Who was Curtis W. Lester?

When Joe and Grace Patrick moved their family to the West Kootenay district of British Columbia from Quebec in 1907, they were soon followed by other relatives. Joe’s younger brother Feather came to the area with his wife and three children, as did his elder sister Lucinda, her husband John, their two sons, and their wives.

One of Lucinda’s sons, Curtis W. Lester, later had a management role with the Seattle Metropolitans and Pacific Coast Hockey Association, but it has rarely been pointed out that he was a first cousin to Lester and Frank Patrick (and the other Patrick siblings). However, his name provided a big hint, for Lester Patrick’s given names were also Curtis Lester.

Lucinda married blacksmith John Lester in 1873, and their sons, Curtis and Lewis (often spelled Louis), were born in South Durham, Quebec, in 1876 and 1882, respectively, making them a little older than their soon-to-be-famous cousins. They had an elder sister, Delilah, who does not appear to have come to BC. [1] Curtis and Lewis both figure in our story, but Curtis to a much larger degree.

Curtis W. Lester in an undated photo (ancestry.com)

The first sign of the Lester family in BC is in February 1907, when John Lester is listed as staying at the Madden Hotel in Nelson, giving his address as Slocan. The following month Lewis was a guest at the same hotel, and also listed his home as Slocan. [2] In May 1908, Curtis and his wife Elizabeth Marie (who went by Lillian), came from Montreal to visit Grace Patrick in Nelson. [3] By April 1909, Curtis and Lillian were at Slocan as well. [4] 

They subsequently established a ranch at Crescent Valley on the west side of the Slocan River, opposite the Patrick Lumber Co. sawmill. (The legal description of the ranch property was District Lots 7361 and 9327. [5] The lots have since been subdivided and Krestova Lower Road now traverses both of them.)

Curtis Lester’s Crescent Valley properties were District Lots 7361 and 9327. (iMapBC)

One oddity that survives in a local archives is a photocopy of a police complaint Curtis filed against a man named Jack Beaudry, accusing him of “Enter[ing] his Here House and Kill and remove 3 hens and 1 Cock and having them in his possession on a Canadian pacific Co. Car on board a transfer Barge.” [6] No word if Beaudry was caught.

Curtis’ brother Lewis and wife Laurine eventually came to Crescent Valley too. [7] Parents John and Lucinda were also there by early 1912, [8] and the three couples were active in the fledgling community. Lewis was vice-president of the local social and athletic club. [9] In one incident, bizarre by today’s standards, Curtis showed up at a masquerade ball with a fawn that he and another man had caught a few days earlier. [10]

When a post office was established at Crescent Valley on July 1, 1910 to serve the sawmill and its employees, Curtis was appointed postmaster [11] and he, along with Lewis and their father, ran a store that opened around the same time. [12]

The Crescent Valley store and post office is seen at right under construction circa 1910. The current Crescent Valley store is roughly on the same spot. The building at left is a Patrick Lumber Co. bunkhouse that has long since disappeared. The hill in the background is across the Slocan River, which is not visible. Curtis Lester’s ranch was on a bench up that hill. (Greg Nesteroff collection)

After the British Canadian Lumber Co. bought the Patrick Lumber Co. in 1911, Curtis listed his ranch for sale. [13] However, it probably didn’t find a buyer quickly, for Curtis remained postmaster until June 17, 1913. [14] By then the company had also acquired the store.

When the store’s sale was announced in February 1913, the Nelson Daily News acknowledged Curtis and Lewis were Joe Patrick’s nephews and reported that Curtis had “done considerable trading of horses and cattle in the Kootenay district and is a familiar figure between here and Lethbridge. Both the Lester brothers and their wives have been very active in social affairs. They have not yet definitely decided where they will locate but expect to go to the coast for a time.” [15]

Calgary Herald, July 3, 1911

In fact, the brothers stuck around the area for a few more years. The 1914 civic directory shows Curtis and Lewis living at the former Patrick family home at 917 Edgewood Avenue in Nelson. After Joe and Grace and family decamped to Victoria, the house became a rooming house known as Edgewood Lodge.

In the 1915 directory, we see John and Lucinda Lester living at 917 Edgewood with Lewis. Curtis and Lillian, however, have moved a few doors down to a more modest house at 923 Edgewood. Occupations are not given for any of the Lesters.

