April 5, 2012 Coats Museum News
The Harnett County News January 6, 1927 edition wrote that R. Getty Browning, principal Locating and Claims Engineer, wrote on January 4, 1927 that he had inspected the location of the new highway from Erwin (Note that the town is no longer called Duke.) to the county line north of Angier. The new road was to start at No. 60 north of Erwin and continue on the west side of the Durham and Southern Railroad all the way to Wake County. The county highway forces under Superintendent Ballard were to begin work right away, starting between Coats and Angier.
Where did the funds come from that paid for this road? A bill to provide one and a half cents of the four cents –per- gallon state tax on gasoline be divided among the 100 counties to help the counties take care of the county road hands and to build county roads was introduced by Senator J. Clyde Ray (Harnett County News January 20, 1927).
Do any of our readers recall eating in the old Coats School cafeteria that was located in the basement of the 1921 brick school building? Was this before or after Mrs. Roycroft sold soup and sandwiches to the students. Was it before or after the home economics students prepared lunches? Does the name Mrs. Westbrook of Dunn bring back any memories of a basement cafeteria? This I do know. According to the Harnett County News January 20, 1927 paper there was a “real “student cafeteria at the Lillington School. I’m not sure that the cafeteria at Coats was “real “ or not, but the students did have a separate building for a cafeteria in 1957.
The month was February and the Coats town commissioners met on February 5th when the town minutes recorded that a request was passed to ask all persons in town to clean up their premises due to unsanitary conditions, opening the chance for sicknesses of the town residents. The Coats Drug Company was asked to drain the water out of the ditch in front of that store. WOW! Did you recall reading earlier that the Main and McKinley Streets had deep ditches. In fact did all the streets have ditches in 1927? How about dirt streets?
Wonder if the citizens thought the government was getting into their faces and controlling their lives too much in 1927? It is recorded that in 1927 that the N.C. State legislators passed into law that vehicles on public highways must carry lights at night. It would be a misdemeanor to drive without a light to indicate that a vehicle was on the road unless it was in the rays of other lights. The fine and fee were fixed (The Harnett County News February 24, 1927). Surely the automobiles were made with lights!! Right? Were the legislators referring to buggies, wagons and two wheeled vehicles?
The Coats town board was adamant about cleaning up the town. They passed an ordinance to make it unlawful for chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks or any other form of similar nature to run at large and effective as of April 1, 1927. Was the town pulling an April Fool’s joke? Afraid not—there would be a $5.00 fine for each offense after being notified by Mayor A.F. Grimes or proper officials. Do not most of these fowls look the same as the neighbors’ fowl (Coats Town Board Meeting Minutes February 1927)?
The “Harnett County News” March 10, 1927 edition reported that T. Langdon, Turlington, Ennis, Stewart, and A. Langdon starred for Coats basketball team as they snatched the much coveted L.M. Chaffin Basketball Cup from Erwin. L.C. McRae reported that information to the paper.
Wonder where the L.M. Chaffin cup is today? The Coats Museum was given the trophies left at the old Coats High School after the Coats Elementary School was built. The goal of the Coats Museum folks is one day to display all of them along with other school artifacts in one room o f the Heritage Museum which will be devoted to education, a library, and genealogy research.
The “Harnett County News” March 10, 1927 copy featured a column on “Bailey’s Crossroads News”. The column stated that the Oakdale PTA meeting was called off. One of the specials on the program was an “Old Folks Blueback Spelling Contest”. Those in the crossroads area surely knew Mrs. B.R. Johnson and were sorry to learn that she was seriously ill from a stroke of paralysis. Dr. H.H. Utley of Benson (formerly a Coats doctor) took Mrs. Johnson to Benson where she could receive better medical attention. Her sons, Emerit Johnson of Greenville, N.C. and Jimmie Johnson of Smithfield, N.C. were called to their mother’s bedside.
The same column also recorded that the wife of Darius Norris had died suddenly on Saturday evening, leaving a baby of about four weeks old. Also, Mr. Ralph Raynor had returned home on Saturday afternoon from his work as a bricklayer in Rocky Mount, N.C. Mrs. Alice Raynor lost her house on Saturday evening by fire which was thought to have caught somewhere around the chimney.
Is this Bailey’s Crossroads News not wonderful reading for the folks of that area who also learned that Lee Gregory, a well-known young man of that section, had accepted a position with Carolina Power and Light Company and was located in Roxboro, N. C. He was the son of Mrs. Mary Ann Gregory. Was she kin to the Dorman family? Mr. and Mrs. F.L. Denning had spent Saturday at the home of Mr. and Mrs. B. D. Dixon. Also Monnie Bailey had spent Sunday at the home of Mr. C. L. Bailey.
Does anyone who lived during 1927 recall what major event happened in the Coats area during the winter of that year? Read next week’s column to find your answer. Becky Adams and I went to the Erwin History Room and do they ever have lots of history. Jack Avery was the volunteer on the site. Do you know who his father was? Also there is a wooden grave marker for B.A. Ryals. The Coats Museum folks are busy researching for information on white plantation owner William Ryals and his slave J ames Ryals who moved to Georgia. Dr. Moses Jones, a great-great grandson of James Ryals, is coming to this area to do a documentary of his quest to find more about his relative. He is bringing a large group of people with him and they will attend church services at Mt. Pisgah on Sunday, the April 15th, film some along the Cape Fear River region and spend some time at the Coats Museum on the 16th.
