In 1890, Scott Matthews built his first boats in the basement of his Bascom, Ohio home. His exquisitely hewn, small wooden cruisers proved popular, and by 1898 he was building boats ranging from 16-foot launches to 45-foot cabin cruisers. 

In 1904, Matthews and his woodsmiths crafted a sleek 70-foot “double ender” cruiser called Onward. Matthews planned to follow the same general route mariner Kenneth Ransom had sailed at the turn of the century aboard a 30-foot yawl called Gazelle—a route that would come to be called the Great Loop. 

Onward was an innovative, luxurious yacht. Her 40-horsepower, 4-cylinder, 4-stroke Lozier motor could propel her to 12 knots at 500 rpm. The “electric light plant” within her engine room held a massive bank of batteries that could reportedly power her systems for three weeks “without turning a propeller.” Those batteries also ran a 1,500-candlepower spotlight that would save the expedition when she approached a wrecked vessel blocking the Yazoo River. Coal-fired steam not only fed heating radiators in each room, but hot water faucets in the galley and bathrooms. Her “pilot house compartment,” which also functioned as a salon with guest berths—held a most unusual setup. Boats of her pedigree at the time required not only a helmsman, but an engineer belowdecks to control spark, throttle, and shifting. Matthews’ game-changing lever system allowed for single-person helm control. 

Onward was shipped by rail to Peoria for her launch on the Illinois River, and in November of 1906, Matthews cast off with his wife, three children, brother-in-law, nanny, and a small crew. After a harrowing—and freezing—run down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, the family wintered in the Keys and South Florida. Reaching Miami on Valentine’s Day, Matthews wrote that the expedition found it “a very beautiful city and the principal southern resort for yachtsmen. There were fully 125 fine yachts at anchor there at that time. The fishing is excellent; kingfish and mackerel in greater abundance than anywhere else on the coast.” 

With warming weather, Onward made for New York, heading up the Hudson to the Erie Barge Canal and finishing her voyage in Cleveland—a trek of over 9,000 miles. On his triumphant return, Matthews opened his new factory in Port Clinton, Ohio. There, his company would remain in business for another 70 years.

This article originally appeared in the December 2025 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.