917 Edgewood Avenue (top and above, far left) and 923 Edgewood Avenue (above, far right), in January 2025.

In June 1915, Curtis was reported to have purchased the Nelson clothing store of N. Murphy, which was in bankruptcy, but there is no sign of him actually running the business. [16] Curtis instead continued to work as a stockbreeder and sold some mining claims. [17] While neither Lester brother appears to have been a hockey player, Curtis was part of the rink that won the Nelson Curling Club championship that year. [18] Lewis, meanwhile, spent time in nearby South Slocan, but doing what is not clear. [19]

In October 1915, Curtis was reported leaving for Seattle, where a new challenge awaited. [20] The city now had a team in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, which his cousins had started with the proceeds of the sale of the Patrick Lumber Co. They installed him as one of the two Seattle representatives on the league’s board of directors. [21] Curtis’ relationship with Frank and Lester Patrick was not publicized, perhaps deliberately, to give the league the veneer of outside governance, even as the Patricks kept league decisions within the family.

Curtis was appointed manager of the new Seattle Arena and in this role edited a booklet extolling the building’s virtues. [22] His photo appeared on a 1916 team scorecard. In 1917, Seattle hosted the Stanley Cup final against the Montreal Canadiens. Heading into the series, Curtis prepared the arena “for what he expected would be the biggest crowd ever.” [23] Seattle prevailed, becoming the first American team to win the cup.

1916 Seattle Metropolitans scorecard with Curtis W. Lester middle right. (David Eskenazi collection)

Someone from Nelson was reported to have attended the series. [24] I’ll bet it was Lewis Lester, who moved to Seattle in 1918 and became manager of the Crystal Pool. [25] The 1920 US census found Curtis and Lillian living with Lewis, the brothers’ parents, and a nephew, presumably Lewis’ son. Curtis remained arena manager and a PCHA board member through 1922. [26] In 1923, when he declared his intent to become a naturalized American, he listed his occupation as auditorium manager and gave his address as 1107 East Denny Way. However, he left his position shortly thereafter to become manager of the Waldorf Hotel. [27]

Curtis helped start several companies during the 1920s:

• In 1924, the Lewis Lester Co. was incorporated with Curtis as one of the founding directors along with D.V. Halverstadt and R.C. Barth. Its exact line of business is unclear, but an earlier unincorporated Lewis-Lester Co. held the concession contract at Seattle’s Woodland Park. Lewis had other concessions at Green River Gorge, Vancouver, Wash., and Portland. [28]

• Also in 1924, the Lester brothers teamed up with former Seattle Metropolitans coach Pete Muldoon (under his given name Linton Treacy) to buy the Green River Gorge summer resort, about 40 miles from Seattle. [29] Muldoon, who was said to be the “moving spirit” in the enterprise, wrote to his sister Della in Michigan, and she and her husband, William Tretheway, came to run the resort. A company was formed, the Green River Gorge Inc., involving Muldoon, the Tretheways, and the Lewises. [30]

Curtis W. Lester (left) and Pete Muldoon, circa 1920s, outside the Seattle Arena. (David Eskenazi collection)

The Tretheways lived on the property and their monthly salary was credited toward the balance due on stock they bought in the company. [31] It probably wasn’t much of a moneymaker. In 1927, Curtis advertised the resort for sale “at a sacrifice,” but it didn’t sell. [32] Instead, the Tretheways ran the business for 17 years, putting in long hours cooking and cleaning. Muldoon and the Lester brothers rarely visited, although Muldoon was involved on the accounting side until his premature death in 1929. [33]

By 1927, the Tretheways had paid off their stock in full and in 1936, they claimed for back pay. The matter ended up in court, and the Tretheways won a judgment for more than $10,000, which was upheld on appeal in 1943 by the Washington Supreme Court. [34]

• In 1929, Curtis and S.M. Gaylord incorporated the Council Placer Mines Co. [35] The company changed its name to the Gold Bar Mining Co. in 1934, and for a short while worked a property between Marcus and Bossburg, Wash., but it didn’t amount to much. [36]

On the 1930 US census, Curtis, then 53, was still shown in Seattle, living with his wife and mother (his father died in 1928) and working as a stock broker. Lewis was not in evidence on the census, but the 1933 civic directory listed him as a junk dealer. He and wife Laurine lived a few blocks away from Curtis. Lewis died in 1937, age 54, although I haven’t determined the circumstances.

In 1938, Curtis moved to Vancouver, BC and became advertising manager for Mitchell Press Ltd. In that role, he sold ads for a magazine, Western Business and Industry. [37]

Curtis Lester died of a blood clot on May 8, 1953 in Vancouver, age 76, survived by his wife, a niece, and a nephew. An obituary described him as “one of Canada’s best known advertising men.” It added that he had been in the lumber business with his uncle Joe Patrick (although that does not appear to have been the case), and that he had managed the Seattle Arena. His last address was 1298 West Tenth. [38]

NOTES

[1] ancestry.com family tree for Curtis Wallace Lester, viewed at https://tinyurl.com/CWLester

[2] The Daily News (Nelson), Feb. 28, 1907, p. 6 and March 10, 1907, p. 6

[3] The Daily News (Nelson), May 28, 1908, p. 8

[4] Information of Curtis Lester against Jack Beaudry, April 21, 1909, held by Selkirk College Regional Archives.

