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Captain Ralph Erksine Peasley "Captain Matt" (May 30, 1866 – December 13, 1948) was a sea captain from the Pacific Northwest who became famous due to a popular series of short stories by Peter Bernard Kyne called Cappy Ricks or the Subjugation of Matt Peasley.

Family life

Peasley was born to Henry Clay Peasley a civil war veteran and Elizabeth Rose of Jonesport, Maine in 1866. He left home at age 14 to learn seamanship. At age 22, he captained his first ship. He came to Seattle, Washington about 1888.^[1]

In 1903, he married Emily Burrows "Burrie" Dalton, daughter of Captain James Dalton.^[2]^[3]

Peasley died in 1948.^[1]^[4]

Career highlights

While captain of the Louis he brought it into the Yangtze River after a typhoon, even though he had never been there. He brought it safely to port and set a passage record.^[1]
In 1903, Peasley and Captain Smith saved a sailor from drowning.^[5]

Ships

Louis (schooner)^[1]^[3]

Wawona (schooner)^[6]^[7]^[3]

Mary E Foster^[3]

Melancton^[3]

Kennewick (steamer)^[8]

Omega^[9]^[10]^[11]

Fred G Wood (schooner)^[1]^[3]^[11]^[12]

Vigilant 1919-1930 (schooner)^[1]^[11]^[3]

Linda 1931 (auxiliary sloop)^[13]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Follansbee, Joe. Celebrity Sea Captain (http://www.washingtonhistory.org : accessed 25 Feb 2020) COLUMBIA The Magazine of Northwest History, Summer 2006: Vol. 20, No. 2
^ "Washington, County Marriages, 1855-2008," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPMJ-D7BW : 28 November 2018), Ralph E Peasley and Burrie E Dalton, 27 Oct 1903, Grays Harbor, Washington, United States, Washington State Archives, Olympia; FamilySearch digital folder 100042807.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Captain Peasley and Cappy Ricks. Saltwater People Historical Society. 6 Nov 2015 (https://saltwaterpeoplehistoricalsociety.blogspot.com : accessed 25 Feb 2020)
^ Capt. Ralph E. Peasley. New York Times. New York, New York 14 Dec 1948
^ Skippers Save Hapless Sailor. The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]), 17 April 1903. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
^ "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMPZ-HZB : accessed 25 February 2020), Ralph E Peasley, Aberdeen Precinct Aberdeen town Ward 2, Grays Harbor, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 1, sheet 19B, family 447, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,741.
^ Follansbee, Joe. Shipbuilders, Sea Captains, and Fishermen: The Story of the Schooner Wawona iUniverse, 2006
^ Steamer Kennewick. Aberdeen herald. (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.), 11 July 1912. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
^ Captain Ralph Peasley sailed yesterday in command of the schooner Omega for Santa Rosalia, Mexico. Aberdeen herald. (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.), 28 April 1914. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
^ Tales of The Town Tersely Told. Aberdeen herald. (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.), 31 July 1914. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress
^ ^a ^b ^c The Timberman (Miller Freeman Publications Portland, Oregon)
^ Tales of The Town Tersely Told. Aberdeen herald. (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.), 11 July 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
^ Captain Peasley, Scientific Party to Study Wales The Seattle Sunday Times 24 May 1931

Sources

Naval Militia Takes Cruise. Aberdeen herald. (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.), 16 Sept. 1913. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
'Tales of The Town Tersely Told. Aberdeen herald. (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.), 27 Apr 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
"United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6DW-7LF : 16 July 2019), Ralph E Peasley in the entry for Henry Peasley, 1870.
"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFQ4-Q8F : 15 August 2017), Ralph Peasely in the household of Henry C Peasely, Jonesport, Washington, Maine, United States; citing enumeration district ED 188, sheet 373A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,490.
"United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMGQ-JYS : accessed 25 February 2020), Ralph E Peasley in the household of Henry Peasley, Jonesport town, Washington, Maine, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 209, sheet 8B, family 180, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,601.
"United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGV8-7YK : accessed 25 February 2020), Head Ralph E Peasley, Aberdeen Ward 5, Chehalis, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 6, sheet 9B, family 161, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1653; FHL microfilm 1,375,666.
"United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHFR-P2W : accessed 25 February 2020), Ralph Peasley, Aberdeen Ward 4, Grays Harbor, Washington, United States; citing ED 69, sheet 1B, line 77, family 23, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1923; FHL microfilm 1,821,923.
"United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCSY-746 : accessed 25 February 2020), Ralph E Peasley, Aberdeen, Grays Harbor, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 7, sheet 5A, line 8, family 113, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2488; FHL microfilm 2,342,222.
"United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K99K-CZG : 27 July 2019), Ralph E Peasley, Ward 4, Aberdeen, Aberdeen Election Precinct 2, Grays Harbor, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 14–14, sheet 4B, line 70, family 113, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 4340.