April 20, 2012 Coats Museum News
The 1927 Coats High School term was coming to a close in a few weeks and the senior class was preparing for the end of year festivities. They met on Monday, April 4 and organized the class as follows: Corina Pollard, poet; Margaret Kelly, lawyer; Lucille Lee, historian; Eubern Dorman, prophet; Clyda Byrd, giftorian, and Madeline Keen mascot (Harnett County News April 7, 1927).
Commencement winners from the various county schools included Grace Turlington of Turlington School who came in second in the Fifth Grade Arithmetic Contest. Wonder what Grace did with her math skills after she graduated from school. I do know that rain cut down on the number who attended, but it did not prevent it from being a success (Harnett County News April 14,1927).
The disturbance caused by all the new driving rules was probably subsiding when “A Family Disturbance” was given at the Coats High School auditorium. The cast of characters, made up of local talent, contained names that guaranteed an evening of delightful entertainment for all who attended. The link of State Highway 22, from Dunn to Cumberland County, was to be hard surfaced. The link was 4.16 miles. Wonder if the folks in Erwin, Coats and Angier cried “foul”. It is known that the Coats PTA would honor King Cotton on Wednesday, May 11, at 7:30 PM. A program would be presented with Charles Ross as the speaker. The ladies and girls were contested for prizes as follows; (1) the most attractive woman’s housedress (2) the most attractive dress worn by a high school girl, and (3) the most attractive dress worn by a girl in the 6th or 7th grade. Every girl and woman was requested to wear cotton clothing and hose. Any movement to use cotton would cause more cotton to be consumed and hence aid the farmer in his cause. At last, the self-operating talking machine was on the market. Now there was nothing to do but relax and enjoy the records on the Victrola. Twelve records were placed in the Victrola “Magazine” and with a flip of the electric switch; one hour of wonderful music was good for dancing or listening (Harnett County News April 28, 1927).
Harnett County was a peach of a county. At least that is likely what Percy Rockefeller must have thought when he bought Overhills and invited some of the world’s richest people to visit him there. Speaking of peaches, Harnett County peach growers were expected to sell between thirty to forty thousand dollars worth of peaches in the 1927 fruit season (Harnett County News May 12, 1927).
The graduation commencement at Coats School was to be held from May 22-27.Duke Professor John W. Carr was to address the seniors (Harnett County News May 19, 1927).
Henry H. Penny had died at 4:00 PM at his home in Coats on July 11, 1927. He was 83 years old and was one of the oldest and most highly esteemed citizens of his community. Twelve children survived him. S.R., R.L., A.E., J.H. T.H., Jeff, and Victor were his sons. His daughters were Mrs. Eli (Nellie) Turlington, Mrs. W.H. (Lizzie) Turlington, Mrs. E.R. (Mary) Coats, Mrs. B.F. (Laura) Byrd, and Mrs. Rena Johnson. He was married to Unity Coats, daughter of John Rufus Coats of Johnston County (Harnett County News July 14, 1927). Was the H.H. Penny house later used as the medical clinic in Coats?
Z.T. Kivett celebrated his 80th birthday by going with Alton Stewart on an airplane ride over Raleigh. Mr. Kivett built the first brick building at Buies Creek Academy (Harnett County News July 23, 1927). Who remembers another popular Coats pilot who was in the air on his 80th birthday doing magic acts with his plane a few years ago?
J.H. Taylor announced that on Monday, October 3, would be the first day of school for Coats. Coats would have eleven teachers. Who knows what other Grove school consolidated with the Coats Grove #3 school in the 1927-28 term? It was the Penny Rockridge School which had been located on the current Bill Avery Road.
The Harnett County News October 6, 1927 edition reported that 30 years ago, four out of every five people went to the polls to vote. In 1927, less than half went to the polls to vote. Every income earner in the U.S. in 1927 paid about a dollar each day for support of the government. Do you think that is why fewer people voted? One would think that might be reason for more citizens to vote.
Readers, it appears that the road through Coats from Erwin to Angier will finally happen. A contract for $62,171.82 was awarded to W.C. Carter and $7, 932.50 to W.B. Collins for the building of the road. The editor stated that the area would have one of the best roads in the state system. Effective on November 1, the star mail carrier from Dunn to Buies Creek via Erwin and Coats would make two trips daily. Under the present system, only one trip was made daily in the afternoon. The new and improved service would be welcomed by the citizens of those areas.
