"Another of these melancholy catastrophies that makes the sea so dreaded occurred at Yaquina bay, April 7, 1881. While attempting to enter the harbor Captain J. A. Pennell, commanding the government tug General A. G. Wright, with two seamen, was drowned under the following painful circumstances, as related by the Corvallis Gazette on the fifteenth of that month:
Early on Thursday a vessel was seen off Foulweather, which at first was supposed to be the schooner Kate & Ann. She came down passing between the outer and shore line of breakers, whistled for a pilot, from which she was believed to be the Government tug General Wright, as Captain Lutjens would not need a pilot; the vessel passed south, opposite the entrance, to a drifted buoy, about three-fourths of a mile south of the bay, one that had been reported to the lighthouse inspector as being in a dangerous position. By this movement it became plain the captain of the vessel was unacquainted with the place and its surroundings. After escaping destruction in the vicinity of that snare buoy, the steamer headed north, seemingly to examine the bar, which, from the land showed a wide, unbroken space of smooth water in the middle or old channel; I say old, for it is the channel that has been used for the past twenty years; it was well defined by breakers to the south and heavy breakers on the middle ground, with smaller breakers to the north and over the ground buoyed for the Shubrick last year. The steamer continued north to a point three-quarters of a mile north of Yaquina Station and came to an anchor between the outer reef and shore line of breakers - not a safe place to stay. As the tide ebbed but little, the bar was smooth, and by reference to a tide gauge at least seventeen feet on the bar, everybody was much surprised that she did not enter the bay. Engineer Polhemus at once sent up the river for a suitable boat to cross the bar and pilot the stranger safely in, and proceeded to put up some beacons on South Beach to guide the captain, should he attempt to enter before a boat arrived. About this time a small boat was seen to leave the steamer and row towards the bar. Only a few people remained on the point after the steamer anchored and they saw a sight never to be forgotten. The boat contained four men, who pulled to a spot opposite the route buoyed by the Shubrick. Here the boat attempted to enter---the climax of rashness followed. The first breaker lifted the frail boat like a top; the next turned her completely over, three men were now seen clinging to her; soon one man was missing! This was the unfortunate captain! Now the spectators on shore see breaker after breaker roll with merciless force over the tiny bark, while at one time two men could be seen holding to her; at another, both were missing and again but one. It was a terrible sight; women wept and strong men became paralyzed. Nothing but a life boat could do any good in such a sea. Two Indians, however, stimulated by a reward, tried to get out, and they did well--but all the men had gone, save one, and he had drifted into comparatively smooth water. This person was saved by T.W. and Zeno Davis, who found him clutching with a death grip to the stern of the boat, perfectly unconscious and almost dead. On recovering he told his story. He said that the steamer was the General Wright; the captain's name was J. A. Pennell, and the two men lost were C. Winnemark and Augustus Maguire; that they had in the small boat (about sixteen feet long and very frail) three kegs and three anchors, with which the captain intended buoying a route for his vessel; it was thought by him that Winnemark must have caught in the rope and anchors, as he was never seen after the boat upset."
-- History of Benton County, David D. Fagan, 1885. pp 486-487

• Married: 2 NOV 1879 in Newport, Benton Co., Oregon ³

1. Edith Edna Davis b: 27 MAR 1880
2. Budd Davis b: MAR 1882
3. Winnie L. Davis b: NOV 1883 in Oregon

1. Title: 1870 Benton County Census - http://ftp.wi.net/~census/lesson29.html
2. Title: 1870 US Federal Census
3. Title: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~steelquist
4. Title: South Beach Cemetery, April 5, 2004
5. Title: 1860 US Federal Census
   Repository:
   Media: Book
6. Title: At Rest In Lincoln County
7. Title: 1920 US Federal Census
8. Title: 1930 US Federal Census
9. Title: BLM General Land Office Records
   Page: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/Detail.asp?Accession=OROCAA+034291&Index=604&QryID=49396.75&DetailTab=1