Day 4: Monday, 22 August. 8:00 a.m., from Monroe across Lake Erie to Buffalo, New York, by the steamer Southern Michigan.

Southern Michigan  1852 -  1863:   Wooden sidewheel Great Lakes passenger and package freight vessel.  Built at Buffalo NY by Bidwell & Banta.  1 deck, coal-fired boilers, vertical beam engine,  Enrolled at Buffalo NY May 19, 1852 (Temp #B)  300’9” x 36’11” x 13’7”, 1470 54/95 tons to: Michigan Southern Rail Road Co.,  In service with sister vessel Northern Indiana between Buffalo NY and Monroe MI  Permanent enrollment at Buffalo NY June 1, 1853 (#89)  Home port to Michigan (sic) 1855.  Laid up late in the 1857 season at Monroe MI because of the Panic of 1857.  By the time the economy recovered, the railroad lines around Lake Erie had been completed and the large vessels of her type were no longer needed.  

In 1852 the Michigan Southern Co. operated six boats -- the Baltic, Golden Gate, Southern Michigan, Northern Indiana, Empire and Empire State. The four boats first named were chartered. The Empire State was owned by the Michigan Southern Co., and I think the Empire was owned. In 1853 the Michigan Southern Company operated three boats: the Southern Michigan, Northern Indiana and Empire State. In 1854 and 1855 the Michigan Southern Co. operated four boats; the three last named and the Empire. On May 1, 1855, the Michigan Southern Railway Co. and the Northern Indiana Railway Co. were consolidated. In 1855 and 1856 this new company (the M. S. & N. I.) built two large and handsome steamers -- The Western Metropolis and the city of Buffalo. In the year 1856 they also built the propeller Euphrates. While I have no positive information about it, I believe that in 1852, 1853 and 1854 the old Michigan Southern Company ran two of their boats between Buffalo and Monroe, Mich. [Monroe was the eastern terminus of the Michigan Southern Company.] I believe that in 1855 they abandoned the line between Buffalo and Monroe and ran their boats between Buffalo and Toledo.

J. B. Mansfield, ed., History of the Great Lakes. Volume I, Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1899