April 7, 2023 Coats Museum News
Many of the readers of the “Coats Museum News” column published in the Daily Record every Friday ask where in the world do I get all my information for the columns. Much of it came from reading the earlier editions of newspapers published in Harnett County. Some came from family histories, stories and interviews while other info came from informal conversations with hundreds of people. Intertwining it all together resulted in the publication of “There and Back in a Paper Canoe” published in 2005 in the Volume 1 of “Heritage of Coats, North Carolina.”
Volume 2 of that same publication shares Founder’s Corner by Joyce Turner, Pictures of Old Houses by Ruth Upchurch and Jimmy Vaughn, the History of Coats Aviation by Margaret Pope, Businesses by Sondra Smith and Gayle Sorrell, Country Stores by Ann Johnson O’Neal, Churches by Lynda Butler, Elected Officials by Gayle Sorrell, Civic Organizations by individual clubs and organizations, Ghost Towns by Ann J. O’Neal , Local Color by Dr. Ronnie Faulkner, Physicians by Dr. Linda Robinson , Military History of Harnett County by Si Harrington, Mark’s Space (a detailed history of the Barnes, Langdon, Johnson and Stewart Families) by Mark Valsame, and hundreds of family histories submitted by individual families under the guidance of Lynda Butler.
It took literally many sleepless nights and, especially for Becky Adams, to compile this massive amount of material into a program that could be published into a hardback copy by Edwards Brothers in Lillington. It was truly a team effort of many more folks to help us type it into publishable form. Patsy Avery, Barbara Gardner, Cathy Johnson, Christina Kazakavage , Eloise Lee, Betty Manning and Ethel Poole spent hours on the keyboards. Sofiane was on constant call to fix our tech problems. The two volumes (1200 pages) was one of the contributions of the Coats Museum to the 2005 Coats Centennial Project.
Money from the sale of the book enabled the Coats Museum Board of Directors help finance the construction the Cotton Museum and purchase the railroad property upon which the Kress and Nell Penny Williams Exhibit Hall is built.
Hence, when you read this column be appreciative that there were individuals from Coats who selflessly made it happen so you can enjoy the days of yesteryear and read of how some things have changed while others have remained constant.
The one thing that seems to be bit different is the fact that the youth of yesterday spent more time working in the fields during the summer months while today’s youth spend more time playing sports at recreational parks and summer trips.
Something that seems constant is the fact that the businessmen are always keeping busy. In July of 1992 the news shared that the Coats Motor Company was being painted and awnings were going up. Robby Stewart’s new Mobil Service Station was doing great business. He had improved the looks of the business by added latticework.
Belle shared that Julie Stewart had returned home after visiting for two months to her home state of Mississippi, Fort Worth, TX, Mexico and Pegosa Springs and Colorado. Tom and Pearl Tart had their daughter Joyce and husband Bobby Morton of Memphis, Tennessee visit them. Their son drove from Chapel Hill to visit his parents and grandparents.
Elsewhere, Morgan Lynn Langdon had a new sister, Logan Allison Langdon. Sandy and Tammy Langdon were the parents of the girls (Daily Record July 9, 1992).
The CACC had placed its Business Focus of the Week in front of one of its premier businesses-Pope’s Family Store. The store was part of a 16 store regional chain serving N.C. and VA. and was headquartered in Coats ,N.C. The company was established over 40 years ago. Pictured in the photo were Maggie Lee, Chester Ennis, Josephine Wood, Helen Butts, Evelyn Crosby, and Virginia Smith. Don Whittington was the chamber president (Daily Record July 9, 1992).
Coats defeated the Dunn team in the Little League Invitational. Thomas Hamilton, Gary Walden, Brooks West, Steven Tart, Bobby Sherman and Adam Ennis had played outstanding ball to win over Dunn 8-7 (Daily Record July 13, 1992).
Lunette Coats had announced the engagement of her daughter, Penny Sue Coats of Raleigh, to Anthony Desien of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Penny was a graduate of Coats High School and was employed at Dorothea Dix Hospital (Daily Record July 14, 1992).
The Coats II girls took the crown in Coats Park softball. Christi Ferrell, Casey Wagner, Jen Penny, Brandi Maynor and Mandi Byrd played for the winners (Daily Record July 15, 1992).
