William Montague Ferry

William Montague Ferry, Sr. (September 8, 1796 – December 30, 1867) was a Presbyterian minister, missionary, and community leader who founded several settlements in Ottawa County, Michigan. He became known as the father of Grand Haven, Michigan.

Ferry was born in Granby, Massachusetts to Noah Henry Ferry and Hannah Montague Ferry. Ferry did not pursue farming like his father, instead he chose a professional career, graduating at age 24 in 1921 from Union College at Schenectady, New York He attended New Brunswick Seminary and received his ordination by the New York Presbytery in 1922.

In the 1820s, Ferry established a Christian mission of Native Americans on Mackinac Island. The Mission House he built there in 1825 is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is operated as part of the Mackinac Island State Park.

Ferry developed a flair for enterprise while serving at the mission post. For Instance, while serving as a missionary, he contracted to have a schooner built to carry materials and provisions. The schooner built was named Supply. This ship made trips to Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and Grand Haven. The ship made a profit and the profit went to the operation of the mission. The Massachusetts Mission Board determined that this enterprise thinking was in conflict with the purposes and goals of the Mackinac Mission. He was forced to sell the ship.

Ferry made an impression on explorer, Robert Stuart. Stuart worked with the American Fur Company's Northern Department based on Mackinac Island Michigan. Stuart saw the enterprising young Ferry as a perfect prospect for someone to run his affairs in the budding lumber industry in Michigan. Ferry surveyed places to develop a lumber foothold. Ferry proposed to Stuart that the Grand River Valley held great possibility. By June 1834, Stuart placed funds in the hands of Ferry to settle on the Grand River to set up a land and lumber enterprise sharing the profits.

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