Curtis Allen Lancaster -- Lost at Sea

 

Curtis Allen Lancaster

Curtis Allen Lancaster was born on June 30, 1933 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.  He was the fifth of seven children born to Pinkney Loys Lancaster and Virginia Thomas Mitchell Lancaster.  His siblings, who all grew to adulthood, were Thomas Loys Lancaster, born in 1923; Sylvia Rebecca Lancaster, born in 1925; Dorothy Lee Lancaster, born in 1927; June Matilda Lancaster, born in 1929; Joe Boyce Lancaster, born in 1934 and James Wendell Lancaster, born in 1937.  Curtis’ father, who was a farmer, died at an early age of 41 in 1938 when Curtis was just about to turn five years old.

Curtis grew up in Hopkinsville and when he was in his early twenties in the 1950s, he moved to Seattle, Washington.  Curtis was single and liked to hunt deer.  On October 17, 1958, Curtis and his roommate, Gordon  Fowler  travelled from Seattle to the small fishing and boating community of Anacortes, Washington, located about 80 miles north on a peninsula near the many islands of Puget Sound.   There he joined a small hunting party headed for Cypress Island in the San Juan Islands group where they planned to hunt deer.

In addition to Curtis and Gordon, the hunting party included James Gant and Don Pennington, along with Pennington’s 15 year-old daughter, Estelle.   The group planned to stay in cabins on Cypress Island.  The group set out in a 16-foot outboard boat from Anacortes late on Friday evening, October 17.  Soon after the hunting party left Anacortes, they encountered a storm.  Sometime later it was determined that their boat had not arrived at Cypress Island which was only about five miles north of Anacortes.  Nothing was found to indicate that the group had ever reached the island.

Family members alerted the Coast Guard about the boat’s failure to arrive at its intended destination.  On Saturday morning the Coast Guard initiated a sea and air hunt for the missing boat.  The search continued on Sunday and Monday in a 15 by 20 mile area surrounding Cypress Island.  Helicopters and fixed wing planes as well as patrol boats were used in the search.  By Tuesday morning hopes faded for the safety of the five members of the Seattle hunting party.  Although a few days later, some wreckage assumed to be from their outboard boat, was found, no trace was ever found of any of the five occupants of the boat.  

Curtis Lancaster was only 25 years old at the time of his death.  His loss in the Puget Sound was similar to the loss another family who died there in a plane crash nearby in 1945.  See Lindsay D. Thomas’ story published as a Leaf on September 15, 2022.

Although the remains of Curtis were never recovered, a monument in his memory was erected in the Lawrence Cemetery in Trigg County, Kentucky, the cemetery where his father Pinkney and his mother, Virginia are buried.  The tombstone reads:  “In Memoriam, Curtis Allen Lancaster, Born June 30, 1933 in Hopkinsville, Ky, son of Pinkney Loys & Virginia Mitchell Lancaster. LOST OCT 18, 1958 IN PUGET SOUND”.

Curtis Lancaster Memorial

(LINEAGE:  Curtis Allen Lancaster was the son of Pinkney Loys and Virginia Mitchell Lancaster, grandson of Ezekiel Allen and Peachie Matilda Harrell Lancaster and great-grandson of Thomas Jefferson and Margaret Francis Lawrence Lancaster.  Margaret was the daughter of Ezekiel M. and Polly Sholar Lawrence.  Polly was the second child of Allen and Jemima Bridges Sholar.  Jemima was the first child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)