[5] The lot numbers are mentioned in a legal ad for water rights in The Daily News (Nelson), July 25, 1912, p. 6

[6] Ibid.

[7] In The Daily News (Nelson), Aug. 24, 1911, p. 5, Lewis gives his address as Montreal. In the same newspaper of Sept. 29, 1911, p. 5, he indicated he now lived at Crescent Valley. Laurine’s arrival from Montreal, with their baby, is noted in The Daily News of Jan. 30, 1912, p. 5.

[8] “Five Hundred Club formed at Crescent Valley,” The Daily News (Nelson), Feb. 27, 1912, p. 8

[9] “Social club for Crescent Valley,” The Daily News (Nelson), Nov. 29, 1912, p. 5

[10] “Deer participates in masquerade ball,” The Sun (Vancouver), Dec. 31, 1912, p. 10

[11] Crescent Valley postmasters list, viewed at https://tinyurl.com/CVPostOffice

[12] “Crescent Valley,” The Daily News (Nelson), Jan. 3, 1911, p. 4 and W.A. Jeffries Nelson City and District Directory, 1914, p. 149, which lists Curtis, Louis [sic], and John as merchants.  

[13] The Calgary Daily Herald, July 3, 1911, p. 2

[14] Crescent Valley postmasters list, viewed at https://tinyurl.com/CVPostOffice

[15] “Lumber corporation buys Crescent Valley store,” The Daily News (Nelson), Feb. 19, 1913, p. 2

[16] “Murphy business sold,” The Daily News (Nelson), June 17, 1915, p. 6

[17] For example, see The Daily News (Nelson), Nov. 23, 1914, p. 5 and “Mining transfers since July Seventh,” The Daily News (Nelson), Nov. 23, 1915, p. 6

[18] “Houston rink continues to wear gold buttons,” The Daily News (Nelson), Jan. 19, 1915, p. 6

[19] For example, see in the The Daily News (Nelson): “South Slocan news,” Jan. 31, 1914, p. 2; “South Slocan to elect school board,” July 4, 1914, p. 9; and “South Slocan notes,” May 12, 1915, p. 5

[20] The Daily News (Nelson), Oct. 21, 1915, p. 6

[21] “Victoria remains in PCHA; Seattle is formally admitted,” The Sun (Vancouver), Oct. 13, 1915, p. 6

[22] Cited in bibliography of Emerald Ice: Hockey in Seattle 1915-75, Jeff Obermeyer, 2007

[23] http://wwweyesontheprize.blogspot.com/2008/08/1916-17-cupless-in-seattle.html

[24] “Excitement over big hockey match,” Victoria Daily Times, 17 Mar 1917, p. 8

[25] Lewis’ year of arrival in the US is on the 1920 census. His role as Crystal Pool manager is mentioned in “Floor problems solved for junior basketball,” Seattle Star, Dec. 8, 1921

[26] “6-man hockey in Coast loop,” The Winnipeg Evening Tribune, Oct. 24, 1922, p. 14

[27] ancestry.com family tree for Curtis Wallace Lester, viewed at https://tinyurl.com/CWLester

[28] Tacoma Daily Ledger, Jan. 27, 1924, p. 9 and “Will construct Coney Island near here,” The Olympian, Sept. 18, 1924, p. 6

[29] “New corporations,” Seattle Star, April 30, 1924, p. 7 and “‘Pot-holed’ boulders and waterfalls draw automobilists,” Seattle Star, May 17, 1924, p. 13

[30] https://casetext.com/case/trethewey-v-green-river-gorge-inc

[31] Ibid.

[32] Tacoma Daily Ledger, 12 Jun 1927, p. 31

[33] https://casetext.com/case/trethewey-v-green-river-gorge-inc

[34] Ibid.

[35] “Incorporations filed,” The News Tribune (Tacoma), March 19, 1929, p. 16

[36] Bellingham Herald, May 19, 1934, p. 7 and “Nearing ore in Gold Bar,” The Spokesman-Review (Spokane), Feb. 7, 1937, p. 19

[37] “C.W. Lester, advertising director, dead,” The Vancouver Sun, May 12, 1953, p. 9

[38] “C.W. Lester, advertising chief, dies,” The Vancouver Province, May 9, 1953, p. 23