PLEASE BE MINDFUL THAT THIS COATS MUSEUM NEWS FOR THE DAILY RECORD WAS PRINITED ON APRIL 5, 2012
The Harnett County News January 6, 1927 edition wrote that R. Getty Browning, principal Locating and Claims Engineer, wrote on January 4, 1927 that he had inspected the location of the new highway from Erwin (Note that the town is no longer called Duke.) to the county line north of Angier. The new road was to start at No. 60 north of Erwin and continue on the west side of the Durham and Southern Railroad all the way to Wake County. The county highway forces under Superintendent Ballard were to begin work right away, starting between Coats and Angier.
Where did the funds come from that paid for this road? A bill to provide one and a half cents of the four cents –per- gallon state tax on gasoline be divided among the 100 counties to help the counties take care of the county road hands and to build county roads was introduced by Senator J. Clyde Ray (Harnett County News January 20, 1927).
Do any of our readers recall eating in the old Coats School cafeteria that was located in the basement of the 1921 brick school building? Was this before or after Mrs. Roycroft sold soup and sandwiches to the students. Was it before or after the home economics students prepared lunches? Does the name Mrs. Westbrook of Dunn bring back any memories of a basement cafeteria? This I do know. According to the Harnett County News January 20, 1927 paper there was a “real “student cafeteria at the Lillington School. I’m not sure that the cafeteria at Coats was “real “ or not, but the students did have a separate building for a cafeteria in 1957.
The month was February and the Coats town commissioners met on February 5th when the town minutes recorded that a request was passed to ask all persons in town to clean up their premises due to unsanitary conditions, opening the chance for sicknesses of the town residents. The Coats Drug Company was asked to drain the water out of the ditch in front of that store. WOW! Did you recall reading earlier that the Main and McKinley Streets had deep ditches. In fact did all the streets have ditches in 1927? How about dirt streets?
Wonder if the citizens thought the government was getting into their faces and controlling their lives too much in 1927? It is recorded that in 1927 that the N.C. State legislators passed into law that vehicles on public highways must carry lights at night. It would be a misdemeanor to drive without a light to indicate that a vehicle was on the road unless it was in the rays of other lights. The fine and fee were fixed (The Harnett County News February 24, 1927). Surely the automobiles were made with lights!! Right? Were the legislators referring to buggies, wagons and two wheeled vehicles?
The Coats town board was adamant about cleaning up the town. They passed an ordinance to make it unlawful for chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks or any other form of similar nature to run at large and effective as of April 1, 1927. Was the town pulling an April Fool’s joke? Afraid not—there would be a $5.00 fine for each offense after being notified by Mayor A.F. Grimes or proper officials. Do not most of these fowls look the same as the neighbors’ fowl (Coats Town Board Meeting Minutes February 1927)?
The “Harnett County News” March 10, 1927 edition reported that T. Langdon, Turlington, Ennis, Stewart, and A. Langdon starred for Coats basketball team as they snatched the much coveted L.M. Chaffin Basketball Cup from Erwin. L.C. McRae reported that information to the paper.
Wonder where the L.M. Chaffin cup is today? The Coats Museum was given the trophies left at the old Coats High School after the Coats Elementary School was built. The goal of the Coats Museum folks is one day to display all of them along with other school artifacts in one room o f the Heritage Museum which will be devoted to education, a library, and genealogy research.
The “Harnett County News” March 10, 1927 copy featured a column on “Bailey’s Crossroads News”. The column stated that the Oakdale PTA meeting was called off. One of the specials on the program was an “Old Folks Blueback Spelling Contest”. Those in the crossroads area surely knew Mrs. B.R. Johnson and were sorry to learn that she was seriously ill from a stroke of paralysis. Dr. H.H. Utley of Benson (formerly a Coats doctor) took Mrs. Johnson to Benson where she could receive better medical attention. Her sons, Emerit Johnson of Greenville, N.C. and Jimmie Johnson of Smithfield, N.C. were called to their mother’s bedside.
The same column also recorded that the wife of Darius Norris had died suddenly on Saturday evening, leaving a baby of about four weeks old. Also, Mr. Ralph Raynor had returned home on Saturday afternoon from his work as a bricklayer in Rocky Mount, N.C. Mrs. Alice Raynor lost her house on Saturday evening by fire which was thought to have caught somewhere around the chimney.
Is this Bailey’s Crossroads News not wonderful reading for the folks of that area who also learned that Lee Gregory, a well-known young man of that section, had accepted a position with Carolina Power and Light Company and was located in Roxboro, N. C. He was the son of Mrs. Mary Ann Gregory. Was she kin to the Dorman family? Mr. and Mrs. F.L. Denning had spent Saturday at the home of Mr. and Mrs. B. D. Dixon. Also Monnie Bailey had spent Sunday at the home of Mr. C. L. Bailey.
Does anyone who lived during 1927 recall what major event happened in the Coats area during the winter of that year? Read next week’s column to find your answer. Becky Adams and I went to the Erwin History Room and do they ever have lots of history. Jack Avery was the volunteer on the site. Do you know who his father was? Also there is a wooden grave marker for B.A. Ryals. The Coats Museum folks are busy researching for information on white plantation owner William Ryals and his slave J ames Ryals who moved to Georgia. Dr. Moses Jones, a great-great grandson of James Ryals, is coming to this area to do a documentary of his quest to find more about his relative. He is bringing a large group of people with him and they will attend church services at Mt. Pisgah on Sunday, the April 15th, film some along the Cape Fear River region and spend some time at the Coats Museum on the 16th.
PLEASE BE MINDFUL THAT THIS COATS MUSEUM NEWS FOR THE DAILY RECORD WAS PRINITED ON APRIL 5, 2012