February 28, 2011 Coats
Museum News
Last week I promised to name some of the principal farmers in the Coats area who received mail through the Coats post office in 1916. Question—When did the people in the rural areas begin to have mail delivered by RFD carriers? What does RFD mean? Did RFD precede REA? Answers-RFD means rural free delivery-meaning that a mailman delivered letters and packages to rural areas and placed them into mailboxes by the side of the road. Each carrier traveled a certain route, and each route had a number. There was no RFD before 1896 for it was in that year that the first free deliveries were made in West Virginia. Would you have guessed that state had I quizzed you? By 1917, most rural areas had rural mail carriers. The system led to parcel-post service and the development of great mail-order firms. When did Sears Roebuck catalogues come in the households? Did they not have old Sears Roebuck catalogues in outdoor toilets? Does that mean that that Sears Roebuck is older than toilet tissue? (Just playing with your mind.)
Can some of the readers recall when RFD came to Coats? Did they ever deliver mail more than one time a day? What is the largest number of routes that Coats ever had? Did the household have a route number and box number assigned to them? Does Coats have route numbers in 2011?
In reference to which came first the RFD or REA, can you answer the question if I tell you that REA stands for rural electric administration. The agency brought electricity and telephones to rural areas of the U.S. It was established in 1935 when fewer than 11 out of every 100 farms had electricity in the U.S. This I do know. In 1914, B.F. Johnson’s mail was delivered to Angier, Route 3; D. Turlington’s address was Duke, Route 1 and L.L. Turlington’s mail came to Duke, Route 2.
Now read the names that were listed as principal farmers in the 1916 N.C. Business Directory (Harnett). Are you the descendant of any of the following: B.F. Parrish, Thomas Stewart, Rufus Parrish, W.H. Turlington, M.D. Coats, B.F. Johnson, B. F. Langdon, W. J. McStewart, A.D. Coats, Joe Parrish, Martin Beasley, W.H. Coats, A.F. Grimes, Parker Beasley, W.H. Stephens, Joseph Penny, Joseph Keene, Carley Parrish, Henry Beasley, Lawrence Johnson, L.L. Stewart, Henry Parrish, Joseph Stone, B.T. Barnes, Stewart Turlington, Kirk Grimes, P.F. Pope, Bob Turlington, Zay Weaver, T.D. Stewart, G.C. Langdon, A.M. Beasley, B. F. Barnes, R. M. Coats, and B.L. Langdon. Does this list mean that all the men were farmers?
Question. Who was the Coats postmaster and where was the post office in 1916? According to the “Post Offices and Postmasters of North Carolina-Colonial to USPS” (N.C. Postal History Society-Charlotte, N.C. 1996), Reubon O. Stewart followed Andrew D. Coats (13 July 1903 to 13 December 1904) . Mr. Stewart was postmaster from 14 December 1904 to 14 December 1934 when Lucy Kelly was named acting postmistress. Where was the post office building? This writer was told that it was located between the house of Frances Matthews and Mike Norris’s former Auto Plus on Railroad Street. A picture of it is shown in the Coats Heritage Book with the other Coats post offices.
Coats has always been proclaimed as a friendly place to live. Not only are the people in the Coats area friendly but they also have a giving nature. Recently, when a museum volunteer was trimming the shrubs, Roger Faircloth dropped by to say that he had a copy of “Young American Patriots” North Carolina-WWII that he wanted the museum to have. Roger’s father, Jonah Faircloth, was one those brave WWII patriots pictured in the volume. Roger not only gave the book but came back with tools to help the volunteer clean up the clippings. Thanks—Roger! The same volunteer shared that the next day H.A. Turlington , Jr. called to say that he wanted to give a copy of the Community Fair booklet which recorded that his father Henry A. Turlington, Sr., was chief marshal at the event believed to have been held between 1914-1919. H.A., Jr. was the 2009 Grand Marshal of the Coats Farmers Day. Isn’t that a wonderful story that they both had similar honors almost one hundred years apart? H.A. gave the museum a large picture of H.A. , Sr. which was taken about the time that he was Community Fair marshal and a picture of Rachel and himself in the 2009 parade. That’s not all. Mr. Turlington, a WWII Medic and Purple Heart Recipient, also gave a $5,000 check to the Coats Museum Building Fund to honor the loving memory of his parents-H.A. and Laylon Parrish Turlington. Thank you, H.A., Jr. Also a very special thank you to Lloyd Hall for sending a check to the Coats Museum Endowment in memory of his wife, Agnes Hall and to H.L. Sorrell for remembering Blake Gregory with a donation to the endowment.
Hope all of you can attend the Book Signing and Open House at the museum on March 6th from 2-5pm Meet Mr. Carsie Denning and and visit with other veterans of all ages as they enjoy the displays and refreshments and learn how to enter a story in the book “The Defenders of the Red, White and Blue”.
Please remember that this is an article that was published in 2011 and all the events have already occurred.
