April 28, 2023 Coats Museum News
Does it seem possible that the “Coats Museum News “made its debut into the Daily Record almost fifteen years ago? On our journey, we have brought our ancestors down the Green’s Path out of Virginia and up the Cape Fear River to settle near the creeks and branches off the Black River.
We learned from Garland Stout that there was a progression of counties before we became Harnett. He researched that Harnett territory began as Albemarle County (1663), then Bath (1695), then Archdale (1705), then Craven (1712), then New Hanover (1729), then Bladen (1734), then Cumberland (1754), and lastly Harnett in 1855. This information is important when researching family genealogy.
We read that some of our ancestors left the Black River area and sought land on the Cape Fear while others left the Black Creek and the Neuse River areas in Johnston County and headed to what was then called Cumberland County. Some wanted hilly land and others preferred flat land.
Our earliest ancestors likely acquired property by finding unclaimed land and listing it with an entry taker of which there was one or more in each county. He filed a description of the amount of land desired and its location. If the Governor’s Council approved the claim, a deputy-surveyor would eventually show up with a warrant signed by the governor ordering him to measure and lay off the land. The settlers had 18 months in which to take out a patent for said land. Another person could take up the land if he failed to do so.
If a settler perfected his patent, then he was issued a grant to the land and thereafter could do with as he pleased. He was required to pay a yearly quitrent on the land and pay $1.00 per 100 acres. The quitrents did vary from time to time. The surveyor also had to be paid by the settler. The final condition was that the settler had to clear and plant 3 acres per 100 acres in 3 years. He was required to build a fence horse high, pig tight, and bull strong.
Most of our ancestors were owners of about 100 acres according to Malcolm Fowler even though along the Cape Fear there were sizeable plantations. Keep in mind that the earliest farm implements were very crude with most of them being handmade and wooden which can be verified by those on display in the Coats Heritage and Cotton Museums and in other local museums of history. Clearing three acres of land as required early on would have been an arduous task. Protecting crops and livestock would have been a constant task as that there were wild animals seeking to enjoy either the animal flesh or crops.
Our Harnett area was part of the Naval Stores industry. Our long leaf pines were bled for resinous juices to make tar, pitch, and turpentine which were used for waterproofing the rigging and hulls of early wooden sailing vessels. Several pieces of scarred pine can be seen in our museum and many “lightard” stumps are still evident in our woods. Naval stores tools are on occasion found in the barns of early farms of our area.
I’ll leave you in the woods of early days and let you wonder if your ancestors were grubbing out roots, building strong fences and houses, slashing long leaf pines for naval products or surviving from one growing season to the next.
This I do know. In September of 1992, the CACC recognized the Barbour’s Grocery as the Business Focus of the Week. The Barbour family had purchased the already established business in 1977 from Howard Barnes who was likely the first licensed radio repairman in Coats. The business dated back to 1939-40 when Woodrow Langdon operated a store there for about a year. His brother-in-law Howard Barnes and sister Iris Langdon Barnes were operating it when it was sold to the Barbour family.
The Barbour’s had carried on the “Mom and Pop” store atmosphere of business. Doyle and Ethel Barbour have four children who all assisted in the store before leaving home: Karen Barbour Etheridge, Timothy Barbour, Sonja Barbour and Jennifer Barbour (Daily Record Sept. 3, 1992).
Would you be surprised to know that the Barnes family of our area was one of the largest landowners having more than two thousand acres back in the day?
I do know that Curtis Matthews, 82, of Coats, had died on Thursday. He was the son of the late James Eddie Matthews. The retired farmer’s services were held at the Rose and Graham Funeral Home Chapel with burial in the Williams Family Cemetery. Surviving him was a sister, Grace M. Dixon of Coats (Daily Record Sept.4, 1992). Do you remember Mrs. Grace Dixon from the post office?