Bonita Messer’s friend played pranks on her birthday to commemorate her 40th (Daily Record July 16, 1992). Was the fact that it made the news prank enough?
Thomas Liles, Jr. of Smithfield had died Saturday. Surviving the former Coats native was his mother Clara Liles McLean and grandfather Crosby Liles of Coats (Daily Record July 17, 1992).
Pearl Moore of Route 2, Coats had died on Thursday. She was the widow of Junius Moore and the daughter of John William Byrd and Jenny Florence Messer Byrd. Mattie Norris was a sister of Coats (Daily Record July 17, 1992).
Death continued to reap folks with Coats connections. J. Leroy Stewart, 71, of Coats, had died on Monday. He was the retired owner of the Stewart Brothers Lumber Co. and Stewart Tire Services. His survivors were his wife Audrey Sauls Stewart; sons Kemp and Ronnie Stewart and a daughter Jeanette Pleasant. His two siblings were Gene Stewart and Rachel Langdon. His burial was in the Williams Family Cemetery (Daily Record July 17, 1992).
Question—was he the son of Felix Stewart?
This I do know. Arthur Hurd, 66, had died on Friday at his home. The native of Clark County, VA was retired from Morganite and the US Air Force. His graveside services were held with military honors at the Coats Cemetery. He was survived by his wife Hilda Hurd and five children-Hank and Judy were of Coats (Daily Record July 20, 1992).
We enjoyed many visitors on Thursday and were especially excited to see Eddie Vaughan from Fayetteville who dropped in to pick up loaned items. JoAnne Turlington and her daughter Debbie Bryce also visited bringing some treasured items for the museum collections. That Turlington family has a rich history in the Grove Township and the family has been so generous in sharing family items. We always are amazed when we have Randy and Rhonda Stephenson‘s grandson Flynn visit us when he is on track out from his Wake County year round school. We learn from him.
If you see two men working hard at the museum, they will be Lenny Parker and Randy Stephenson. These two board members have stepped up and taken on the jobs that H.L. did for years. These fellows live out of town and we are fortunate to have them care about our hometown museum.
Many of the readers of the “Coats Museum News” column published in the Daily Record every Friday ask where in the world do I get all my information for the columns. Much of it came from reading the earlier editions of newspapers published in Harnett County. Some came from family histories, stories and interviews while other info came from informal conversations with hundreds of people. Intertwining it all together resulted in the publication of “There and Back in a Paper Canoe” published in 2005 in the Volume 1 of “Heritage of Coats, North Carolina.”
Volume 2 of that same publication shares Founder’s Corner by Joyce Turner, Pictures of Old Houses by Ruth Upchurch and Jimmy Vaughn, the History of Coats Aviation by Margaret Pope, Businesses by Sondra Smith and Gayle Sorrell, Country Stores by Ann Johnson O’Neal, Churches by Lynda Butler, Elected Officials by Gayle Sorrell, Civic Organizations by individual clubs and organizations, Ghost Towns by Ann J. O’Neal , Local Color by Dr. Ronnie Faulkner, Physicians by Dr. Linda Robinson , Military History of Harnett County by Si Harrington, Mark’s Space (a detailed history of the Barnes, Langdon, Johnson and Stewart Families) by Mark Valsame, and hundreds of family histories submitted by individual families under the guidance of Lynda Butler.
It took literally many sleepless nights and, especially for Becky Adams, to compile this massive amount of material into a program that could be published into a hardback copy by Edwards Brothers in Lillington. It was truly a team effort of many more folks to help us type it into publishable form. Patsy Avery, Barbara Gardner, Cathy Johnson, Christina Kazakavage , Eloise Lee, Betty Manning and Ethel Poole spent hours on the keyboards. Sofiane was on constant call to fix our tech problems. The two volumes (1200 pages) was one of the contributions of the Coats Museum to the 2005 Coats Centennial Project.
Money from the sale of the book enabled the Coats Museum Board of Directors help finance the construction the Cotton Museum and purchase the railroad property upon which the Kress and Nell Penny Williams Exhibit Hall is built.
Hence, when you read this column be appreciative that there were individuals from Coats who selflessly made it happen so you can enjoy the days of yesteryear and read of how some things have changed while others have remained constant.