In that same edition, the paper reported that Mr. L.L. Turlington had died last Saturday. He was 65 years old when he had died at his home in Coats. The funeral was conducted with Masonic honors on Sunday and the interment was in the Coats Cemetery. Mr. Turlington was one of the highly respected citizens of Harnett County and his death had caused much grief among a wide circle of friends (Harnett County News October 27, 1927).
Does any reader know where the Benson Creamery was and from what source they acquired the cream. How many of our readers ever milked a “fresh” cow? Read next week’s news and learn more of the happenings of 1927 in the Coats area.
A very special thank you goes to Doris Schuchter with the Oakland County Retirees Association in Pontiac, Michigan for the contribution to the memory of Evelyn Stewart to the Coats Museum. It was nice to talk to Lib Guy and Peggy Senter who called to share the answers to questions that I ask about Lonnie Glover living in the basement of Dr. Roberts’ house and Mrs. Westbrook from Dunn being in charge of the lunchroom that was in the basement of the old Coats School.
What a weekend for the Coats Museum folks. Dr. Moses Jones and twelve family members from Georgia, Arkansas, and Alabama drove up and stayed in Dunn for a three day weekend to search for information about his ancestors believed to be connected to the Ryals family o f the Mt. Pisgah Church. They walked the banks of the Cape Fear River in Erwin and attended services at Mt. Pisgah on Sunday. Sion Harrington, formerly with the States Archives, gave his Sunday afternoon to share information about the white John Lloyd Ryals Cemetery at Buffalo Lanes. The group of about 20 then followed him to Averasboro where they were informed about those who fought in the Civil War there, Smith Plantations and the Averasboro Cemetery. How lucky Erwin is to have Sion Harrington. The group then returned to the Coats Museum where the Coats Museum volunteers and Dr. Jones went over pages of documents trying to prove a connection of his family to the Ryals families who lived in Cumberland (Harnett) and Johnston Counties. On Monday morning, Dr. Jones, his daughter Reyna Jones (a journalist from Atlanta), Becky Adams, Lynda Butler and I visited the Daily Record for a story on Dr. Moses Jones.
The 1927 Coats High School term was coming to a close in a few weeks and the senior class was preparing for the end of year festivities. They met on Monday, April 4 and organized the class as follows: Corina Pollard, poet; Margaret Kelly, lawyer; Lucille Lee, historian; Eubern Dorman, prophet; Clyda Byrd, giftorian, and Madeline Keen mascot (Harnett County News April 7, 1927).
Commencement winners from the various county schools included Grace Turlington of Turlington School who came in second in the Fifth Grade Arithmetic Contest. Wonder what Grace did with her math skills after she graduated from school. I do know that rain cut down on the number who attended, but it did not prevent it from being a success (Harnett County News April 14,1927).
The disturbance caused by all the new driving rules was probably subsiding when “A Family Disturbance” was given at the Coats High School auditorium. The cast of characters, made up of local talent, contained names that guaranteed an evening of delightful entertainment for all who attended. The link of State Highway 22, from Dunn to Cumberland County, was to be hard surfaced. The link was 4.16 miles. Wonder if the folks in Erwin, Coats and Angier cried “foul”. It is known that the Coats PTA would honor King Cotton on Wednesday, May 11, at 7:30 PM. A program would be presented with Charles Ross as the speaker. The ladies and girls were contested for prizes as follows; (1) the most attractive woman’s housedress (2) the most attractive dress worn by a high school girl, and (3) the most attractive dress worn by a girl in the 6th or 7th grade. Every girl and woman was requested to wear cotton clothing and hose. Any movement to use cotton would cause more cotton to be consumed and hence aid the farmer in his cause. At last, the self-operating talking machine was on the market. Now there was nothing to do but relax and enjoy the records on the Victrola. Twelve records were placed in the Victrola “Magazine” and with a flip of the electric switch; one hour of wonderful music was good for dancing or listening (Harnett County News April 28, 1927).
Harnett County was a peach of a county. At least that is likely what Percy Rockefeller must have thought when he bought Overhills and invited some of the world’s richest people to visit him there. Speaking of peaches, Harnett County peach growers were expected to sell between thirty to forty thousand dollars worth of peaches in the 1927 fruit season (Harnett County News May 12, 1927).
