April 12, 2019 Coats Museum News
The date on the paper printed that it was May 13, 1976. Within that edition of the Daily Record, it was shared that Miss Shearon Roberts had been inducted into Kappa Nu Sigma honor society at Meredith College.
How many times have you read the family name Roberts in the Coats Museum News? There was Dr. H.C. Roberts who served as town doctor, commissioner and businessman from 1912 to about 1925. Recall that he had died as a result of a plane crash in Coats. Several of our now deceased Coats citizens shared that they went to the site of the plane crash. Garland Whittington recalled carrying an ax to help cut the injured pilot doctor from the wreckage. The doctor was aware of the seriousness of his injuries before he died three days later. The story was shared that Mrs. Roberts was always very nervous when her husband was piloting his plane and would often follow him in her car as he flew over the Grove area. Even my dad told of the doctor flying over the farm fields of northeastern Coats and swooping low enough so that the people in the yards and fields could see the doctor tip his hat to them.
Then there were the doctor’s two sons-Haywood and Clarence Roberts. Haywood was a Coats businessman and member of the Harnett County Board of Education and Clarence was a Dunn dentist. I met Dr. Clarence only once and that was when we were putting together an Aviation Open House for the museum to gather pictures of all the licensed pilots from Coats. He came and brought his materials but I most remember that he brought a framed one dollar bill-the first dollar he said he had made.
Then there was Harry and Shearon, children of Haywood and Ophelia Brock Roberts. Both of them graduated from Coats and went ahead to graduate from college and were successful in social work and research.
Finally there were Alice Ann (a Coats High grad) and Harriet Roberts (A Triton Grad), daughters of Harry and Alice Lou Jackson Roberts, who are the last children to carry the “Roberts” name from those who remained in the Coats area.
Where did the Roberts family live? It was shared that Dr. Roberts had boarded in the old Stewart Hotel before and shortly after his marriage. He later moved into a Sears Roebuck house that was purchased for under $7,000 and assembled on the lot across from the current Coats Community Building. The 1930 census shares that the house was valued at $10,000. The house was sold by Dan and Debbie Grieder last year –wonder what the value of the house is today?(US Census 1930)
Other popular names in the area are Turlington and Matthews. Both of them were mentioned in the Daily Record May 12, 1976 paper. Doris Turlington was the 1976 class valedictorian and Susan Matthews was salutatorian.
The same edition printed that a Bicycle Jamboree was to be held on May 22nd in conjunction with National Bike Week. The event was sponsored by 4-H and the Coats Police Department would feature accuracy contests, races, safety classes, a tour and bicycle registration to prevent theft. Mrs. Martha Parrish assisted as 4-H agent. (Did Earl Denning assist with this event?)
The Coats Board of Commissioners moved to fund renovation of the fire department to make a room for sleeping quarters. The board also acted to buy a fire tanker from the Grove Rural Fire Department for $300. Public Works Director Haywood Penny said he could use the tanker to wash out road pipe, wash streets and water shrubbery at the cemetery (Daily Record May 21, 1976).
Mrs. Angela Stephenson Godwin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt Stephenson, and Mr. Godwin were to appear in Revolutionary costumes and attend the Bicentennial Ball at the Dunn Civic Center (Daily Record June 3, 1976).
Cindy Denise Pleasant, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Pleasant, and Glenn Dennis, son of Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Dennis, planned to marry in August at the St. Matthew Church in Erwin. In that same June 4 edition of the Daily Record it was printed that the Coats Junior Order had announced that Hew Haw star, Roni Stoneman, would be at the Blue Grass Festival.
Robert Victor House, a pre-med student at UNC Chapel Hill, was named to the Dean’s List for the spring semester. Mr. and Mrs. Dave House were surely proud of their son. Margaret House was a Stewart prior to marrying Dave House. Wonder if she was a relative of Ary Stewart? He had been a retired farmer before he died at 81 years of age on Saturday. His services were held at the Coats Baptist Church. Burial was in the Buies Creek City Cemetery. He was survived by two sisters-Mary Hough and Mrs. Lucille Barker – and three brothers-Robert, James and Emery Stewart (Daily Record June 7, 1976).
Have you seen the name “Ary” before? Recall that Joseph Ary Stewart was postmaster of the Troyville post office until Andrew Coats became post master of the Coats post office in 1903. Yes, it was referred to as the Coats post office on the post offices and postmasters records before the town was incorporated in 1905.
