August 11, 2017 Coats Museum News
Recall last week that the faculty at Coats High School had selected six girls from each grade in high school to compete for the Miss Coats High Beauty Pageant. The Nov. 12 edition of the Daily Record printed the winners of the contest. Sandra Wolf, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Wolf, was crowned the winner. Ann Ennis, daughter of Mr. Bronnie Ennis, was first runner-up and Miss Congeniality. Debbie Jones, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dallas Jones, was selected as second runner-up. Bettie Jo Turlington was third place and was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R.E. “Buck” Turlington.
The death angel had returned to Coats and had taken Mrs. Mabel Stewart from her earthly family and friends. She had died at the Good Hope Hospital on Thursday. Survivors included her husband, George T. Stewart; six daughters-Elsie Taylor, Juanita Stewart, Georgia Ryals, Ethel Glover, Carolyn Walters, and Esther Faye Stewart and five sons-Winston, Rufus, Woodrow, Haywood, and Fleming Stewart (Daily Record Nov 15, 1963).
Does it seem that there was a disproportionate number of individuals dying with the name “Stewart”. Here is another. Mrs. Ida Stewart had died on Friday. Her services were held at the Buies Creek Baptist Church by Rev. Weldon Johnson and Rev. Howard Beard. Her burial was in the Harnett Memorial Park. Surviving Mrs. Stewart were her husband, Shelton Stewart; one son-Earl and one daughter-Mrs. Mary Hazel Byrd. Her two brother were Joe and Willie Cannady and two sisters-Mrs. Paul Stephenson and Mrs. Ann Hawley (Daily Record Nov. 18, 1963).
Luther W. Lucas was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Lucas of Route 3, Dunn.PFC Lucas had returned to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii after participating in Exercise Dusty Trail II. The eighteen year-old had entered the US Army in 1962 and had completed basic training at Fort Benning, GA (Daily Record Nov. 19, 1963).
How many men and women from Coats and the surrounding area would you guess have worn a military uniform? Is it possible to put such a list together? Did the husbands of the following ladies from the Coats Baptist Church serve in the armed forces? I do know the Nov. 20, 1963 edition of the Daily Record reported that the Ruth Eller Class of the Coats Baptist Church had met at the home of Mary Jo Mann. Eloise Lee was program presenter. The Gleaners Class of the same church met at the home of Mrs. Howard Penny. Miss Mattie Bain presented the program. Those who attended were Mrs. Virginia Pollard, Mrs. Blanche Gregory, Mrs. W.E. Nichols, Mrs. Edna Ennis, Mrs. Dorothy Penny, Mrs. Grace Penny, Mrs. Elma Langdon, Mrs. Louine Stewart, Mrs. Dixie Ruth Smith, and Mrs. Kathyrn Phillips.
The Woman’s Club met at the home of Mrs. Ora Pond Hawley and Mrs. Bertha Westbrook presented the program. Mr. and Mrs. M.O. Phillips, Mr. and Mrs. Earl Stewart and their children traveled to Mississippi for the Thanksgiving holidays. Back in Coats, Mrs. Wilma Byrd was a patient in Rex Hospital (Daily Record Nov. 21. 1963).
Ironically while we were volunteering at the museum last Thursday, Wilma Byrd Johnson called to share that she knew the answers to some of the questions from the July 27th Coats Museum News. Wilma said that Mrs. Addie Parrish was her mother and indeed Mrs. Parrish had been the last living widow of a CSA veteran. She was truly a teen bride when she married. Wilma is sister to Belle Williams and is also the mother of Joe Byrd who honorably served in the US Armed Forces and is now recognized as an accomplished artist and in high school he entertained the student body with his musical talents along with his cousin Gary Williams. Thank you for calling, Wilma, teachers have wonderful memories of Joe, Sharon and Elaine.
The calendar indicated that it was Thanksgiving and how thankful Warren and Alice Stewart Ennis must have been for the arrival of a baby daughter at Good Hope Hospital (Daily Record Nov. 21, 1963). Was this Donna?
Mrs. W.E. Nichols, a living legend for many years in the small community of Coats, continued to be involved in the life of the town and church. She presented the program for the Fidelis Class of Coats Baptist. She challenged her fellow classmates to give personal comments about their thankfulness (Daily Record Nov. 22, 1963).