The graduation commencement at Coats School was to be held from May 22-27.Duke Professor John W. Carr was to address the seniors (Harnett County News May 19, 1927).
Henry H. Penny had died at 4:00 PM at his home in Coats on July 11, 1927. He was 83 years old and was one of the oldest and most highly esteemed citizens of his community. Twelve children survived him. S.R., R.L., A.E., J.H. T.H., Jeff, and Victor were his sons. His daughters were Mrs. Eli (Nellie) Turlington, Mrs. W.H. (Lizzie) Turlington, Mrs. E.R. (Mary) Coats, Mrs. B.F. (Laura) Byrd, and Mrs. Rena Johnson. He was married to Unity Coats, daughter of John Rufus Coats of Johnston County (Harnett County News July 14, 1927). Was the H.H. Penny house later used as the medical clinic in Coats?
Z.T. Kivett celebrated his 80th birthday by going with Alton Stewart on an airplane ride over Raleigh. Mr. Kivett built the first brick building at Buies Creek Academy (Harnett County News July 23, 1927). Who remembers another popular Coats pilot who was in the air on his 80th birthday doing magic acts with his plane a few years ago?
J.H. Taylor announced that on Monday, October 3, would be the first day of school for Coats. Coats would have eleven teachers. Who knows what other Grove school consolidated with the Coats Grove #3 school in the 1927-28 term? It was the Penny Rockridge School which had been located on the current Bill Avery Road.
The Harnett County News October 6, 1927 edition reported that 30 years ago, four out of every five people went to the polls to vote. In 1927, less than half went to the polls to vote. Every income earner in the U.S. in 1927 paid about a dollar each day for support of the government. Do you think that is why fewer people voted? One would think that might be reason for more citizens to vote.
Readers, it appears that the road through Coats from Erwin to Angier will finally happen. A contract for $62,171.82 was awarded to W.C. Carter and $7, 932.50 to W.B. Collins for the building of the road. The editor stated that the area would have one of the best roads in the state system. Effective on November 1, the star mail carrier from Dunn to Buies Creek via Erwin and Coats would make two trips daily. Under the present system, only one trip was made daily in the afternoon. The new and improved service would be welcomed by the citizens of those areas.
In that same edition, the paper reported that Mr. L.L. Turlington had died last Saturday. He was 65 years old when he had died at his home in Coats. The funeral was conducted with Masonic honors on Sunday and the interment was in the Coats Cemetery. Mr. Turlington was one of the highly respected citizens of Harnett County and his death had caused much grief among a wide circle of friends (Harnett County News October 27, 1927).
Does any reader know where the Benson Creamery was and from what source they acquired the cream. How many of our readers ever milked a “fresh” cow? Read next week’s news and learn more of the happenings of 1927 in the Coats area.
A very special thank you goes to Doris Schuchter with the Oakland County Retirees Association in Pontiac, Michigan for the contribution to the memory of Evelyn Stewart to the Coats Museum. It was nice to talk to Lib Guy and Peggy Senter who called to share the answers to questions that I ask about Lonnie Glover living in the basement of Dr. Roberts’ house and Mrs. Westbrook from Dunn being in charge of the lunchroom that was in the basement of the old Coats School.
What a weekend for the Coats Museum folks. Dr. Moses Jones and twelve family members from Georgia, Arkansas, and Alabama drove up and stayed in Dunn for a three day weekend to search for information about his ancestors believed to be connected to the Ryals family o f the Mt. Pisgah Church. They walked the banks of the Cape Fear River in Erwin and attended services at Mt. Pisgah on Sunday. Sion Harrington, formerly with the States Archives, gave his Sunday afternoon to share information about the white John Lloyd Ryals Cemetery at Buffalo Lanes. The group of about 20 then followed him to Averasboro where they were informed about those who fought in the Civil War there, Smith Plantations and the Averasboro Cemetery. How lucky Erwin is to have Sion Harrington. The group then returned to the Coats Museum where the Coats Museum volunteers and Dr. Jones went over pages of documents trying to prove a connection of his family to the Ryals families who lived in Cumberland (Harnett) and Johnston Counties. On Monday morning, Dr. Jones, his daughter Reyna Jones (a journalist from Atlanta), Becky Adams, Lynda Butler and I visited the Daily Record for a story on Dr. Moses Jones.