Lurline Matson Roth (1890–1985) was an American heiress, equestrian and philanthropist from

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. She competed in horse shows in the United States, and bred award-winning horses. She donated her estate,

Filoli Filoli, also known as the Bourn-Roth Estate, is a country house set in of formal gardens surrounded by a estate, located in Woodside, California, about south of San Francisco, at the southern end of Crystal Springs Reservoir, on the east ...

, to the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 ...

Biography

Early life

Born Lurline Berenice Matson on September 3, 1890, in

.Burt A. Folkart
Matson Line Heiress Roth Dies After 95th Birthday : Philanthropist Lurline Roth Dies at Age 95
''

The Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the larges ...

'', September 6, 1985Lurline Matson Roth, 95, daughter of the founder of the Matson shipping line
''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

'', September 8, 1985 She was named Lurline after sugar magnate

Claus Spreckels Claus Spreckels (July 9, 1828 – December 26, 1908) was a German-born American industrialist in California and Hawaii, during the Kingdom of Hawaii, kingdom and Republic of Hawaii, republican periods of the islands' history. He founded or was i ...

's yacht.Filoli: The Roths: Lurline Matson Roth & William P. Roth
/ref> Her father,

William Matson William Matson (born Wilhelm Mattson) (October 18, 1849 in Lysekil – October 11, 1917) was a Swedish-born American shipping executive. He was the founder of Matson Navigation Company. Early life Wilhelm Matson said he was born on October 18, 1 ...

, was the Swedish-American founder of Matson, Inc., a shipping corporation. As such she was an heiress to the Matson fortune.Harriet Swift, ''The Virago Woman's Travel Guide to San Francisco'', Book Passage Press, 1994

/ref> Her mother was Lillie Berenice (Low) Matson (1864–1930). She had two older brothers, Walter Joseph (1877–1926) and Theodore William Matson (1883–1936). The family wintered in a rented house in San Francisco and summered in a house near

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

. She was educated at Miss Hamlin's, a private all-girl school in San Francisco, where she studied music and art.

Equestrian

She competed in horse shows every year and won national medals.Thalia Lubin, Bob Dougherty, ''Woodside'', Arcadia Publishing, 2011, p. 9

/ref> In 1924, her mother purchased the Why Worry Farm in Woodside for Lurline, where she bred horses. She owned a five-gaited horse, a three-gaited horse, a Standardbred road horse, a Hackney horse, a Hackney pony and a jumper and hired a trainer, thus turning it into a show stable. After she stopped competing, her horses won many equestrian awards. Two of her best-known American Saddlebred horses were Chief of Longview (born at

Longview Farm Longview Farm in Lee's Summit, Missouri, United States was built by Robert A. Long. In planning the farm Long turned to Henry F. Hoit of Hoit, Price and Barnes, as he had designed Corinthian Hall and the R.A. Long Building. George Kessler ...

Lee's Summit, Missouri Lee's Summit is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri and a suburb of the Kansas City metropolitan area. It resides in Jackson County (predominantly) as well as Cass County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 101,108, making it the 6th ...

) and Sweetheart on Parade.

Philanthropy

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she volunteered for the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

. A decade later, in 1964, she renovated

Ghirardelli Square Ghirardelli Square is a landmark public square at the foot of Russian Hill and adjacent to the Aquatic Park Historic District in San Francisco. It is often considered to be part of the tourist attractions at nearby Fisherman's Wharf. A portio ...

in San Francisco with her son. The renovation cost US$10 million. In 1975, she donated Filoli to the

Personal life

She met William Philip Roth (1879–1963), a stockbroker from Honolulu, in 1913. Even though her father was opposed to their relationship, they got married a year later in San Francisco, on May 27, 1914. They had a son,

William M. Roth William Matson Roth (September 3, 1916 – May 29, 2014) was an American shipping executive, special ambassador for trade, member of the ACLU executive committee, and Regent for the University of California. He is credited with the preservation of ...

in 1916, and two identical twin daughters, Lurline Roth Coonan and Berenice Roth Spalding, in 1920. They resided at Why Worry Farm with Lurline's mother, and they had another estate in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

.John R. K. Clark, ''Clark: Beaches of the Big Island'', Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1985, p. 13

/ref> In 1937, they purchased

, an estate in

Woodside, California Woodside is a incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It has a council–manager system of government. The population of the town was 5,309 at the 2020 census. The town's population ha ...

, from heir

William Bowers Bourn II William Bowers Bourn II (31 May 1857 – 5 July 1936) was an American entrepreneur and socialite. Bourn ran and controlled the Empire Mine and the San Francisco Gas Company, he was an investor in Spring Valley Water Company, and he led a merger ...

.Filoli: The Roths: The Roths at Filoli
/ref> They often entertained guests at Filoli, including the pianist

Ignace Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; r 1859– 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's prime minister and foreign minister during which time he signed the Tr ...

and the aviator

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...

, who took her on a plane ride in 1937. After her husband died in 1963, she lived by herself at Filoli. One of her daughters, Berenice, married Charles F. Spalding, an advisor to

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

, television screenwriter, investment banker and heir to the Cudahy Packing fortune.Charles Spalding
''

San Francisco Gate The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'', December 30, 1999

Death

She died on Wednesday, September 4, 1985, in

Burlingame, California Burlingame () is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. The city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame and is known for its ...

. She was ninety-five years old.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matson Roth, Lurline 1890 births 1985 deaths People from Woodside, California Sportspeople from San Mateo County, California People from San Francisco American female equestrians American racehorse owners and breeders Philanthropists from California 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American sportswomen