Some of you are likely wondering where Troyville was. The Stewart Cemetery is between Angel Hedgepeth Elliott’s house and the Langdon house next to the Coats Baptist Church. It is the family cemetery of the Jacob Stewart family, father of Joseph Ary Stewart. The post offices were in the homes of the postmasters in early days so we might conclude that some of Troyville was in that location. It is also interesting to note that the early 1800 maps share that where Coats now sits was identified as “Shaw”. It was this Daniel Shaw’s heirs who sold their land to James Thomas Coats in 1875-76 who later incorporated it as Coats, NC in 1905.
Time has a way of ticking away. Surely there were people living in 1976 who recalled Troyville, the building of the Cape Fear and Northern railroad, the Coats post office when it was in the R.O. Stewart house, Preacher Tom Coats and dirt streets on Main Street.
This I do know. The Senior Class of 1976 had their year in the spotlight by putting together their memories of attending the Coats High School into their yearbook called Echoing Memories. Our memories can become somewhat fragile with each passing year. Class of 1976, the following will test your memory of your years at Coats High School.
Do you recall the individual to whom you dedicated your yearbook? Did the name Madie McDougald come to mind? Who was your Homecoming Queen and her attendants? Was Diane Flowers the queen and was her Maid of Honor Jenny Williams? What about the other beauties on campus. Remember that Jenia Rowland was your Miss Coats High and her attendants were Diane Flowers, Jennifer Barnes, Karen Pope, Teresa Tart and Susan Moffit.
Do you remember those junior and seniors who put in hours to make your Echoing Memories truly that? Do the names Kimm Faircloth, Debbie Turlington, Anthony Baker and Dudley Denning sound right? What role did Mrs. Christine Stewart Hudson play in the book?
You wrote that you would not pass this way again, but the Coats Museum News can bring back those memories of your prom band-“Mountain Ash”. There are memories of Sharon Clayton being the president of the Library Club. Remember that Ty Williams, James Johnson, Cathy Barefoot, Bonnie Whittington, Henry Turlington and John Langdon served as marshals. Senior marshals were Doris Turlington, Susan Matthews, and Cindy Norris.
What was the “Jacket Buzz”? Toni Salmoni and Janie Barnes surely remember putting that school paper together. Were you in the chorus or band? Who was Mrs. Carolyn Kindley? What leadership roles did Terri Lloyd and Jo Ann Ammons hold?
Do you remember watching Roy Jones, Mike West, Henry Turlington and Trent Sorrell as leaders of the class and student government? Who was Dava Gage? What connection did she have with the French Club and President Cindy Norris?
Sports always bring memories of certain teammates or certain games. Surely winning the Carolina 1-A All Conference meant much to Danny Stanley and Roy Jones who also made the All-Metro 2-Team with honorable mention going to Willie Spears, Mike West, Kenneth Godwin and Kimry Gardner (1976 Echoing Memories).
The Coats FFA had won top honors at the Harnett County FFA Federation Annual Awards Banquet. For the second year in a row, Coats had won Overall Banner. Among the student winners for parliamentary procedures were Max Matthews, Jr., Henry Turlington, Donald Ennis, Brent Beasley, Tommy McLamb, and Scott Fleming. John Langdon took the top honor in public speaking. Trent Sorrell, Michael S. Pope, Dee Langdon and Michael Pope won first place in the Tool Identification contest. Kenneth Godwin, Dudley Denning, Henry Turlington, and Max Matthews, Jr. won the land-judging contest. Dan Honeycutt was the chapter teacher-leader (Daily Record June 8, 1976).
Most shoppers at grocery stores today are not aware that “organic food” is not a new word. There was a time when “organic chickens” pecked in the yards, barn yards and mule lots on their granddaddy and daddy’s farm. To gather “organic eggs” the little farm children crawled under the barns to the far corners or checked out any other place that a hen cackled to denote that an egg had been laid according to Keith McLeod who shared with Stacy Avery, Jeanette D. Johnson and H.L. Sorrell, Jr. who participated in “Let’s Talk Plows and Farming”.
For over two hours, the group recalled and laughed about farm practices when they were young children. They remembered their first experiences of plowing with a mule, setting tobacco, making straight rows, and throwing ears of corn twice-first throwing piles of unshucked ears into a mule drawn wagon and then throwing the same ears into the corn crib. Hog killings—can you imagine their memories?
The group pondered why the same item had different names in the same community. Did they call it a drag, slide, or a sled to haul tobacco to the barn, a barrel of water, or fertilizer to the fields? They explained why washing out fertilizer (guano) sacks was not work but an awesome time to play in an old clay hole, creek or pond.
The session ended in the Cotton Museum where all the various plows, planters, and other antiquated implements were discussed sharing how they were used, repaired and replaced.
Amazingly difficult to believe is that many of the visitors who come through our Cotton Museum doors have never seen any of the items or implements the group talked about or even realize that much of the food that they buy at the big supermarkets is like that which was once produced on the farms of their ancestors.
