December 12, 2013 Coats Museum News
If you would examine the dozens of notebooks that are shelved in the Research Library in our Coats Museum, you will find a 4 inch notebook with the title ”Aviators”. Within it are the pictures of local licensed pilots and, in many cases, even the picture of their aircraft. One of the many pilots who had Coats connections was Keith Wayne Stewart who had received his instructor’s license from the River View Flying Service in Erwin where Willie B. Glover was manager and operator (Dunn Dispatch April 21, 1947).
Many of the Coats readers recognize Stewart as being the brother of Evangeline Stewart who recently died and others will recall that he was son of Henry Stewart who operated the corn meal in town that had the reputation of grinding the best corn meal around. In fact, recently Senator Robert Morgan was in the museum and shared that as a very young boy, he came to Coats on a mule and wagon to get corn meal ground at Stewart’s Mill. Can any of the readers recall what the Stewart Corn Meal paper bags looked like? Did the farmers get their meal in a paper bag or was theirs in cloth bags which would hold larger volumes of ground corn? Did Keith Wayne have other brothers to help him at the mill?
I do know that Frances and Daywood Langdon owned a B. Allis Chalmers tractor and farmed in the Barclaysville area. Wonder if Daywood put soda to his 1946-47 corn. The newspaper reported that 5 billion bushels of corn were produced in the 1946-47 in America-the largest on record (Dunn Dispatch April 21, 1947).
Getting his instructor’s license was likely good news to Keith Wayne’s Stewart family, but there was no good news at two other Coats homes. Bad news had been brought to the family of George Thomas Smith that he had been killed in a car wreck near Asheville. Mr. Smith was with the Calvary in WWII and was a student of Wake Forest when he was killed. A second family, which had to deal with the sting of death, was the. Bruce Gregory family. Mrs. Gregory, 31, of near Coats, had died on a Thursday. She was survived by her husband and two daughters-Elizabeth Ann and Mary Frances of the home (Harnett County News April 24, 1947).
Mrs. John Roberts of Coats was in the Harnett County Hospital. Miss Alice Anna Johnson of Coats had spent the past weekend with friends in Dunn and Misses Frances and Grace Lee Mangum of Knightdale had spent last week with a Mr. and Mrs. Williford of Coats (Dunn Dispatch April 24, 1947). Do you wonder how these bits of news found their way into the paper?
I do know that Mr. Jimmie Ennis, known to most as “Little Jimmie”, was given a birthday party supper. He lived between Coats and Benson. Two Coats students had poetry published in the National High School Poetry Anthology. Irene Jernigan who wrote “Home” was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Jernigan. Mrs. Ozella Adams taught the ninth grader. The second student winner was Laura Frances Sorrell who won with “Springtime”. She was a senior and was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.T. Sorrell, Sr. She was a student of Mrs. Pauline Putnam.
Graduation for the 1947 Coats High School graduates began with a music recital by the primary and elementary pupils. The class night program had a Civil War theme with its setting in a southern rose garden. The following are the 1947 Coats High School graduates who were the first students who were required to attend school for 12 years: Max Barnes, Algie Cobb, Ben Fish, Hugh Turlington, T.J. Turlington, Jr., Laverne Stewart, Jesse Grimes, Sylvia Blalock, Lucille Bowden, Wilma Dew, Elizabeth Franklin, Inez Jernigan, Alice Anna Johnson, Mabel Messer, Doris Miller, Nina Miller, Dorothy Parrish, Addie Pope, Grace Pope, Doris Powell, Thelma Sauls, Laura Frances Sorrell, Ellen Jane Stewart, Ada Smith, Arlene Turlington, Rena Whittington, Nora Wood, and Dorothy Stephenson (Dunn Dispatch May 1. 1947).All any of these classmates living today? Let me know.
Another death was announced in the Coats area. It was the death of Elvis B. Powell, 45, who had died early Sunday morning. He had died from complications of influenza. His services were held at the Gift PBC. His wife, Mr. Minnie Williams Powell, survived him. Mrs. Stuart Turlington was his sister (Dunn Dispatch May 5, 1947). Did you know that she was Ed Turlington’s grandmother?)
Marshals were picked for the graduating services. These marshals were selected on basis of scholarship. Alice Stewart-chief; Mildred Stewart and Billy Cutts from Grade 11; Annie Laura Barnes and Neill Barnes from Grade 10, and Laura Frances Pope and Wadeford Williams from Grade 9.
