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