December 9, 2016 Coats Museum News
Those of you who attended Coats High School, can you picture James Walden who helped maintain the school campus? I can never recall when James was not laughing and bringing joy to those around him. For years, H.L. and I made pork sausage for our Ebenezer Presbyterian Church bazaar, for the Harnett County Retired School Personnel Scholarship and for friends far and near. James always came over to help and he knew exactly how and what to do at every step of sausage making but most of all he knew how to make you feel happy while working. Others of you may remember his delightful wife Mary who was of the prominent Hillary Stewart lineage, a very prominent black landowner in the Coats area. Mary Walden and Shuler Roberts were hospital patients at Good Hope Hospital according to the Jan. 16th edition of the Daily Record. Do you bet all the nurses knew when James was visiting his wife there?
Speaking of excitement, wonder how excited the pupils in Allie Mae Barnes’s class at Coats were when she told them she was going to get married and to a preacher at that. Allie Mae was to marry Reverend Dewey Herring, pastor of the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, on February 12th.
Elsewhere the news was more concerning. Mrs. Margaret Hall, Mrs. Dollie Stone, and Bobby Franklin were admitted to the Good Hope Hospital. The members at the Coats Baptist Church were likely pleased to hear that their pastor would join Scott Turner at the Little River Baptist Association on the jubilee committee (Daily Record Jan. 18, 1961).
Lots of new buildings have been built along highway 421 between Buies Creek and Lillington in the past ten years and they definitely have caught the drivers’ eyes as they travel that road, but can anyone recall when the first nursing home was constructed on the site of the new one being completed? According to the Jan. 19, 1961 Daily Record, there was a ground breaking for a modern nursing home to be erected by Carlie Adams on property along highway 421 between Buies Creek and Lillington.
The death angel had visited the family of Mrs. Bessie Wood whose stepmother Mrs. Lela Stewart had died on a Friday as recorded in the Jan. 20, 1961 Daily Record. Help me out- what Stewart family is this?
This I do know. The Washington Post carried a headline “Snow Cripples Inaugural City”. John F. Kennedy, however, was inaugurated as the 35th U.S. President. He was the first president born in the twentieth century. He was the youngest man ever elected president and the first Roman Catholic president. He was from a wealthy family and had inherited one million dollars at the age of twenty-one. He was second of nine children. During his term of presidency (1961-1963), the Peace Corps was created and John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth (Bumann, Joan and John Patterson -40 Presidents, Facts and Fun, Willowisp Press, Inc. , 1981) pp. 128-132).
Miss Rochell McLamb and Kenneth O’Neal of Coats (son of Iva O’Neal) were married on Jan. 14, 1961 in Dillon S.C. Mrs. Kitty Godwin was a patient at Good Hope. A 67-45 win over Buies Creek pepped up enthusiasm at Coats on Friday night as the hero of the encounter was Coats’s Kenneth Ennis who scraped 25 points while half a dozen of his teammates were providing quality. The BC girls with a score of 50-27 trampled the Coats girls.
Two deaths affected Coats residents. Mrs. Martha Ellen Jernigan had expired at her home. She was the mother of Mrs. Harvey Jernigan. The father of Mrs. Jane Denning had died in Willow Springs. He was Alex Dupree (Daily Record Jan. 23, 1961).
Mr. Bartley Cook was a patient in Good Hope Hospital while President Juanita Hudson had presided at the Ebenezer Women of the Church group where Mrs. Rob Adams, Mrs. Ed Creech and Mrs. Mamie Johnson had the program (Daily Record Jan. 24, 1961).
The state was blanketed in ice and schools were closed. Also, several local ladies were ill in the hospitals. Mrs. Norman Denning, Mrs. Edith Stone, Mrs. Lily Moore and Mrs. Anna Belle Stewart were the patients (Daily Record Jan. 26, 1961).
The schools continued to be closed and infant Karen Pope was in Good Hope. Her parents were Tommy and Helen Sears Pope (Daily Record Jan. 27, 1961).