Did that date on the newspaper bring back any memories? I do know that Mrs. Ben B. Forbis had joined the Carolina Power and Light Company in Raleigh as a stenographer. The former Arlene Turlington was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C.J. Turlington. She had graduated from Coats High School and Peace College (Daily Record Dec. 2, 1963).
Does anyone know what a stenographer did? No-then does anyone remember going to a hunting club? Several Coats men and their hunting dogs had attended the Marks Creek Hunting Club near Wendell. There were forty-four hunting dogs entries. Warren Ennis owned the first place dog, Whitey, an English setter. Second place was won by Lemon, a pointer owned by Leon Smith of Coats, also (Daily Record Dec. 4, 1963). Big question—what did the dogs hunt?
According to Roger Weaver, SR 1701 from SR 1558 to NC 27 was paved for 1.5 miles (Daily Record Dec. 11, 1963). Who knows the current names of those two secondary roads? Does anyone remember when Mr. Carl Hough and Mr. Albert Regan drove those big yellowish road graders to keep the dirt roads somewhat level? Some of you might remember when there were road gangs made up of inmates to keep the bushes cut beside the roads. What were the tools they used to hack down those briers and bushes that grew on the ditch banks? Did they call them sling blades and brier knives?
Good news came to the faculty at Coats High School. The school had won $3,000 worth of visual aids equipment. The equipment included overhead projectors, classroom units, transparency printers and a year’s supply of film and paper. Coats was one of 500 school systems to win the award from Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. Who was responsible for getting the visual aids teaching tools? It was none other than M.O. Phillips who was the school audio-visual arts coordinator (Daily Record Dec. 11, 1963).
Rev. C.W. Kimbrough of Ebenezer Presbyterian Church was speaker at the Coats Woman’s Club where he spoke on “The Meaning of Christmas.” The club met at the home of Mary Jo Mann. The group planned a sunshine basket for Mrs. Owen Odum, a shut-in for Christmas (Daily Record Dec. 11, 1963).
Most of you know Barbara Gardner but how many of you remember Mrs. Patsy Hicks? Patsy had an incredible voice and she entertained the Ruth Eller and Gleaners Classes at Coats Baptist where Barbara presented the devotion to the eighty members, husbands, and church officers.
Conrey D. Flowers, Aviation Fire Control Technical Airman, USN, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher Flowers, had graduated from the Aviation Fire Control Technician School in Memphis, TN (Daily Record Dec. 17, 1963).
Mrs. Jesse H. Parrish, 77, of Coats, had died on Monday. Her services were at Coats Baptist conducted by Rev. Howard Beard. Mrs. Parrish was survived by two children-Mrs. Vic Lee and Percy Parrish of Coats; two sisters-Mrs.Polly Massingill and Mrs. Addie Parrish; one brother-Robert Dorman (Daily Record Dec. 17, 1963). Was this another Addie Parrish?
Christmas is a wonderful time for family and friends to gather. The Coats Class of 1956 picked that time to meet at Porter’s Restaurant for a class reunion. Those who attended were Mr. and Mrs. Douglas West, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Styons, Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Honeycutt, Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Benner, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Capps, Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Dwight Tripp and Mrs. Betty Johnson (Daily Record Dec. 23, 1963). Who knows where the Porter’s Restaurant was located in 1963?
As the 1963 calendar gave way to 1964, the Daily Record, Dec. 24, 1963 issue reported that Donald R. Stewart, 18, son of Mr. and Mrs. Elton Stewart of Route One, Coats had attended nine weeks of recruit training at the Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois.
Those of you who faithfully follow this column, you are well aware that Coats and its surrounding communities have given up some of their best men and women to wear an American military uniform. Most of them in uniforms came home to share their stories while some gave their life for our freedom. The volunteers at the Coats Museum have been collecting names and information about those individuals who wore the military uniforms from the time of the American Revolution to current enrollment.
Since 2001, hundreds of our local soldiers have attended open houses and military events sponsored by the Coats Museum to share their military information. Many came forth to be interviewed while others helped collect military information of family and classmates- some who live in other towns or states. Others responded to the plea in the Coats Museum News column for military artifacts and military information. Reading family genealogies in the museum, heritage books, news paper articles, scrapbooks, obituaries and cemeteries supplied us with many names. The list could go on how we have sought out our defenders of the red, white and blue.
Our thousands of volunteer hours of researching has come to an end as we are now fine tuning the proof of the book “Defenders of the Red, White and Blue.” Thank you goes to the hundreds who came forth. We look forward to sharing the final results at our next open house which will also showcase some new exhibits.