The date on the paper printed that it was May 13, 1976. Within that edition of the Daily Record, it was shared that Miss Shearon Roberts had been inducted into Kappa Nu Sigma honor society at Meredith College.
How many times have you read the family name Roberts in the Coats Museum News? There was Dr. H.C. Roberts who served as town doctor, commissioner and businessman from 1912 to about 1925. Recall that he had died as a result of a plane crash in Coats. Several of our now deceased Coats citizens shared that they went to the site of the plane crash. Garland Whittington recalled carrying an ax to help cut the injured pilot doctor from the wreckage. The doctor was aware of the seriousness of his injuries before he died three days later. The story was shared that Mrs. Roberts was always very nervous when her husband was piloting his plane and would often follow him in her car as he flew over the Grove area. Even my dad told of the doctor flying over the farm fields of northeastern Coats and swooping low enough so that the people in the yards and fields could see the doctor tip his hat to them.
Then there were the doctor’s two sons-Haywood and Clarence Roberts. Haywood was a Coats businessman and member of the Harnett County Board of Education and Clarence was a Dunn dentist. I met Dr. Clarence only once and that was when we were putting together an Aviation Open House for the museum to gather pictures of all the licensed pilots from Coats. He came and brought his materials but I most remember that he brought a framed one dollar bill-the first dollar he said he had made.
Then there was Harry and Shearon, children of Haywood and Ophelia Brock Roberts. Both of them graduated from Coats and went ahead to graduate from college and were successful in social work and research.
Finally there were Alice Ann (a Coats High grad) and Harriet Roberts (A Triton Grad), daughters of Harry and Alice Lou Jackson Roberts, who are the last children to carry the “Roberts” name from those who remained in the Coats area.
Where did the Roberts family live? It was shared that Dr. Roberts had boarded in the old Stewart Hotel before and shortly after his marriage. He later moved into a Sears Roebuck house that was purchased for under $7,000 and assembled on the lot across from the current Coats Community Building. The 1930 census shares that the house was valued at $10,000. The house was sold by Dan and Debbie Grieder last year –wonder what the value of the house is today?(US Census 1930)
Other popular names in the area are Turlington and Matthews. Both of them were mentioned in the Daily Record May 12, 1976 paper. Doris Turlington was the 1976 class valedictorian and Susan Matthews was salutatorian.
The same edition printed that a Bicycle Jamboree was to be held on May 22nd in conjunction with National Bike Week. The event was sponsored by 4-H and the Coats Police Department would feature accuracy contests, races, safety classes, a tour and bicycle registration to prevent theft. Mrs. Martha Parrish assisted as 4-H agent. (Did Earl Denning assist with this event?)
The Coats Board of Commissioners moved to fund renovation of the fire department to make a room for sleeping quarters. The board also acted to buy a fire tanker from the Grove Rural Fire Department for $300. Public Works Director Haywood Penny said he could use the tanker to wash out road pipe, wash streets and water shrubbery at the cemetery (Daily Record May 21, 1976).
Mrs. Angela Stephenson Godwin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt Stephenson, and Mr. Godwin were to appear in Revolutionary costumes and attend the Bicentennial Ball at the Dunn Civic Center (Daily Record June 3, 1976).
Cindy Denise Pleasant, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Pleasant, and Glenn Dennis, son of Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Dennis, planned to marry in August at the St. Matthew Church in Erwin. In that same June 4 edition of the Daily Record it was printed that the Coats Junior Order had announced that Hew Haw star, Roni Stoneman, would be at the Blue Grass Festival.
Robert Victor House, a pre-med student at UNC Chapel Hill, was named to the Dean’s List for the spring semester. Mr. and Mrs. Dave House were surely proud of their son. Margaret House was a Stewart prior to marrying Dave House. Wonder if she was a relative of Ary Stewart? He had been a retired farmer before he died at 81 years of age on Saturday. His services were held at the Coats Baptist Church. Burial was in the Buies Creek City Cemetery. He was survived by two sisters-Mary Hough and Mrs. Lucille Barker – and three brothers-Robert, James and Emery Stewart (Daily Record June 7, 1976).
Have you seen the name “Ary” before? Recall that Joseph Ary Stewart was postmaster of the Troyville post office until Andrew Coats became post master of the Coats post office in 1903. Yes, it was referred to as the Coats post office on the post offices and postmasters records before the town was incorporated in 1905.
Some of you are likely wondering where Troyville was. The Stewart Cemetery is between Angel Hedgepeth Elliott’s house and the Langdon house next to the Coats Baptist Church. It is the family cemetery of the Jacob Stewart family, father of Joseph Ary Stewart. The post offices were in the homes of the postmasters in early days so we might conclude that some of Troyville was in that location. It is also interesting to note that the early 1800 maps share that where Coats now sits was identified as “Shaw”. It was this Daniel Shaw’s heirs who sold their land to James Thomas Coats in 1875-76 who later incorporated it as Coats, NC in 1905.