The following is a remarkable find for so many of these individuals are still alive. Those cast in the play were Cecil Langdon, Ada Lee Smith, Ben Fish, Russell Lamm, Hugh Williams, Max Barnes, Joyce Lee, Rayvon Cooke, Hunter Williams, Ruby Lee Ennis, Rubineal Upchurch, Willie Carol Honeycutt, J.W. Sorrell, Jr., Talmadge Avery, Kenneth Peacock, Hilda Ruth Messer, Felton Mills, Elton Mills, Albert Gregory, , C.L. Hough, J.C. Johnson, and Elizabeth Ann Gregory.
The minuet was composed of Charles Willis, Gwen Dixon, Betty Smith, Joanne Stephenson, Patsy Stewart, Ted Penny, Rosaline Turlington, Ann Stewart, Barbara Lucas, Carl Grimes, Sue Turlington, and Fred Williams (Harnett County News May 15, 1947).
Read next week to learn the names of many more of the students who were in Coats School in 1947 and who participated in the Glee Club for the graduation ceremony. What a list of names!
Verle Flowers of Angier shared with me that Mrs. Thelma Parrish could also have purchased some of the dry goods that she needed to make all those beautiful clothes from Lerma Parrish Lee at the Vic Lee Store which was located on the site of the former Coats Merchantile Co. operated by W.E. Nichols. How many of you remember that couple? Thanks –Verle.
A very special thank you goes to Ralph Denning for encouraging his1963 classmate, Faye Byrd, to come on board and support the Coats Museum Building Fund. Faye lives in Myrtle Beach and is a former principal. Faye came home for the 50th Reunion of the1963 Class. Faye shared that she had not been back to Coats since her brother Bernie Mack Byrd had died 12 years ago. Thank you for your memorial donation, Faye. The list of plaque donors continues to grow. Mayor Walter and Cathy Weeks are the latest donors. We welcome you aboard the project.
Dorothea Stewart Gilbert gave the museum the priceless collection of Indian artifacts that her father, Latta Stewart, found on his farm between Coats and Buies Creek. She has recently lost three loving cousins-Eugene Stewart, Christine Stewart Akerman Parrish and Evangline Stewart- and she gave a nice memorial donation to the museum in their honor—Thanks-Dorothea. Larry Stephenson recently visited the museum and gave a memorial to honor the memory of Lewis Smith from the Class of 1959. Thanks –Larry.
If you would examine the dozens of notebooks that are shelved in the Research Library in our Coats Museum, you will find a 4 inch notebook with the title ”Aviators”. Within it are the pictures of local licensed pilots and, in many cases, even the picture of their aircraft. One of the many pilots who had Coats connections was Keith Wayne Stewart who had received his instructor’s license from the River View Flying Service in Erwin where Willie B. Glover was manager and operator (Dunn Dispatch April 21, 1947).
Many of the Coats readers recognize Stewart as being the brother of Evangeline Stewart who recently died and others will recall that he was son of Henry Stewart who operated the corn meal in town that had the reputation of grinding the best corn meal around. In fact, recently Senator Robert Morgan was in the museum and shared that as a very young boy, he came to Coats on a mule and wagon to get corn meal ground at Stewart’s Mill. Can any of the readers recall what the Stewart Corn Meal paper bags looked like? Did the farmers get their meal in a paper bag or was theirs in cloth bags which would hold larger volumes of ground corn? Did Keith Wayne have other brothers to help him at the mill?
I do know that Frances and Daywood Langdon owned a B. Allis Chalmers tractor and farmed in the Barclaysville area. Wonder if Daywood put soda to his 1946-47 corn. The newspaper reported that 5 billion bushels of corn were produced in the 1946-47 in America-the largest on record (Dunn Dispatch April 21, 1947).
Getting his instructor’s license was likely good news to Keith Wayne’s Stewart family, but there was no good news at two other Coats homes. Bad news had been brought to the family of George Thomas Smith that he had been killed in a car wreck near Asheville. Mr. Smith was with the Calvary in WWII and was a student of Wake Forest when he was killed. A second family, which had to deal with the sting of death, was the. Bruce Gregory family. Mrs. Gregory, 31, of near Coats, had died on a Thursday. She was survived by her husband and two daughters-Elizabeth Ann and Mary Frances of the home (Harnett County News April 24, 1947).
Mrs. John Roberts of Coats was in the Harnett County Hospital. Miss Alice Anna Johnson of Coats had spent the past weekend with friends in Dunn and Misses Frances and Grace Lee Mangum of Knightdale had spent last week with a Mr. and Mrs. Williford of Coats (Dunn Dispatch April 24, 1947). Do you wonder how these bits of news found their way into the paper?