Recall last week that the faculty at Coats High School had selected six girls from each grade in high school to compete for the Miss Coats High Beauty Pageant. The Nov. 12 edition of the Daily Record printed the winners of the contest. Sandra Wolf, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Wolf, was crowned the winner. Ann Ennis, daughter of Mr. Bronnie Ennis, was first runner-up and Miss Congeniality. Debbie Jones, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dallas Jones, was selected as second runner-up. Bettie Jo Turlington was third place and was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R.E. “Buck” Turlington.
The death angel had returned to Coats and had taken Mrs. Mabel Stewart from her earthly family and friends. She had died at the Good Hope Hospital on Thursday. Survivors included her husband, George T. Stewart; six daughters-Elsie Taylor, Juanita Stewart, Georgia Ryals, Ethel Glover, Carolyn Walters, and Esther Faye Stewart and five sons-Winston, Rufus, Woodrow, Haywood, and Fleming Stewart (Daily Record Nov 15, 1963).
Does it seem that there was a disproportionate number of individuals dying with the name “Stewart”. Here is another. Mrs. Ida Stewart had died on Friday. Her services were held at the Buies Creek Baptist Church by Rev. Weldon Johnson and Rev. Howard Beard. Her burial was in the Harnett Memorial Park. Surviving Mrs. Stewart were her husband, Shelton Stewart; one son-Earl and one daughter-Mrs. Mary Hazel Byrd. Her two brother were Joe and Willie Cannady and two sisters-Mrs. Paul Stephenson and Mrs. Ann Hawley (Daily Record Nov. 18, 1963).
Luther W. Lucas was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Lucas of Route 3, Dunn.PFC Lucas had returned to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii after participating in Exercise Dusty Trail II. The eighteen year-old had entered the US Army in 1962 and had completed basic training at Fort Benning, GA (Daily Record Nov. 19, 1963).
How many men and women from Coats and the surrounding area would you guess have worn a military uniform? Is it possible to put such a list together? Did the husbands of the following ladies from the Coats Baptist Church serve in the armed forces? I do know the Nov. 20, 1963 edition of the Daily Record reported that the Ruth Eller Class of the Coats Baptist Church had met at the home of Mary Jo Mann. Eloise Lee was program presenter. The Gleaners Class of the same church met at the home of Mrs. Howard Penny. Miss Mattie Bain presented the program. Those who attended were Mrs. Virginia Pollard, Mrs. Blanche Gregory, Mrs. W.E. Nichols, Mrs. Edna Ennis, Mrs. Dorothy Penny, Mrs. Grace Penny, Mrs. Elma Langdon, Mrs. Louine Stewart, Mrs. Dixie Ruth Smith, and Mrs. Kathyrn Phillips.
The Woman’s Club met at the home of Mrs. Ora Pond Hawley and Mrs. Bertha Westbrook presented the program. Mr. and Mrs. M.O. Phillips, Mr. and Mrs. Earl Stewart and their children traveled to Mississippi for the Thanksgiving holidays. Back in Coats, Mrs. Wilma Byrd was a patient in Rex Hospital (Daily Record Nov. 21. 1963).
Ironically while we were volunteering at the museum last Thursday, Wilma Byrd Johnson called to share that she knew the answers to some of the questions from the July 27th Coats Museum News. Wilma said that Mrs. Addie Parrish was her mother and indeed Mrs. Parrish had been the last living widow of a CSA veteran. She was truly a teen bride when she married. Wilma is sister to Belle Williams and is also the mother of Joe Byrd who honorably served in the US Armed Forces and is now recognized as an accomplished artist and in high school he entertained the student body with his musical talents along with his cousin Gary Williams. Thank you for calling, Wilma, teachers have wonderful memories of Joe, Sharon and Elaine.
The calendar indicated that it was Thanksgiving and how thankful Warren and Alice Stewart Ennis must have been for the arrival of a baby daughter at Good Hope Hospital (Daily Record Nov. 21, 1963). Was this Donna?
Mrs. W.E. Nichols, a living legend for many years in the small community of Coats, continued to be involved in the life of the town and church. She presented the program for the Fidelis Class of Coats Baptist. She challenged her fellow classmates to give personal comments about their thankfulness (Daily Record Nov. 22, 1963).
Did that date on the newspaper bring back any memories? I do know that Mrs. Ben B. Forbis had joined the Carolina Power and Light Company in Raleigh as a stenographer. The former Arlene Turlington was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C.J. Turlington. She had graduated from Coats High School and Peace College (Daily Record Dec. 2, 1963).