Coats lost a brave soldier in September of 1992. Retired Army Sgt. Major Kenneth E. Turlington, 58, of rural Coats, had died at his home on Sunday. Services were at Oak Grove Baptist Cemetery. His wife Jutta R. Turlington and children-Alexander K. Turlington and Diana Matthews survived him. Clyde Turlington, Grace Freeman and Mildred Hudson were his siblings (Daily Record Sept. 7, 1992).
When you read the word Turlington, do you think of Turlington’s Crossroads? The Turlingtons off Highway 27 can trace their ancestry from William Turlington just as the Turlingtons on Highway 55. The family has the same ancestral father William Turlington. William was married twice and some of William’s descendants are from his first wife Indea while others are by his second wife Elizabeth. So when one set states that they are not from that set of Turlingtons, in reality they are because they have the same paternal ancestor.
An interesting note is that the museum down at Turlingtons Crossroads is a Turlington ancestral home as is the home of Jutta Turlington on McLamb Road.
Wonder if their ancestors grew okra. Belle wrote that she and Thomas Williams grew an okra vine to the height of 15 feet. The running variety had okra 25 inches long and 5 inches in diameter (Daily Record Sept. 8, 1992).
When I was typing this it occurred to me I always think of Belle and the Senior Citizens Center while I think of Thomas as being the mail carrier who always waved at my siblings as we were chopping some crops on our Johnson farm. Yes –children did once chop tobacco, corn and cotton in the olden days. Being a younger sibling, I also remember my older siblings helping me keep up and not complaining about it. However, guess whom I think of when we talk about giant vegetables. If you thought of Danny Coats, you‘re correct. Danny could grow monstrous cantaloupes to share with neighbors.
The Coats Jr. Order sponsored the Blue Grass Festival. Wonder if Christine and Rupert Parrish were back in time for it? The couple had traveled for nineteen days in the western United States. They traveled 7,400 miles and visited lots of the natural landmarks; saw lots of friends and relatives at the various points of travel (Daily Record Sept.10, 1992).
Thank you-Marie Salmon, for sharing with the museum years of your great interaction with the Coats students. What an arduous task it must have been to put the videos together for showing in our Theater Room. Marie is truly an “Unsung Hero”.
Does it seem possible that the “Coats Museum News “made its debut into the Daily Record almost fifteen years ago? On our journey, we have brought our ancestors down the Green’s Path out of Virginia and up the Cape Fear River to settle near the creeks and branches off the Black River.
We learned from Garland Stout that there was a progression of counties before we became Harnett. He researched that Harnett territory began as Albemarle County (1663), then Bath (1695), then Archdale (1705), then Craven (1712), then New Hanover (1729), then Bladen (1734), then Cumberland (1754), and lastly Harnett in 1855. This information is important when researching family genealogy.
We read that some of our ancestors left the Black River area and sought land on the Cape Fear while others left the Black Creek and the Neuse River areas in Johnston County and headed to what was then called Cumberland County. Some wanted hilly land and others preferred flat land.
Our earliest ancestors likely acquired property by finding unclaimed land and listing it with an entry taker of which there was one or more in each county. He filed a description of the amount of land desired and its location. If the Governor’s Council approved the claim, a deputy-surveyor would eventually show up with a warrant signed by the governor ordering him to measure and lay off the land. The settlers had 18 months in which to take out a patent for said land. Another person could take up the land if he failed to do so.
If a settler perfected his patent, then he was issued a grant to the land and thereafter could do with as he pleased. He was required to pay a yearly quitrent on the land and pay $1.00 per 100 acres. The quitrents did vary from time to time. The surveyor also had to be paid by the settler. The final condition was that the settler had to clear and plant 3 acres per 100 acres in 3 years. He was required to build a fence horse high, pig tight, and bull strong.
Most of our ancestors were owners of about 100 acres according to Malcolm Fowler even though along the Cape Fear there were sizeable plantations. Keep in mind that the earliest farm implements were very crude with most of them being handmade and wooden which can be verified by those on display in the Coats Heritage and Cotton Museums and in other local museums of history. Clearing three acres of land as required early on would have been an arduous task. Protecting crops and livestock would have been a constant task as that there were wild animals seeking to enjoy either the animal flesh or crops.