Last week I promised to name some of the principal farmers in the Coats area who received mail through the Coats post office in 1916. Question—When did the people in the rural areas begin to have mail delivered by RFD carriers? What does RFD mean? Did RFD precede REA? Answers-RFD means rural free delivery-meaning that a mailman delivered letters and packages to rural areas and placed them into mailboxes by the side of the road. Each carrier traveled a certain route, and each route had a number. There was no RFD before 1896 for it was in that year that the first free deliveries were made in West Virginia. Would you have guessed that state had I quizzed you? By 1917, most rural areas had rural mail carriers. The system led to parcel-post service and the development of great mail-order firms. When did Sears Roebuck catalogues come in the households? Did they not have old Sears Roebuck catalogues in outdoor toilets? Does that mean that that Sears Roebuck is older than toilet tissue? (Just playing with your mind.)
Can some of the readers recall when RFD came to Coats? Did they ever deliver mail more than one time a day? What is the largest number of routes that Coats ever had? Did the household have a route number and box number assigned to them? Does Coats have route numbers in 2011?
In reference to which came first the RFD or REA, can you answer the question if I tell you that REA stands for rural electric administration. The agency brought electricity and telephones to rural areas of the U.S. It was established in 1935 when fewer than 11 out of every 100 farms had electricity in the U.S. This I do know. In 1914, B.F. Johnson’s mail was delivered to Angier, Route 3; D. Turlington’s address was Duke, Route 1 and L.L. Turlington’s mail came to Duke, Route 2.
Now read the names that were listed as principal farmers in the 1916 N.C. Business Directory (Harnett). Are you the descendant of any of the following: B.F. Parrish, Thomas Stewart, Rufus Parrish, W.H. Turlington, M.D. Coats, B.F. Johnson, B. F. Langdon, W. J. McStewart, A.D. Coats, Joe Parrish, Martin Beasley, W.H. Coats, A.F. Grimes, Parker Beasley, W.H. Stephens, Joseph Penny, Joseph Keene, Carley Parrish, Henry Beasley, Lawrence Johnson, L.L. Stewart, Henry Parrish, Joseph Stone, B.T. Barnes, Stewart Turlington, Kirk Grimes, P.F. Pope, Bob Turlington, Zay Weaver, T.D. Stewart, G.C. Langdon, A.M. Beasley, B. F. Barnes, R. M. Coats, and B.L. Langdon. Does this list mean that all the men were farmers?
Question. Who was the Coats postmaster and where was the post office in 1916? According to the “Post Offices and Postmasters of North Carolina-Colonial to USPS” (N.C. Postal History Society-Charlotte, N.C. 1996), Reubon O. Stewart followed Andrew D. Coats (13 July 1903 to 13 December 1904) . Mr. Stewart was postmaster from 14 December 1904 to 14 December 1934 when Lucy Kelly was named acting postmistress. Where was the post office building? This writer was told that it was located between the house of Frances Matthews and Mike Norris’s former Auto Plus on Railroad Street. A picture of it is shown in the Coats Heritage Book with the other Coats post offices.
Coats has always been proclaimed as a friendly place to live. Not only are the people in the Coats area friendly but they also have a giving nature. Recently, when a museum volunteer was trimming the shrubs, Roger Faircloth dropped by to say that he had a copy of “Young American Patriots” North Carolina-WWII that he wanted the museum to have. Roger’s father, Jonah Faircloth, was one those brave WWII patriots pictured in the volume. Roger not only gave the book but came back with tools to help the volunteer clean up the clippings. Thanks—Roger! The same volunteer shared that the next day H.A. Turlington , Jr. called to say that he wanted to give a copy of the Community Fair booklet which recorded that his father Henry A. Turlington, Sr., was chief marshal at the event believed to have been held between 1914-1919. H.A., Jr. was the 2009 Grand Marshal of the Coats Farmers Day. Isn’t that a wonderful story that they both had similar honors almost one hundred years apart? H.A. gave the museum a large picture of H.A. , Sr. which was taken about the time that he was Community Fair marshal and a picture of Rachel and himself in the 2009 parade. That’s not all. Mr. Turlington, a WWII Medic and Purple Heart Recipient, also gave a $5,000 check to the Coats Museum Building Fund to honor the loving memory of his parents-H.A. and Laylon Parrish Turlington. Thank you, H.A., Jr. Also a very special thank you to Lloyd Hall for sending a check to the Coats Museum Endowment in memory of his wife, Agnes Hall and to H.L. Sorrell for remembering Blake Gregory with a donation to the endowment.
Hope all of you can attend the Book Signing and Open House at the museum on March 6th from 2-5pm Meet Mr. Carsie Denning and and visit with other veterans of all ages as they enjoy the displays and refreshments and learn how to enter a story in the book “The Defenders of the Red, White and Blue”.
Please remember that this is an article that was published in 2011 and all the events have already occurred.
