Captain William Matson (1849 – 1917) founded Matson Navigation Company in 1882. Born in Sweden, Captain Matson arrived in San Francisco in 1867 at the age of 16. There he began sailing on many vessels in San Francisco Bay in northern California rivers. Captain Matson became acquainted with the Spreckles family and was asked to serve as skipper on the Spreckels yacht, Lurline. The Spreckles family later assisted Captain Matson in obtaining his first ship, the Emma Claudina.