Our Harnett area was part of the Naval Stores industry. Our long leaf pines were bled for resinous juices to make tar, pitch, and turpentine which were used for waterproofing the rigging and hulls of early wooden sailing vessels. Several pieces of scarred pine can be seen in our museum and many “lightard” stumps are still evident in our woods. Naval stores tools are on occasion found in the barns of early farms of our area.
I’ll leave you in the woods of early days and let you wonder if your ancestors were grubbing out roots, building strong fences and houses, slashing long leaf pines for naval products or surviving from one growing season to the next.
This I do know. In September of 1992, the CACC recognized the Barbour’s Grocery as the Business Focus of the Week. The Barbour family had purchased the already established business in 1977 from Howard Barnes who was likely the first licensed radio repairman in Coats. The business dated back to 1939-40 when Woodrow Langdon operated a store there for about a year. His brother-in-law Howard Barnes and sister Iris Langdon Barnes were operating it when it was sold to the Barbour family.
The Barbour’s had carried on the “Mom and Pop” store atmosphere of business. Doyle and Ethel Barbour have four children who all assisted in the store before leaving home: Karen Barbour Etheridge, Timothy Barbour, Sonja Barbour and Jennifer Barbour (Daily Record Sept. 3, 1992).
Would you be surprised to know that the Barnes family of our area was one of the largest landowners having more than two thousand acres back in the day?
I do know that Curtis Matthews, 82, of Coats, had died on Thursday. He was the son of the late James Eddie Matthews. The retired farmer’s services were held at the Rose and Graham Funeral Home Chapel with burial in the Williams Family Cemetery. Surviving him was a sister, Grace M. Dixon of Coats (Daily Record Sept.4, 1992). Do you remember Mrs. Grace Dixon from the post office?
Coats lost a brave soldier in September of 1992. Retired Army Sgt. Major Kenneth E. Turlington, 58, of rural Coats, had died at his home on Sunday. Services were at Oak Grove Baptist Cemetery. His wife Jutta R. Turlington and children-Alexander K. Turlington and Diana Matthews survived him. Clyde Turlington, Grace Freeman and Mildred Hudson were his siblings (Daily Record Sept. 7, 1992).
When you read the word Turlington, do you think of Turlington’s Crossroads? The Turlingtons off Highway 27 can trace their ancestry from William Turlington just as the Turlingtons on Highway 55. The family has the same ancestral father William Turlington. William was married twice and some of William’s descendants are from his first wife Indea while others are by his second wife Elizabeth. So when one set states that they are not from that set of Turlingtons, in reality they are because they have the same paternal ancestor.
An interesting note is that the museum down at Turlingtons Crossroads is a Turlington ancestral home as is the home of Jutta Turlington on McLamb Road.
Wonder if their ancestors grew okra. Belle wrote that she and Thomas Williams grew an okra vine to the height of 15 feet. The running variety had okra 25 inches long and 5 inches in diameter (Daily Record Sept. 8, 1992).
When I was typing this it occurred to me I always think of Belle and the Senior Citizens Center while I think of Thomas as being the mail carrier who always waved at my siblings as we were chopping some crops on our Johnson farm. Yes –children did once chop tobacco, corn and cotton in the olden days. Being a younger sibling, I also remember my older siblings helping me keep up and not complaining about it. However, guess whom I think of when we talk about giant vegetables. If you thought of Danny Coats, you‘re correct. Danny could grow monstrous cantaloupes to share with neighbors.
The Coats Jr. Order sponsored the Blue Grass Festival. Wonder if Christine and Rupert Parrish were back in time for it? The couple had traveled for nineteen days in the western United States. They traveled 7,400 miles and visited lots of the natural landmarks; saw lots of friends and relatives at the various points of travel (Daily Record Sept.10, 1992).
Thank you-Marie Salmon, for sharing with the museum years of your great interaction with the Coats students. What an arduous task it must have been to put the videos together for showing in our Theater Room. Marie is truly an “Unsung Hero”.