The one thing that seems to be bit different is the fact that the youth of yesterday spent more time working in the fields during the summer months while today’s youth spend more time playing sports at recreational parks and summer trips.
Something that seems constant is the fact that the businessmen are always keeping busy. In July of 1992 the news shared that the Coats Motor Company was being painted and awnings were going up. Robby Stewart’s new Mobil Service Station was doing great business. He had improved the looks of the business by added latticework.
Belle shared that Julie Stewart had returned home after visiting for two months to her home state of Mississippi, Fort Worth, TX, Mexico and Pegosa Springs and Colorado. Tom and Pearl Tart had their daughter Joyce and husband Bobby Morton of Memphis, Tennessee visit them. Their son drove from Chapel Hill to visit his parents and grandparents.
Elsewhere, Morgan Lynn Langdon had a new sister, Logan Allison Langdon. Sandy and Tammy Langdon were the parents of the girls (Daily Record July 9, 1992).
The CACC had placed its Business Focus of the Week in front of one of its premier businesses-Pope’s Family Store. The store was part of a 16 store regional chain serving N.C. and VA. and was headquartered in Coats ,N.C. The company was established over 40 years ago. Pictured in the photo were Maggie Lee, Chester Ennis, Josephine Wood, Helen Butts, Evelyn Crosby, and Virginia Smith. Don Whittington was the chamber president (Daily Record July 9, 1992).
Coats defeated the Dunn team in the Little League Invitational. Thomas Hamilton, Gary Walden, Brooks West, Steven Tart, Bobby Sherman and Adam Ennis had played outstanding ball to win over Dunn 8-7 (Daily Record July 13, 1992).
Lunette Coats had announced the engagement of her daughter, Penny Sue Coats of Raleigh, to Anthony Desien of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Penny was a graduate of Coats High School and was employed at Dorothea Dix Hospital (Daily Record July 14, 1992).
The Coats II girls took the crown in Coats Park softball. Christi Ferrell, Casey Wagner, Jen Penny, Brandi Maynor and Mandi Byrd played for the winners (Daily Record July 15, 1992).
Bonita Messer’s friend played pranks on her birthday to commemorate her 40th (Daily Record July 16, 1992). Was the fact that it made the news prank enough?
Thomas Liles, Jr. of Smithfield had died Saturday. Surviving the former Coats native was his mother Clara Liles McLean and grandfather Crosby Liles of Coats (Daily Record July 17, 1992).
Pearl Moore of Route 2, Coats had died on Thursday. She was the widow of Junius Moore and the daughter of John William Byrd and Jenny Florence Messer Byrd. Mattie Norris was a sister of Coats (Daily Record July 17, 1992).
Death continued to reap folks with Coats connections. J. Leroy Stewart, 71, of Coats, had died on Monday. He was the retired owner of the Stewart Brothers Lumber Co. and Stewart Tire Services. His survivors were his wife Audrey Sauls Stewart; sons Kemp and Ronnie Stewart and a daughter Jeanette Pleasant. His two siblings were Gene Stewart and Rachel Langdon. His burial was in the Williams Family Cemetery (Daily Record July 17, 1992).
Question—was he the son of Felix Stewart?
This I do know. Arthur Hurd, 66, had died on Friday at his home. The native of Clark County, VA was retired from Morganite and the US Air Force. His graveside services were held with military honors at the Coats Cemetery. He was survived by his wife Hilda Hurd and five children-Hank and Judy were of Coats (Daily Record July 20, 1992).
We enjoyed many visitors on Thursday and were especially excited to see Eddie Vaughan from Fayetteville who dropped in to pick up loaned items. JoAnne Turlington and her daughter Debbie Bryce also visited bringing some treasured items for the museum collections. That Turlington family has a rich history in the Grove Township and the family has been so generous in sharing family items. We always are amazed when we have Randy and Rhonda Stephenson‘s grandson Flynn visit us when he is on track out from his Wake County year round school. We learn from him.
If you see two men working hard at the museum, they will be Lenny Parker and Randy Stephenson. These two board members have stepped up and taken on the jobs that H.L. did for years. These fellows live out of town and we are fortunate to have them care about our hometown museum.