Time has a way of ticking away. Surely there were people living in 1976 who recalled Troyville, the building of the Cape Fear and Northern railroad, the Coats post office when it was in the R.O. Stewart house, Preacher Tom Coats and dirt streets on Main Street.
This I do know. The Senior Class of 1976 had their year in the spotlight by putting together their memories of attending the Coats High School into their yearbook called Echoing Memories. Our memories can become somewhat fragile with each passing year. Class of 1976, the following will test your memory of your years at Coats High School.
Do you recall the individual to whom you dedicated your yearbook? Did the name Madie McDougald come to mind? Who was your Homecoming Queen and her attendants? Was Diane Flowers the queen and was her Maid of Honor Jenny Williams? What about the other beauties on campus. Remember that Jenia Rowland was your Miss Coats High and her attendants were Diane Flowers, Jennifer Barnes, Karen Pope, Teresa Tart and Susan Moffit.
Do you remember those junior and seniors who put in hours to make your Echoing Memories truly that? Do the names Kimm Faircloth, Debbie Turlington, Anthony Baker and Dudley Denning sound right? What role did Mrs. Christine Stewart Hudson play in the book?
You wrote that you would not pass this way again, but the Coats Museum News can bring back those memories of your prom band-“Mountain Ash”. There are memories of Sharon Clayton being the president of the Library Club. Remember that Ty Williams, James Johnson, Cathy Barefoot, Bonnie Whittington, Henry Turlington and John Langdon served as marshals. Senior marshals were Doris Turlington, Susan Matthews, and Cindy Norris.
What was the “Jacket Buzz”? Toni Salmoni and Janie Barnes surely remember putting that school paper together. Were you in the chorus or band? Who was Mrs. Carolyn Kindley? What leadership roles did Terri Lloyd and Jo Ann Ammons hold?
Do you remember watching Roy Jones, Mike West, Henry Turlington and Trent Sorrell as leaders of the class and student government? Who was Dava Gage? What connection did she have with the French Club and President Cindy Norris?
Sports always bring memories of certain teammates or certain games. Surely winning the Carolina 1-A All Conference meant much to Danny Stanley and Roy Jones who also made the All-Metro 2-Team with honorable mention going to Willie Spears, Mike West, Kenneth Godwin and Kimry Gardner (1976 Echoing Memories).
The Coats FFA had won top honors at the Harnett County FFA Federation Annual Awards Banquet. For the second year in a row, Coats had won Overall Banner. Among the student winners for parliamentary procedures were Max Matthews, Jr., Henry Turlington, Donald Ennis, Brent Beasley, Tommy McLamb, and Scott Fleming. John Langdon took the top honor in public speaking. Trent Sorrell, Michael S. Pope, Dee Langdon and Michael Pope won first place in the Tool Identification contest. Kenneth Godwin, Dudley Denning, Henry Turlington, and Max Matthews, Jr. won the land-judging contest. Dan Honeycutt was the chapter teacher-leader (Daily Record June 8, 1976).
Most shoppers at grocery stores today are not aware that “organic food” is not a new word. There was a time when “organic chickens” pecked in the yards, barn yards and mule lots on their granddaddy and daddy’s farm. To gather “organic eggs” the little farm children crawled under the barns to the far corners or checked out any other place that a hen cackled to denote that an egg had been laid according to Keith McLeod who shared with Stacy Avery, Jeanette D. Johnson and H.L. Sorrell, Jr. who participated in “Let’s Talk Plows and Farming”.
For over two hours, the group recalled and laughed about farm practices when they were young children. They remembered their first experiences of plowing with a mule, setting tobacco, making straight rows, and throwing ears of corn twice-first throwing piles of unshucked ears into a mule drawn wagon and then throwing the same ears into the corn crib. Hog killings—can you imagine their memories?
The group pondered why the same item had different names in the same community. Did they call it a drag, slide, or a sled to haul tobacco to the barn, a barrel of water, or fertilizer to the fields? They explained why washing out fertilizer (guano) sacks was not work but an awesome time to play in an old clay hole, creek or pond.
The session ended in the Cotton Museum where all the various plows, planters, and other antiquated implements were discussed sharing how they were used, repaired and replaced.
Amazingly difficult to believe is that many of the visitors who come through our Cotton Museum doors have never seen any of the items or implements the group talked about or even realize that much of the food that they buy at the big supermarkets is like that which was once produced on the farms of their ancestors.