Does anyone know what a stenographer did? No-then does anyone remember going to a hunting club? Several Coats men and their hunting dogs had attended the Marks Creek Hunting Club near Wendell. There were forty-four hunting dogs entries. Warren Ennis owned the first place dog, Whitey, an English setter. Second place was won by Lemon, a pointer owned by Leon Smith of Coats, also (Daily Record Dec. 4, 1963). Big question—what did the dogs hunt?
According to Roger Weaver, SR 1701 from SR 1558 to NC 27 was paved for 1.5 miles (Daily Record Dec. 11, 1963). Who knows the current names of those two secondary roads? Does anyone remember when Mr. Carl Hough and Mr. Albert Regan drove those big yellowish road graders to keep the dirt roads somewhat level? Some of you might remember when there were road gangs made up of inmates to keep the bushes cut beside the roads. What were the tools they used to hack down those briers and bushes that grew on the ditch banks? Did they call them sling blades and brier knives?
Good news came to the faculty at Coats High School. The school had won $3,000 worth of visual aids equipment. The equipment included overhead projectors, classroom units, transparency printers and a year’s supply of film and paper. Coats was one of 500 school systems to win the award from Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. Who was responsible for getting the visual aids teaching tools? It was none other than M.O. Phillips who was the school audio-visual arts coordinator (Daily Record Dec. 11, 1963).
Rev. C.W. Kimbrough of Ebenezer Presbyterian Church was speaker at the Coats Woman’s Club where he spoke on “The Meaning of Christmas.” The club met at the home of Mary Jo Mann. The group planned a sunshine basket for Mrs. Owen Odum, a shut-in for Christmas (Daily Record Dec. 11, 1963).
Most of you know Barbara Gardner but how many of you remember Mrs. Patsy Hicks? Patsy had an incredible voice and she entertained the Ruth Eller and Gleaners Classes at Coats Baptist where Barbara presented the devotion to the eighty members, husbands, and church officers.
Conrey D. Flowers, Aviation Fire Control Technical Airman, USN, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher Flowers, had graduated from the Aviation Fire Control Technician School in Memphis, TN (Daily Record Dec. 17, 1963).
Mrs. Jesse H. Parrish, 77, of Coats, had died on Monday. Her services were at Coats Baptist conducted by Rev. Howard Beard. Mrs. Parrish was survived by two children-Mrs. Vic Lee and Percy Parrish of Coats; two sisters-Mrs.Polly Massingill and Mrs. Addie Parrish; one brother-Robert Dorman (Daily Record Dec. 17, 1963). Was this another Addie Parrish?
Christmas is a wonderful time for family and friends to gather. The Coats Class of 1956 picked that time to meet at Porter’s Restaurant for a class reunion. Those who attended were Mr. and Mrs. Douglas West, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Styons, Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Honeycutt, Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Benner, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Capps, Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Dwight Tripp and Mrs. Betty Johnson (Daily Record Dec. 23, 1963). Who knows where the Porter’s Restaurant was located in 1963?
As the 1963 calendar gave way to 1964, the Daily Record, Dec. 24, 1963 issue reported that Donald R. Stewart, 18, son of Mr. and Mrs. Elton Stewart of Route One, Coats had attended nine weeks of recruit training at the Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois.
Those of you who faithfully follow this column, you are well aware that Coats and its surrounding communities have given up some of their best men and women to wear an American military uniform. Most of them in uniforms came home to share their stories while some gave their life for our freedom. The volunteers at the Coats Museum have been collecting names and information about those individuals who wore the military uniforms from the time of the American Revolution to current enrollment.
Since 2001, hundreds of our local soldiers have attended open houses and military events sponsored by the Coats Museum to share their military information. Many came forth to be interviewed while others helped collect military information of family and classmates- some who live in other towns or states. Others responded to the plea in the Coats Museum News column for military artifacts and military information. Reading family genealogies in the museum, heritage books, news paper articles, scrapbooks, obituaries and cemeteries supplied us with many names. The list could go on how we have sought out our defenders of the red, white and blue.
Our thousands of volunteer hours of researching has come to an end as we are now fine tuning the proof of the book “Defenders of the Red, White and Blue.” Thank you goes to the hundreds who came forth. We look forward to sharing the final results at our next open house which will also showcase some new exhibits.