Mr. and Mrs. Thurman Sorrell were parents of a son at Good Hope. The mom was the former Pauline Stephenson. Does anyone know his name? I do know that Lunette Barbour of Raleigh and daughter of Jennie Barbour formerly of Bailey’s Crossroads and was with the NC Wildlife Commission was guest speaker at the Hoe N’ Grow garden club in Dunn. Gerald Maynor was a patient in Dunn at the Betsy Johnson Hospital (Daily Record Jan. 30, 1961).
Steve Stephenson, a teacher at Coats School, portrayed Thomas Wolfe in the production “Look Homeward Angel” at the Raleigh Little Theater. He had been involved with the theater for many years-at Coats, at Campbell College and in a theater in Chicago. Steve was director of music for June Havoc with her production of “Time of the Cuckoo”. He also played a part in “The Larry Foy Story” and was in an episode of the TV drama “The Untouchables”. I would think that is pretty remarkable for a young man who grew up outside of Coats. Wonder if any of the faculty and students went to Raleigh to see the play.
I do know that the sales tax dollars from Harnett County were $56,737 during the past December of 1960 compared to $51, 249 for December of 1959. What was the amount of sales tax per dollar in 1961? Did they have a sales tax on food items (Daily Record Jan. 31, 1961)?
Remember from the 1950’s that you read about Stewart Hough and Gloria Wilmoth? The Feb. 1, 1961 edition of the Daily Record printed that Mr. and Mrs. Stewart Hough welcomed a daughter, Lisa Faye, on January 31. He mother was the former Gloria Faye Wilmoth.
Wonder if people were talking about the U.S. firing its first solid fuel rocket, a Minute Man ICB. Maybe they were more concerned with the second snow storm to close the Harnett School that winter. A new ice plague threatened the area. During this time, Edgar Beasley of Coats had a sibling, Mancy Beasley to die (Daily Record Feb. 3, 1961).
Carson Gregory secured the appointment of Erwin’s Mortan Williams to serve as Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms in the General Assembly (House).The late Owen Odum of Coats formerly held this post. Eroy Kirkman Williams, 82, of Coats had died on Friday at Good Hope Hospital. He was the son of the late Daniel and Annie Ennis Williams. Among survivors of Coats were his wife, Marlie Sawyer Williams; three sons-Alton, Roger, and Cortbon; and four daughters-one of which was from Coats-Mrs. Sam Pope. His brother was Sampson Williams (Daily Record Feb. 6, 1961).
Mr. Williams’s granddaughter, Barbara Pope Gardner, has given many hours over the years helping to set up exhibits in the original museum while Mr. Williams’s brother, Sampson, has been remembered as a very talented musician who played the fiddle in Fiddlers Contest to help raise money to put lights into the 1921 school building which was taken down in 2012.
Death came and carried with it another beloved Coats lady. Mrs. Lillie Barbour Messer, 74, had died on a Monday. E.G. Messer survived his wife. She had three surviving daughters and one was from Coats-Mrs. Izola Stephenson and one son-Charlie Messer of rural Coats.
When was the Food Stamp Program introduced? According to the Feb. 8, 1961 edition of the Daily Record, The Food Stamp program was to be discussed at the HCBOC by Harnett Welfare Chief Lela Moore Hall. It was to provide food for distressed families.
Several Coats people were summoned for Criminal Superior Court. They were Kenneth Keene, Jr., James J. Moore, Sexton Ennis, L.O. Dorman, Otha Honeycutt, E.L. Butts and James Willis. Elsewhere in the Coats area, Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Langdon entertained the Rev. and Mrs. Howard Beard, Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell Ray Davis and daughter of Winston Salem (Daily Record Feb. 9, 1961).
When I was growing up, the preacher went home with a member of his congregation about every Sunday and that is how we really got to know our pastors. Is that the case today? I do know that Mr. Artemus Honeycutt was in Good Hope Hospital (Daily Record Feb. 9, 1961). We are so fortunate to have his daughter-in-law, Gerry Honeycutt, loan the petticoat and camisole from his wife’s wedding dress worn in 1923. It is a part of our wedding and vintage clothes exhibit in our glass tunnel. The items are all hand sewn with intricate stitchery. Drop by to see these items while they are on display.
We would also like to thank a special friend of the museum who put on loan a beautiful crocheted bedspread made with $29.00 worth of tobacco twine. The handiwork was done by the former Jenny Ferrell whose beauty and brains made other girls want to be like Jenny.
