The Wisconsin Marine Historical Society (WMHS) and Milwaukee Public Library (MPL) Great Lakes historical collections contain materials that may be of help to those doing marine genealogical research. We have facilities to search for owners, ship builders, masters, captains, engineers, etc. of Great Lake vessels. Unfortunately our files only contain information on passengers and crew if they were on a vessel involved in a reported incident (sinking, stranding, rescue, etc.) or event. We suggest that you first utilize the available and existing genealogical resources to begin your search. We have listed a number of links to general and Great Lakes genealogical web sites that we hope will be of help. Once you determine your relative sailed on the Great Lakes (in one of the capacities listed above) we can then look in our collection that may contain information to verify or aid in your search. If you have the name of a vessel they sailed on, we may have more information or a photo of that vessel.
RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO WMHS
WMHS and MPL collections contain the following materials that may be of help to us in your search. The Herman G. Runge Collection was acquired by the library in 1959 after his death. He devoted 70 years of his life collecting and preserving information on all aspects of marine activities on the Great Lakes. His collection contained information on thousands of ships that had sailed the Great Lakes as well as some 21,000 photographs of Great Lakes Ships. The files continue to grow and several other collections have been added, some notable donors are John Nelson, John P. Kane, Harry Bethune Jr., Edwin Wilson, Christopher G. Winscher and Lewis Buttles. Rose Kramer's 20,000 bulk carrier photos arrived in 1986. Significant additions to the documentary materials have come from Kalmbach Publishing Company, Ralph Friedmann, H. E. Stephenson, Louis Quarles, Edmund Fitzgerald, Harry Thorpe Jr. the Milwaukee Harbor Commission and Courtland Conlee. The files continue to grow by generous contributions from additional donors. We are always looking for additions and to fill in the gaps. We gratefullyaccept any materials that you would be willing to donate to improve and update our collections.
Vessel (Ship) Files The Milwaukee Public Library's Great Lakes Marine Collection (MPL) includes Great Lakes ship files and is located at the Central Library's Frank P. Zeidler Humanities Room. Ship Files include data on more than 7,600 vessels that sailed on the Great Lakes from 1679 to the present.Each file contains a data sheet and any available photos, magazine and newspaper articles. The index and instructions to the ship files is available on lineat the MPL web site. The index includes some basic vessel data and information as to what is included in the file (photos, news clippings, etc.). Copies of the actual vessel files are available for purchase from MPL or WMHS. Each file contains a data sheet and any available photos, magazine and newspaper articles.
Vessel Enrollment Micro Film. Our collection includes vessel enrollment listing for the period 1815 through 1915. The enrollment microfilms were purchased by WMHS from the National Archives thanks to the generous donations of our members. The database has over 40,000 records for 24,000 vessels. There is more than one record image per ship issued as it changed owners, ports, name, characteristics, or left registration at the Customs House. For genealogists the actual vessel enrollment record contains a list of the owners and may contain the name of the captain or master when the registration took place. The WMHS website includes a searchable index to the vessel ENROLLMENT microfilm. WMHS completed a joint venture with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Research Foundation (GLSRF) in October 2001 to place the WMHS enrollment index behind a powerful search engine. GLSRF generously provided programming, data conversion and ongoing web hosting for the WMHS Enrollment Index at no cost as part of its Grant ProgramThe online index does not contain all the information shown on the actual enrollment.We are constantly adding to the online enrollment data base index but suggest you look there (by vessel name not by owner, captain, master or individual) if you know the vessel and dates involved. You may then order copies of the selected vessel enrollment microfilm image (by selected vessel name and record date) as described.
Blue Book of American Shipping .Our collection includes Blue Books from 1896 to 1913 (not all years; we welcome donations). They were published yearly by the Marine Review Publishing Company Cleveland O. They contain indexed lists of Ship Owners Assoc. members w/addresses, Ship Masters Assoc.of the Great Lakes members w/addresses & Society Of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers members w/addresses.Also included is an indexed list of lake captains (since not all lake captains were members of the Ship Masters Assoc.) and the particulars of American and Canadian Steam and Sail vessels. Some photos of Ship Masters Assoc. and Ship Owners Assoc. members are included. Must be hand searched.
Great Lakes Red Books Our collection includes Great Lakes Red Books from 1904 to 1994 (not all years; we welcome donations). These 'pocket books' were published yearly by Penton Publishing Co. Cleveland, O. They contain a listing of Great Lake Vessels together with the name of the owner, captain, master and engineer The Great Lakes Red Book entries are indexed by fleet or owner name and also by vessel name. Some vessels do not show the names of captains, masters or engineers since vessel assignments changed and were not complete at time of printing.Must be hand searched.
Shipmasters Assoc. Directory Our collection includes Directories from 1898 to 1967 (not all years; we welcome donations). They were published yearly by The American Publishers Company Norwalk, O. They contain a listing of officers of the Assoc., name and address of members and a list of steam & sail vessels of the Great Lakes w/name and address of owners. Also included is an 'In Memory' section that listed assoc. members who died during the year. Note that not all captains or masters on the Great Lakes were members of the Shipmasters Assoc. so they are not shown in the listings. Must be hand searched.
Beesons (Sailors) Marine Hand Book Our collection includes Beesons Marine Hand Books from 1890 to 1922 (not all years; we welcome donations). They were published yearly by Harvey C. Beeson Detroit, MI. They contain an alphabeticallist of American Steam and Sail Vessels on the Great Lakes with name and address of owner or managing owner. A table shows the location of all North Western Lake Custom Houses with names of the collector, marine clerk and harbor master. Must be hand searched.