I do know that Mr. Jimmie Ennis, known to most as “Little Jimmie”, was given a birthday party supper. He lived between Coats and Benson. Two Coats students had poetry published in the National High School Poetry Anthology. Irene Jernigan who wrote “Home” was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Jernigan. Mrs. Ozella Adams taught the ninth grader. The second student winner was Laura Frances Sorrell who won with “Springtime”. She was a senior and was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.T. Sorrell, Sr. She was a student of Mrs. Pauline Putnam.
Graduation for the 1947 Coats High School graduates began with a music recital by the primary and elementary pupils. The class night program had a Civil War theme with its setting in a southern rose garden. The following are the 1947 Coats High School graduates who were the first students who were required to attend school for 12 years: Max Barnes, Algie Cobb, Ben Fish, Hugh Turlington, T.J. Turlington, Jr., Laverne Stewart, Jesse Grimes, Sylvia Blalock, Lucille Bowden, Wilma Dew, Elizabeth Franklin, Inez Jernigan, Alice Anna Johnson, Mabel Messer, Doris Miller, Nina Miller, Dorothy Parrish, Addie Pope, Grace Pope, Doris Powell, Thelma Sauls, Laura Frances Sorrell, Ellen Jane Stewart, Ada Smith, Arlene Turlington, Rena Whittington, Nora Wood, and Dorothy Stephenson (Dunn Dispatch May 1. 1947).All any of these classmates living today? Let me know.
Another death was announced in the Coats area. It was the death of Elvis B. Powell, 45, who had died early Sunday morning. He had died from complications of influenza. His services were held at the Gift PBC. His wife, Mr. Minnie Williams Powell, survived him. Mrs. Stuart Turlington was his sister (Dunn Dispatch May 5, 1947). Did you know that she was Ed Turlington’s grandmother?)
Marshals were picked for the graduating services. These marshals were selected on basis of scholarship. Alice Stewart-chief; Mildred Stewart and Billy Cutts from Grade 11; Annie Laura Barnes and Neill Barnes from Grade 10, and Laura Frances Pope and Wadeford Williams from Grade 9.
The following is a remarkable find for so many of these individuals are still alive. Those cast in the play were Cecil Langdon, Ada Lee Smith, Ben Fish, Russell Lamm, Hugh Williams, Max Barnes, Joyce Lee, Rayvon Cooke, Hunter Williams, Ruby Lee Ennis, Rubineal Upchurch, Willie Carol Honeycutt, J.W. Sorrell, Jr., Talmadge Avery, Kenneth Peacock, Hilda Ruth Messer, Felton Mills, Elton Mills, Albert Gregory, , C.L. Hough, J.C. Johnson, and Elizabeth Ann Gregory.
The minuet was composed of Charles Willis, Gwen Dixon, Betty Smith, Joanne Stephenson, Patsy Stewart, Ted Penny, Rosaline Turlington, Ann Stewart, Barbara Lucas, Carl Grimes, Sue Turlington, and Fred Williams (Harnett County News May 15, 1947).
Read next week to learn the names of many more of the students who were in Coats School in 1947 and who participated in the Glee Club for the graduation ceremony. What a list of names!
Verle Flowers of Angier shared with me that Mrs. Thelma Parrish could also have purchased some of the dry goods that she needed to make all those beautiful clothes from Lerma Parrish Lee at the Vic Lee Store which was located on the site of the former Coats Merchantile Co. operated by W.E. Nichols. How many of you remember that couple? Thanks –Verle.
A very special thank you goes to Ralph Denning for encouraging his1963 classmate, Faye Byrd, to come on board and support the Coats Museum Building Fund. Faye lives in Myrtle Beach and is a former principal. Faye came home for the 50th Reunion of the1963 Class. Faye shared that she had not been back to Coats since her brother Bernie Mack Byrd had died 12 years ago. Thank you for your memorial donation, Faye. The list of plaque donors continues to grow. Mayor Walter and Cathy Weeks are the latest donors. We welcome you aboard the project.
Dorothea Stewart Gilbert gave the museum the priceless collection of Indian artifacts that her father, Latta Stewart, found on his farm between Coats and Buies Creek. She has recently lost three loving cousins-Eugene Stewart, Christine Stewart Akerman Parrish and Evangline Stewart- and she gave a nice memorial donation to the museum in their honor—Thanks-Dorothea. Larry Stephenson recently visited the museum and gave a memorial to honor the memory of Lewis Smith from the Class of 1959. Thanks –Larry.