Usage Guide & Search Tips
Dr. Charles E. Feltner
Great Lakes Vessel Certificate
Master Abstract Database
1810 - 1868
  

Other Great Lakes Vessel Enrollment Databases

Two other significant databases of Great Lakes vessel enrollments have been developed and placed online. They differ considerably in their period of coverage, method of development and source documents.

1. Wisconsin Marine Historical Society Enrollment Database – Developed in the mid 1990s with a grant from Elizabeth Cutler, the WMHS Database includes about 44,000 records for unique enrollments for the period 1814 – 1915. The database is unique in that it was developed from a new set of enrollment certificate microfilms that were ordered made by NARA specifically for the project. The database was made by volunteers who transcribed a subset of the data from each certificate. The data collected, unfortunately, omitted significant details such as owner names, master name, dimensions and builder. However, the database remains the single most comprehensive resource in existence for data about 19 th century Lake vessels. As noted, because the WMHS database was developed from certificates, it is missing about 30% of the certificates known from the abstracts. In particular, the WMHS database is missing a substantial run of Buffalo certificates (1848 – 1870), which are known to exist at NARA, and a significant run of Mackinac certificates, which are not at NARA. The WMHS database also does not include certificates for several small, early customs houses or for Port Huron and Grand Haven, as NARA does not have their certificates. Certificates located in the WMHS database may be ordered online from the WMHS at a modest cost. The certificates in the WMHS collection are not publicly accessible. They are housed in the private area behind the Humanities Room in the Milwaukee Public Library but are not available to Library patrons. They can only be accessed by paid order through the WMHS or by special arrangement with the WMHS. Milwaukee Public Library does have a publicly accessible set of enrollment microfilms in the periodicals area, but is from an older NARA filming commissioned in 1974 by Rick Wright and is not as complete as the private WMHS film set. The WMHS database contains the following:

Port of Detroit - 8032 records 8/1818 - 6/1915 Possible gaps
Port of Chicago - 7652 records 4/1847 - 6/1913
Port of Milwaukee - 6681 records 6/1853 - 6/1913
Port of Cleveland - 6247 records 4/1821 - 5/1915 Gap from 1821 - 29
Port of Oswego - 5792 records 5/1815 - 7/1911 Gap 1818 - 1826, 28, 31 - 35, 38 - 42
Port of Buffalo - 3099 records 5/1816 - 11/1896 Missing nearly all papers between 7/1852 and 5/1878 WMHS states they have them but are still entering
Port of Sandusky - 2523 records 3/1823 - 3/1914
Port of Duluth - 1325 records 2/1873 - 5/1914 Some gaps in early years
Port of Erie - 1319 records 3/1819 - 3/1914 Appears to have small gaps
Port of Marquette - 1130 records 8/1869 - 5/1914
Port of Sacketts Harbor - 868 records 5/1816 - 11/1866
Port of Cape Vincent - 735 records 10/1869 - 5/1915
Port of Ogdensburg - 396 records 10/1838 - 7/1894 Gaps throughout, appear to be missing films ex. 1840, 1878, 1879
Port of New York - 293 records 5/1867 - 5/1915
Port of Genesee - 255 records 4/1821 - 10/1866 Gap 1835 - 1849
Port of Michilimackinac - 204 records 11/1831 - 11/1863 Some small gaps in early years, missing pre-1831
Port of SS Marie - 92 records 5/1847 - 8/1868 Possible early gaps
Port of Suspension Bridge - 55 records 9/1863 - 11/1866
Port of Green Bay - 13 records 4/1858 - 7/1862

2. Walter Lewis Enrollment Database – The Lewis Database was developed in the late 1990s through the efforts of Walter Lewis, Bill McNeil and Jack Messmer, who undertook a concerted project to record all Lake steamboat enrollments prior to 1861. The project made use of the 1974 NARA enrollment filming commissioned by Rick Wright and was transcribed at the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes at Perrysburg, Ohio. The database is much more limited in scope than the WMHS database, but includes a complete transcription of the certificates. As such, it is an immensely useful database for primary research and contains full names of thousands of owners, masters and builders. It has a less sophisticated search interface and includes only a small subset of the known enrollments for the period, as follows:

- Contains all known steamboat certificates contained in the 1974 films for all ports before 1861
- Contains all known vessel certificates in the 1974 films for Detroit and Cleveland before 1861.
- Contains all vessel certificates in the 1974 films for Buffalo before 1841.

The database contains the following:

Contains enrolments for all Great Lakes steamers prior to 1861, all Detroit and Cleveland vessels prior to 1861 and all Buffalo vessels prior to 1842.

All vessels:
Detroit - 2266 records - 5/1818 - 11/1860
Cleveland - 1750 records - 6/1821 - 11/1860
Buffalo - 1296 records - 5/1816 - 11/1860 (only steamers after 1842)

Steamers only:
Oswego - 92 records - 1818, 1830, 1842 - 1860
Chicago - 80 records - 6/1847 - 1860
Sackets Harbor - 54 records - 1817 - 1849
Ogdensburg - 53 records - 1819, 1829, 1837, 1843 - 1860
Michilimackinac - 33 records - 1838, 1851 - 1860
Sandusky - 27 records - 1837 - 1860
Portland - 22 records - 1830, 37 - 42
Dunkirk - 21 records - 1855 - 1860
Milwaukee - 20 records - 6/1854 - 9/1860
Maumee - 8 records - 1832, 36, 39, 43, 48
Toledo - 7 records - 1850 - 53, 59
Cape Vincent - 5 records - 1830, 1854
Sault St. Marie - 4 records - 1847, 49, 54
Rochester - 2 records - 1841, 51
French Creek - 1 record - 4/1859