Marine Review MPL has bound copies of available Marine Reviews from 1894 to 1923 (not all issues, we welcome donations). They were published weekly by Penton Publishing Cleveland, O. They were devoted to the lake marine and kindred Interests and contain news articles pertaining to Great Lakes shipping. Included are listing of the captain and masters when vessel assignments were made, news articles on vessel collisions, sinkings, strandings, etc.A good resource if the time and place is known. These must be hand searched and are not indexed.
Inland Seas MPL has bound copies of Books 1 - 54 1945 to 1998. This is a quarterly journal of the Great Lakes Historical Society Vermillion, O. Each issue contains an index of contents. They contain information and interesting articles on past and present Great Lakes happenings. Must be hand searched.
Marine News S. O. Neff collected newspaper clippings pertaining to happenings on the Great lakes. The clippings date from 1884 to 1907 and were taken from several Great Lakes newspapers. They were organized by date & pasted on individual pages. These pages were copied by WMHS and MPL; then
bound into individual books. They can be hand searched by dates.
Biographies. MPL has many biographies on owners, captains and masters who were active on the Great Lakes. These are arranged alphabetically and must be hand searched and may be copied.
Milwaukee Sentinel Index MPL Periodicals Section has a searchable index of the Milwaukee Sentinel dating from 1837 to 1890. The index can be used to search for individuals and vessels. It must be used at MPL Periodicals Section on the second floor of the Library.
The Wisconsin Marine Historical Society does not charge for providing information about the holdings. We do charge to provide information from the holdings.You may ask a question regarding the holdings and we will investigate the question and get back to you as soon as possible with the information and/or information about costs involved in photocopying and information retrieval fees. The costs outlined below are for ordering.
MPL Vessel (Ship) Files If you wish a copy of a particular vessel file fill out the Research Request Form on our web site. We will advise you if we have a file and the cost for copying of the file. The file normally contains a data sheet, photos and general information. We normally charge $10 US for a copy of the vessel file unless it contains extensive data. We will mail copies of the data and photocopies of available black and white photos (two max.) upon receipt of a check or money order in US funds. We can supply black and white glossies at extra cost. You can assist by determining if we have a vessel file by searching the MPL Great Lakes Marine collection using their County Cat on line search system.Using County Cat you can search by vessel name and also by name of owner, captain, master etc. if the referenced file contains such information on the data sheet. Instructions are provided on our site and link to the MPL Great Lakes Marine Collection. You may then order a copy of the file directly by filling out an order form & sending in a check for $10 per file. If the file contains extensive data we will advise you of content and any additional costs.
Vessel Enrollment Data Base We charge $10 US (non members) or $5 US (members) per vessel enrollment. You can assist by searching our on line vessel enrollment index database and determine if the vessel enrollment is available and for what years. The vessel enrollment index shows the enrollment dates available on microfilm. The microfilm usually shows the name of the captain, master and owners.
General Great Lakes Genealogical search We charge $25 US for a general search of our collections. You must furnish the information for the individual as outlined below in Key Facts that assist us in your Search. We will then search (maximum of five year range) through our Blue Book, Red Book, Shipmasters Association Directory and Beesons to find if the individual is listed and the name of vessel or vessels they sailed on. If you know the vessel or vessels involved we can look directly in our vessel files. If we are successful in finding the individual in one of the above and a vessel is indicated, we will look in that Vessel File for any notations on the individual. We will send copies of any listings found in the above along with a copy of the one vessel file. We will advise if the search is worth pursuing further and any additional cost. Searching of our Vessel Enrollment Index or Microfilm, MPL Sentinel Index or other MPL special resources noted above are not included in this General Great Lakes Genealogy.
If you wish WMHS to conduct a General Great Lakes genealogical search as described above then you may order the search by sending in a check for $25 US. First furnish as much of the following and any other detail information that you can about the individual you are searching for. Upon receipt of the information and a check or money order (in US funds only, made out to Wisconsin Marine Historical Society 814 West Wisconsin Avenue Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233-2385) WMHS will mail you the information as described above.
VesselName of Vessel or Vessels Full Name
Year built or sailed, or range of years
Lake sailed on Rank
Home Port, town and state
Type Ship - Sail, Steam, Propeller, Side wheel
Where and/or when it ended its lifeIndividual
Full Name
Year or range of years on Great Lakes
Rank (Captain, Master, Owner, etc.)
Name of Fleet sailed for
Name of Vessel or Vessels
Any other pertinent information
As
noted In addition to the Ship (Vessel) Files database, we have the following
with much more information: U.S. Customs Service Great Lakes Vessel Enrollment
Records data base for the period 1815 through 1915 (40,000 records for
24,000 vessels), Canadian Great Lakes Vessels data base (6471 vessels),
Coast Guard documentation Records database (14,000 vessels), Milwaukee
Public Library Vessel Files data base and the Runge Vessel Index Card Data
Base (20,000 vessels). We also have access to the Milwaukee Public Library's
7,600 Great Lakes Vessel files (1679-1995), which include a data card on
each vessel and 21,000 + photos, copies of many of the Blue Book of American
Shipping, Red Books, Shipmasters Assoc. Directory, Beesons (Sailors) Marine
Hand Book, Marine Reviews, Inland Seas, Marine News, Biographies of prominent
owners, captains/masters, vessel log book collection and the MPL index
to the 1837 - 1890 Milwaukee Sentinel Index
Wisconsin Marine Historical Society
814 West Wisconsin Avenue
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233-2385
phone 414.286.3074
email info@wmhs.org
