started a ferry service across Lake Michigan in 1873 when the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad hired the cross-lake ferry service from Ludington, Michigan to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on June 25, 1874. They then initiated a public commercial package freight service across Lake Michigan on May 31, 1875. It shuttled packaged freight, grain, and people across Lake Michigan between Ludington and Sheboygan, Wisconsin under the command of Captain John W. Steward. After the one season in 1875 the vessel was found to be too small for the volume of freight on the route and was discontinued. The craft was then rebuilt in 1877 as a passenger steamer operating out of Detroit. In 1878 the Sherman was sold to J.P. Clark and W.O. Ashley of Detroit who removed the engines to be used in the boat Alaska, then in 1890 boat Frank E. Kirby, and turned the Sherman into a barge to carry lumbar before being scrapped in 1893. Legacy After leasing the Sherman the F&PM railroad company built two wooden freighters named F&PM #1 and F&PM #2 which started shuttling freight and passengers between Ludington and Milwaukee starting in 1882. References Sources External links Rails That Sail Maritime Museums Pere Marquette Historical Society Pere Marquette Railway