Those of you who attended Coats High School, can you picture James Walden who helped maintain the school campus? I can never recall when James was not laughing and bringing joy to those around him. For years, H.L. and I made pork sausage for our Ebenezer Presbyterian Church bazaar, for the Harnett County Retired School Personnel Scholarship and for friends far and near. James always came over to help and he knew exactly how and what to do at every step of sausage making but most of all he knew how to make you feel happy while working. Others of you may remember his delightful wife Mary who was of the prominent Hillary Stewart lineage, a very prominent black landowner in the Coats area. Mary Walden and Shuler Roberts were hospital patients at Good Hope Hospital according to the Jan. 16th edition of the Daily Record. Do you bet all the nurses knew when James was visiting his wife there?
Speaking of excitement, wonder how excited the pupils in Allie Mae Barnes’s class at Coats were when she told them she was going to get married and to a preacher at that. Allie Mae was to marry Reverend Dewey Herring, pastor of the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, on February 12th.
Elsewhere the news was more concerning. Mrs. Margaret Hall, Mrs. Dollie Stone, and Bobby Franklin were admitted to the Good Hope Hospital. The members at the Coats Baptist Church were likely pleased to hear that their pastor would join Scott Turner at the Little River Baptist Association on the jubilee committee (Daily Record Jan. 18, 1961).
Lots of new buildings have been built along highway 421 between Buies Creek and Lillington in the past ten years and they definitely have caught the drivers’ eyes as they travel that road, but can anyone recall when the first nursing home was constructed on the site of the new one being completed? According to the Jan. 19, 1961 Daily Record, there was a ground breaking for a modern nursing home to be erected by Carlie Adams on property along highway 421 between Buies Creek and Lillington.
The death angel had visited the family of Mrs. Bessie Wood whose stepmother Mrs. Lela Stewart had died on a Friday as recorded in the Jan. 20, 1961 Daily Record. Help me out- what Stewart family is this?
This I do know. The Washington Post carried a headline “Snow Cripples Inaugural City”. John F. Kennedy, however, was inaugurated as the 35th U.S. President. He was the first president born in the twentieth century. He was the youngest man ever elected president and the first Roman Catholic president. He was from a wealthy family and had inherited one million dollars at the age of twenty-one. He was second of nine children. During his term of presidency (1961-1963), the Peace Corps was created and John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth (Bumann, Joan and John Patterson -40 Presidents, Facts and Fun, Willowisp Press, Inc. , 1981) pp. 128-132).
Miss Rochell McLamb and Kenneth O’Neal of Coats (son of Iva O’Neal) were married on Jan. 14, 1961 in Dillon S.C. Mrs. Kitty Godwin was a patient at Good Hope. A 67-45 win over Buies Creek pepped up enthusiasm at Coats on Friday night as the hero of the encounter was Coats’s Kenneth Ennis who scraped 25 points while half a dozen of his teammates were providing quality. The BC girls with a score of 50-27 trampled the Coats girls.
Two deaths affected Coats residents. Mrs. Martha Ellen Jernigan had expired at her home. She was the mother of Mrs. Harvey Jernigan. The father of Mrs. Jane Denning had died in Willow Springs. He was Alex Dupree (Daily Record Jan. 23, 1961).
Mr. Bartley Cook was a patient in Good Hope Hospital while President Juanita Hudson had presided at the Ebenezer Women of the Church group where Mrs. Rob Adams, Mrs. Ed Creech and Mrs. Mamie Johnson had the program (Daily Record Jan. 24, 1961).
The state was blanketed in ice and schools were closed. Also, several local ladies were ill in the hospitals. Mrs. Norman Denning, Mrs. Edith Stone, Mrs. Lily Moore and Mrs. Anna Belle Stewart were the patients (Daily Record Jan. 26, 1961).
The schools continued to be closed and infant Karen Pope was in Good Hope. Her parents were Tommy and Helen Sears Pope (Daily Record Jan. 27, 1961).
Mr. and Mrs. Thurman Sorrell were parents of a son at Good Hope. The mom was the former Pauline Stephenson. Does anyone know his name? I do know that Lunette Barbour of Raleigh and daughter of Jennie Barbour formerly of Bailey’s Crossroads and was with the NC Wildlife Commission was guest speaker at the Hoe N’ Grow garden club in Dunn. Gerald Maynor was a patient in Dunn at the Betsy Johnson Hospital (Daily Record Jan. 30, 1961).
