August 8, 2025 Coats Museum News
Fall was a busy season for many Coats folks in November of 1995. Alice Stewart Ennis had announced the engagement of her daughter, Donna Dare Ennis to Brandon Heath Turlington. Donna had attended St. Mary’s College and JCC. Her fiancé was the son of Jeffrey Turlington and Wanda Ennis Turlington Perkins. Brandon attended WTC (Daily Record Nov. 14, 1995).
Billy and Peggie Pope were in charge of the cooking for the United Methodist Church at its annual fish fry fundraiser. Does that not sound just like Billy and Peggie? Keith Clevenger was recovering from surgery. The folks in Coats surely showed him kindness.
Elsewhere the descendants of A.D. (Doll) Johnson met for a reunion in Sampson County. He was grandfather of Evelyn Johnson Roberts and great grandfather of Sue Ennis Penny and Charles Ennis. There are other descendants in the Coats that you might recognize the names of such as Marvin and his son Larry Johnson of the CHS Class of 1956. During Mr. J.C. Hawley’ tenure as principal and maybe other principals as well, Mrs. Lillian Johnson Earp was in charge of the Coats High School cafeteria. Lillian’s sister, Mrs. Lawrence, was also a cafeteria worker there.
Some might ask since my maiden name is Johnson, was I a descendant of Doll Johnson. He might have come from the Sill Johnson line but my connection to that family is that Louis Johnson married one of my dad’s older sisters, Nolie Johnson.
A.D. was also a Primitive Baptist preacher and owned a considerable amount of property in and around Coats. A.D.’s son, Louis Johnson, was one of the first merchants in Coats where he operated a grocer and meat market with son Marvin. The meat market was said to have had sawdust on the floor. Do you question why the family reunion was in Sampson County while Coats was his home place? The answer to that question can be found in our Research Library along with other info on that family. There is even a picture of Doll with Preacher J.T. Coats. You recognize that name-right?
Since 1925, the old Coats High School would graduate students. Some graduates stayed around the area while others headed off to new territories. College, military, jobs, marriages and other reasons took their names off the US Census records collected every ten years in Coats.
Eugene Stewart, son of Guy Stewart, is of the Stewart family that has been around even before there was a town named Coats. Guy stayed, Eugene stayed as did Don Stewart, but Don’s sister Lou Anne Stewart Lesley did not stay. She had married Todd Lesley and had a daughter Sara Gray Lesley who was actually born in Nov. of 1995 (Daily Record Nov. 16.1995)
I taught Lou Ann and she came by the museum several years ago with her very young daughter, and then a few years ago came by again with that beautiful daughter who was aspiring to get her PHD. That family surely flies high whether it is in airplanes or in academics.
Have you ever wondered why some people are in the same family yet they spell their maiden names differently? For example, take the Coats name. My late husband H.L. is a descendant of John Rufus Coats of Johnston County who was the first chairman of the board of commissioners in Johnston County. In that family, there is descendant that you will recognize because he was the force behind the origination of the Albert Coates Institute of Government in Chapel that began with one but currently has a tremendous number who train and advise officials in public governmental law. His name was Albert Coates. His roots are on Highway 210 just a short distance from the Providence Presbyterian Church. Down the road a bit there are two crossroads one named Johnson’s Crossroads and the other Coats Crossroads. The same Coats family roots yet name spelling varies.
When I was at Carolina, I interviewed Nannie Coates who I want to think was Albert’s sister or very close relative and I recall laughingly that she said it had something to do with the perception of how much education the family had acquired.
That leads me to another memory. W.A. Johnson of Lillington was my dad’s attorney. I assume Dad picked Mr. W.A. because my older sister Mildred Johnson Dorn was in college with him at Campbell and possibly they crossed paths at UNC later but don’t really know but I do know they kept in touch at various functions in later years. The question had come up about the Johnston-Johnson spelling between Millie and W.A. according to a conversation we had with W.A. when Dad’s estate was being settled. My dad’s maternal ancestors spelled their name Johnston while his paternal ones spelled it Johnson.
Is there any validity to the education point? Maybe-my dad’s maternal grandfather was a traveling school teacher and his family did spell the name Johnston until a generation later. What do you think? Was it education or just the error of a census taker’s recording of the misspelling along the passage of time?
I do know Cooke is another name that had two spellings and I will share information on the Garner Cooke family next week.
Mark your calendar for August 23rd and join the Lions Club for Bingo night at 5:00 at Coats Sr. Center. Will share more next week, but for now thank Hilda Pope for supporting the Coats Museum Building Fund for giving a memorial for Edna Lockamy.
