the Pere Marquette line.” The newspaper said he had “grown up with the carferries” and understood the handling of railroad cars aboard the vessels “second to no other man.”

Six weeks later he was promoted.

Pere Marquette 19. Photo from Mason County Historical Society Rose Hawley Archives.

Pere Marquette 19 had arrived at Ludington on its maiden voyage in November 1903 under its first master, Capt. John James Doyle (1862-1913). The vessel soon suffered a major grounding near Fox Point, north of Milwaukee, and required extensive repairs.

When Pere Marquette 19 returned to service in 1904, LaFleur was its new master.

The Record-Appeal called him “a protege of the Pere Marquette line” and said he had become the company’s best-informed man concerning the loading and unloading of railroad cars.

“No man begrudges ‘Bill’ LaFleur his advancement, for he has fairly won it,” the newspaper stated.

LaFleur remained closely associated with Pere Marquette 19 for much of the next decade. Historical Collections of the Great Lakes records at Bowling Green State University identify him as captain of the vessel in several annual directories between 1904 and 1913.

His experience eventually led to an assignment outside the Pere Marquette Railway’s normal Lake Michigan routes.

On Dec. 7, 1909, Marquette & Bessemer No. 2 disappeared on Lake Erie with heavy loss of life. The disaster left the railroad ferry operation between Conneaut, Ohio, and Port Stanley, Ontario, without one of its vessels.

Pere Marquette 15 was sent from Ludington as a temporary replacement, with LaFleur in command.

The assignment returned him to the vessel where he had started as a wheelsman 12 years earlier. Contemporary reports noted that his license qualified him to navigate throughout the Great Lakes. He took Pere Marquette 15 through the Straits of Mackinac, down Lake Huron and through the connecting rivers to Lake Erie.

By 1913, LaFleur had moved into the senior ranks of the Pere Marquette captains and was assigned to Pere Marquette 17, the vessel long associated with his brother-in-law Joe Russell.

Capt. John Ackerman. Photo from Mason County Historical Society Rose Hawley Archives.

Another senior captain was Capt. John C. Ackerman (1862-1916).

Ackerman died suddenly at the wheel of Pere Marquette 18 (II) while bringing the carferry into Ludington in December 1916. Newspapers reported that LaFleur, described as “next in line in service,” would succeed Ackerman as commodore of the Pere Marquette carferry fleet.

The exact corporate meaning of “commodore” is not clear in surviving company records. Historically, the title was often associated with the senior captain or master in command of a fleet’s flagship. Contemporary newspapers clearly regarded LaFleur as Ackerman’s successor at the head of the Pere Marquette captains.

LaFleur subsequently commanded Pere Marquette 18 (II).

His departure from the Pere Marquette in 1918 is less clear.

Later accounts stated that he resigned in order to pursue ocean-navigation training. A contemporary account published the following year, however, referred to LaFleur as having been “released from service.” There is not enough surviving evidence to determine whether that wording meant he was dismissed or simply reflected the end of his employment with the railroad.

Whatever happened, LaFleur immediately moved into another phase of his maritime career.

Ludington area historian James Cabot later wrote that LaFleur attended the Federal Naval School and on Feb. 28, 1919, obtained papers qualifying him to sail any ship on any ocean.

Lake Freeland. Photo from Sable Points Media Historical Photograph Collection.

Cabot placed LaFleur aboard the government-owned freighters Lake Freeland and Lake Fabyan as first mate during 1919. Both were among the steel cargo vessels constructed at Great Lakes shipyards for the World War I Emergency Fleet Corporation and U.S. Shipping Board. They were built small enough to leave the Great Lakes through the canal system and enter ocean service.

Cabot later identified LaFleur as master of Coquina beginning about 1920 and wrote that he sailed the vessel to Britain and Germany and eventually around the world. Federal crew records or logbooks confirming those particular voyages have not yet been located.

Independent records do establish that Coquina was operating in international commerce during the period. A July 25, 1921, Philadelphia newspaper advertisement listed the vessel in regular U.S. Shipping Board freight service between Philadelphia and Havana, Cuba. The advertisement did not identify the master.

Coquina. Photo from Sable Points Media Historical Photograph Collection.

Coquina later had a dramatic fate. Renamed Cynthia Olson in 1940, the ship was sunk by Japanese submarine I-26 on Dec. 7, 1941, while carrying Army cargo toward Hawaii. All 33 merchant crewmen and two Army passengers were lost.

By 1922, LaFleur was back on the Great Lakes as master of the Morton Salt Co. freighter Craigsmere.

Built in 1919 by Great Lakes Engineering Works at Ashtabula, Ohio, Craigsmere was another vessel constructed under the wartime shipbuilding program. Morton Salt purchased it from the U.S. Shipping Board and returned it to Great Lakes service.

Craigsmere. Photo from Sable Points Media Historical Photograph Collection

Bowling Green records list LaFleur as captain of Craigsmere in 1923, 1924, 1925 and 1926.

The assignment also connected LaFleur with the salt trade that had long been important to west Michigan shipping. Morton had extensive ties to Manistee salt production and transportation well before acquiring Craigsmere.

LaFleur also continued his relationship with the Pere Marquette fleet. Historical records list him as captain of Pere Marquette 15 in 1922, supporting accounts that he served as a relief captain during periods when Craigsmere was laid up by ice.

That placed him back aboard the vessel on which his Pere Marquette career had begun 25 years earlier.

LaFluer family plot at Lakeview Cemetery in Ludington.

LaFleur was also active in the professional and fraternal organizations common among Great Lakes masters. He belonged to Milwaukee Lodge No. 6 of the Ship Masters’ Association. Other Ludington-associated members included Russell, Capt. John W. Stewart (1847-1918), Capt. Frank A. Dority (1865-1938), Capt. Charles E. Moody (1850-1944) and Capt. George L. Thompson (1859-1914).

He also belonged to Pere Marquette Lodge No. 299, Free and Accepted Masons, and was associated with the Knights Templar.

LaFleur remained master of Craigsmere until declining health forced him ashore shortly before his death.

The Grave of William LaFluer at Lakeview Cemetery in Ludington.

He died Nov. 26, 1926, at his home at 302 N. Robert St. in Ludington. He was 56.

His funeral reflected the maritime community in which he had spent most of his life. Every Pere Marquette carferry reportedly sent a floral tribute, as did Morton Salt and its vessels. Music included the maritime hymns “Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me” and “Crossing the Bar.”

Pallbearers included Capt. Esten Bahle and Capt. Charles E. Robertson. A Knights Templar escort accompanied the casket and a Masonic burial service was conducted at Lakeview Cemetery.

William LaFleur was buried in the LaFleur family plot at Lakeview Cemetery in Ludington, Block 16, Plot 48, Grave 4.

Masters of the PM 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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