Steve Stephenson, a teacher at Coats School, portrayed Thomas Wolfe in the production “Look Homeward Angel” at the Raleigh Little Theater. He had been involved with the theater for many years-at Coats, at Campbell College and in a theater in Chicago. Steve was director of music for June Havoc with her production of “Time of the Cuckoo”. He also played a part in “The Larry Foy Story” and was in an episode of the TV drama “The Untouchables”. I would think that is pretty remarkable for a young man who grew up outside of Coats. Wonder if any of the faculty and students went to Raleigh to see the play.
I do know that the sales tax dollars from Harnett County were $56,737 during the past December of 1960 compared to $51, 249 for December of 1959. What was the amount of sales tax per dollar in 1961? Did they have a sales tax on food items (Daily Record Jan. 31, 1961)?
Remember from the 1950’s that you read about Stewart Hough and Gloria Wilmoth? The Feb. 1, 1961 edition of the Daily Record printed that Mr. and Mrs. Stewart Hough welcomed a daughter, Lisa Faye, on January 31. He mother was the former Gloria Faye Wilmoth.
Wonder if people were talking about the U.S. firing its first solid fuel rocket, a Minute Man ICB. Maybe they were more concerned with the second snow storm to close the Harnett School that winter. A new ice plague threatened the area. During this time, Edgar Beasley of Coats had a sibling, Mancy Beasley to die (Daily Record Feb. 3, 1961).
Carson Gregory secured the appointment of Erwin’s Mortan Williams to serve as Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms in the General Assembly (House).The late Owen Odum of Coats formerly held this post. Eroy Kirkman Williams, 82, of Coats had died on Friday at Good Hope Hospital. He was the son of the late Daniel and Annie Ennis Williams. Among survivors of Coats were his wife, Marlie Sawyer Williams; three sons-Alton, Roger, and Cortbon; and four daughters-one of which was from Coats-Mrs. Sam Pope. His brother was Sampson Williams (Daily Record Feb. 6, 1961).
Mr. Williams’s granddaughter, Barbara Pope Gardner, has given many hours over the years helping to set up exhibits in the original museum while Mr. Williams’s brother, Sampson, has been remembered as a very talented musician who played the fiddle in Fiddlers Contest to help raise money to put lights into the 1921 school building which was taken down in 2012.
Death came and carried with it another beloved Coats lady. Mrs. Lillie Barbour Messer, 74, had died on a Monday. E.G. Messer survived his wife. She had three surviving daughters and one was from Coats-Mrs. Izola Stephenson and one son-Charlie Messer of rural Coats.
When was the Food Stamp Program introduced? According to the Feb. 8, 1961 edition of the Daily Record, The Food Stamp program was to be discussed at the HCBOC by Harnett Welfare Chief Lela Moore Hall. It was to provide food for distressed families.
Several Coats people were summoned for Criminal Superior Court. They were Kenneth Keene, Jr., James J. Moore, Sexton Ennis, L.O. Dorman, Otha Honeycutt, E.L. Butts and James Willis. Elsewhere in the Coats area, Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Langdon entertained the Rev. and Mrs. Howard Beard, Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell Ray Davis and daughter of Winston Salem (Daily Record Feb. 9, 1961).
When I was growing up, the preacher went home with a member of his congregation about every Sunday and that is how we really got to know our pastors. Is that the case today? I do know that Mr. Artemus Honeycutt was in Good Hope Hospital (Daily Record Feb. 9, 1961). We are so fortunate to have his daughter-in-law, Gerry Honeycutt, loan the petticoat and camisole from his wife’s wedding dress worn in 1923. It is a part of our wedding and vintage clothes exhibit in our glass tunnel. The items are all hand sewn with intricate stitchery. Drop by to see these items while they are on display.
We would also like to thank a special friend of the museum who put on loan a beautiful crocheted bedspread made with $29.00 worth of tobacco twine. The handiwork was done by the former Jenny Ferrell whose beauty and brains made other girls want to be like Jenny.