December 5, 2011 Coats Museum News
The pages of time continue to turn in the Grove Township of Harnett County. It has been over two hundred years since Dushee Shaw found his way to the area located between the current towns of Erwin and Coats .That area would later become known as Turlington’s Crossroads. It was in this area that Willis Turlington would purchase the land from the Shaws and there his sons and their descendents would inherit the land to farm, run cotton gins, saw mills and distilleries and have their own post office and schools. It is in this area that there was a halfway house on the busy Raleigh Fayetteville Stage Road. Today in 2011, the Coats Erwin Middle School sits on some of the original Shaw-Turlington property.
In 1925, it would be the home of Henry A. Turlington, son of the former Sheriff Willie H. Turlington. The Harnett County News February 5, 1925 would contain an article of praise on Henry Turlington from Grove Township. The editor stated that Mr. Turlington was a demonstrator. First, he was a demonstrator that the finest hogs could be raised in Harnett County. Second, Turlington demonstrated the wisdom of putting on a county fair to benefit the farmers and was president of the association. Thirdly, Mr. Turlington demonstrated that efficiency in collecting county taxes through a county tax office could result in the collection of $244,744.82. Because of his performance, Harnett County would be in good financial standing in February of 1925.
It was also on this page of time that Coats lost one of its finest businessmen. The editor of the Harnett County News reported the death of Troy Vance Stewart. He was said to be one of Harnett’s most highly esteemed and valuable citizens. Mr. Stewart had developed peritonitis after having appendicitis. He died in Duke at Good Hope Hospital. Time is quickly coming when the name Duke will be replaced by Erwin. Mr. Stewart was the son of Joseph Ary Stewart who was postmaster of the Troyville post office and was the grandson of Jacob Stewart who was murdered by “Jake” Johnson in 1855. However, the news account remembered him as being a Coats businessman who promoted community advancement.
Much more was happening in Coats in early 1925. The citizens had to deal with another event which was the disastrous fire which occurred on a Monday and destroyed the cotton gin and flour mill of Mr. John McKay Byrd. About 400 bushels of corn stored in the bins were also lost. Hard work by the local fire-fighting brigade prevented the flames from doing damage to large piles of lumber nearby and several adjacent residences. The total loss was $20,000.00. Insurance covered only one third of the loss.
The origin of the fire was not known, but it was surmised that a flying spark from the tall smokestack went into the window of the third story of the plant where the cotton lint was stored. This lint, when ignited, furnished tinder that soon transformed the whole area into a furnace of intense heat.
Mr. Byrd was in attendance at the Superior Court in Lillington when the fire started. He hurried home to help fight the fire. At one time the flames threatened to spread over the town. Mr. Byrd’s gin had recently been equipped with modern machinery and was said to be the best in Harnett County (Harnett County News February 12, 1925).
Do you wonder how he got the news and what roads he traveled to return to Coats? Do you think the conversation in the town and rural area was mainly about the fire and death of Mr. Stewart since this was cotton country. Recall that Mr. Stewart had a cotton gin with a forty bale capacity. Does anyone know where the site of the fire was located? Was John McKay Byrd not the father of Fred Byrd who later operated a cotton gin for many years? Where was his gin?
Do you recall reading in many columns back about a highway being approved to run from Duke to Coats to Angier to the Wake-Harnett County lines and would be the future NC Highway 55? Is it possible that this is the road that a jury gave a verdict against the road commissioners in Grove Township in favor of W.A. Dupree, et al , prohibiting the commissioners from building a road across the lands of the plaintiffs (Harnett County News February 12, 1925).
Does anyone know if the road eventually passed through this land? This I do know. Henry A. Turlington reported to the county board that over $300,000.00 in taxes had been paid since he took office on October 1, 1924. It was said to be a record breaking achievement in Harnett County. The commissioners were so pleased over the fact that they had sufficient funds with which to meet accounts payable that they set up a pretentious bookkeeping system. The tax collector gave the last warning to the citizens to pay up or he would be forced to put a levy on their personal belongings. The thought of losing the car to taxes was the direct cause of many dollars going into the county treasury. Mr. Turlington told the commissioners that another $50,000.00 would be collected before they had the March meeting (Harnett County News February 12, 1925).
Would you have liked this job? Next week we shall learn more about the Coats High School in 1925 and read about some of the memories of Dr. Bill Patterson who grew up in Coats and lived in the house built in 1911 by his father, N.T. Patterson, who was a banker and partner to John McKay Byrd when their hosiery mill burned in 1920.