Fall was a busy season for many Coats folks in November of 1995. Alice Stewart Ennis had announced the engagement of her daughter, Donna Dare Ennis to Brandon Heath Turlington. Donna had attended St. Mary’s College and JCC. Her fiancé was the son of Jeffrey Turlington and Wanda Ennis Turlington Perkins. Brandon attended WTC (Daily Record Nov. 14, 1995).
Billy and Peggie Pope were in charge of the cooking for the United Methodist Church at its annual fish fry fundraiser. Does that not sound just like Billy and Peggie? Keith Clevenger was recovering from surgery. The folks in Coats surely showed him kindness.
Elsewhere the descendants of A.D. (Doll) Johnson met for a reunion in Sampson County. He was grandfather of Evelyn Johnson Roberts and great grandfather of Sue Ennis Penny and Charles Ennis. There are other descendants in the Coats that you might recognize the names of such as Marvin and his son Larry Johnson of the CHS Class of 1956. During Mr. J.C. Hawley’ tenure as principal and maybe other principals as well, Mrs. Lillian Johnson Earp was in charge of the Coats High School cafeteria. Lillian’s sister, Mrs. Lawrence, was also a cafeteria worker there.
Some might ask since my maiden name is Johnson, was I a descendant of Doll Johnson. He might have come from the Sill Johnson line but my connection to that family is that Louis Johnson married one of my dad’s older sisters, Nolie Johnson.
A.D. was also a Primitive Baptist preacher and owned a considerable amount of property in and around Coats. A.D.’s son, Louis Johnson, was one of the first merchants in Coats where he operated a grocer and meat market with son Marvin. The meat market was said to have had sawdust on the floor. Do you question why the family reunion was in Sampson County while Coats was his home place? The answer to that question can be found in our Research Library along with other info on that family. There is even a picture of Doll with Preacher J.T. Coats. You recognize that name-right?
Since 1925, the old Coats High School would graduate students. Some graduates stayed around the area while others headed off to new territories. College, military, jobs, marriages and other reasons took their names off the US Census records collected every ten years in Coats.
Eugene Stewart, son of Guy Stewart, is of the Stewart family that has been around even before there was a town named Coats. Guy stayed, Eugene stayed as did Don Stewart, but Don’s sister Lou Anne Stewart Lesley did not stay. She had married Todd Lesley and had a daughter Sara Gray Lesley who was actually born in Nov. of 1995 (Daily Record Nov. 16.1995)
I taught Lou Ann and she came by the museum several years ago with her very young daughter, and then a few years ago came by again with that beautiful daughter who was aspiring to get her PHD. That family surely flies high whether it is in airplanes or in academics.
Have you ever wondered why some people are in the same family yet they spell their maiden names differently? For example, take the Coats name. My late husband H.L. is a descendant of John Rufus Coats of Johnston County who was the first chairman of the board of commissioners in Johnston County. In that family, there is descendant that you will recognize because he was the force behind the origination of the Albert Coates Institute of Government in Chapel that began with one but currently has a tremendous number who train and advise officials in public governmental law. His name was Albert Coates. His roots are on Highway 210 just a short distance from the Providence Presbyterian Church. Down the road a bit there are two crossroads one named Johnson’s Crossroads and the other Coats Crossroads. The same Coats family roots yet name spelling varies.
When I was at Carolina, I interviewed Nannie Coates who I want to think was Albert’s sister or very close relative and I recall laughingly that she said it had something to do with the perception of how much education the family had acquired.
That leads me to another memory. W.A. Johnson of Lillington was my dad’s attorney. I assume Dad picked Mr. W.A. because my older sister Mildred Johnson Dorn was in college with him at Campbell and possibly they crossed paths at UNC later but don’t really know but I do know they kept in touch at various functions in later years. The question had come up about the Johnston-Johnson spelling between Millie and W.A. according to a conversation we had with W.A. when Dad’s estate was being settled. My dad’s maternal ancestors spelled their name Johnston while his paternal ones spelled it Johnson.
Is there any validity to the education point? Maybe-my dad’s maternal grandfather was a traveling school teacher and his family did spell the name Johnston until a generation later. What do you think? Was it education or just the error of a census taker’s recording of the misspelling along the passage of time?
I do know Cooke is another name that had two spellings and I will share information on the Garner Cooke family next week.
Mark your calendar for August 23rd and join the Lions Club for Bingo night at 5:00 at Coats Sr. Center. Will share more next week, but for now thank Hilda Pope for supporting the Coats Museum Building Fund for giving a memorial for Edna Lockamy.