The pages of time continue to turn in the Grove Township of Harnett County. It has been over two hundred years since Dushee Shaw found his way to the area located between the current towns of Erwin and Coats .That area would later become known as Turlington’s Crossroads. It was in this area that Willis Turlington would purchase the land from the Shaws and there his sons and their descendents would inherit the land to farm, run cotton gins, saw mills and distilleries and have their own post office and schools. It is in this area that there was a halfway house on the busy Raleigh Fayetteville Stage Road. Today in 2011, the Coats Erwin Middle School sits on some of the original Shaw-Turlington property.
In 1925, it would be the home of Henry A. Turlington, son of the former Sheriff Willie H. Turlington. The Harnett County News February 5, 1925 would contain an article of praise on Henry Turlington from Grove Township. The editor stated that Mr. Turlington was a demonstrator. First, he was a demonstrator that the finest hogs could be raised in Harnett County. Second, Turlington demonstrated the wisdom of putting on a county fair to benefit the farmers and was president of the association. Thirdly, Mr. Turlington demonstrated that efficiency in collecting county taxes through a county tax office could result in the collection of $244,744.82. Because of his performance, Harnett County would be in good financial standing in February of 1925.
It was also on this page of time that Coats lost one of its finest businessmen. The editor of the Harnett County News reported the death of Troy Vance Stewart. He was said to be one of Harnett’s most highly esteemed and valuable citizens. Mr. Stewart had developed peritonitis after having appendicitis. He died in Duke at Good Hope Hospital. Time is quickly coming when the name Duke will be replaced by Erwin. Mr. Stewart was the son of Joseph Ary Stewart who was postmaster of the Troyville post office and was the grandson of Jacob Stewart who was murdered by “Jake” Johnson in 1855. However, the news account remembered him as being a Coats businessman who promoted community advancement.
Much more was happening in Coats in early 1925. The citizens had to deal with another event which was the disastrous fire which occurred on a Monday and destroyed the cotton gin and flour mill of Mr. John McKay Byrd. About 400 bushels of corn stored in the bins were also lost. Hard work by the local fire-fighting brigade prevented the flames from doing damage to large piles of lumber nearby and several adjacent residences. The total loss was $20,000.00. Insurance covered only one third of the loss.
The origin of the fire was not known, but it was surmised that a flying spark from the tall smokestack went into the window of the third story of the plant where the cotton lint was stored. This lint, when ignited, furnished tinder that soon transformed the whole area into a furnace of intense heat.
Mr. Byrd was in attendance at the Superior Court in Lillington when the fire started. He hurried home to help fight the fire. At one time the flames threatened to spread over the town. Mr. Byrd’s gin had recently been equipped with modern machinery and was said to be the best in Harnett County (Harnett County News February 12, 1925).
Do you wonder how he got the news and what roads he traveled to return to Coats? Do you think the conversation in the town and rural area was mainly about the fire and death of Mr. Stewart since this was cotton country. Recall that Mr. Stewart had a cotton gin with a forty bale capacity. Does anyone know where the site of the fire was located? Was John McKay Byrd not the father of Fred Byrd who later operated a cotton gin for many years? Where was his gin?
Do you recall reading in many columns back about a highway being approved to run from Duke to Coats to Angier to the Wake-Harnett County lines and would be the future NC Highway 55? Is it possible that this is the road that a jury gave a verdict against the road commissioners in Grove Township in favor of W.A. Dupree, et al , prohibiting the commissioners from building a road across the lands of the plaintiffs (Harnett County News February 12, 1925).
Does anyone know if the road eventually passed through this land? This I do know. Henry A. Turlington reported to the county board that over $300,000.00 in taxes had been paid since he took office on October 1, 1924. It was said to be a record breaking achievement in Harnett County. The commissioners were so pleased over the fact that they had sufficient funds with which to meet accounts payable that they set up a pretentious bookkeeping system. The tax collector gave the last warning to the citizens to pay up or he would be forced to put a levy on their personal belongings. The thought of losing the car to taxes was the direct cause of many dollars going into the county treasury. Mr. Turlington told the commissioners that another $50,000.00 would be collected before they had the March meeting (Harnett County News February 12, 1925).
Would you have liked this job? Next week we shall learn more about the Coats High School in 1925 and read about some of the memories of Dr. Bill Patterson who grew up in Coats and lived in the house built in 1911 by his father, N.T. Patterson, who was a banker and partner to John McKay Byrd when their hosiery mill burned in 1920.