February 5, 2011 Coats
Museum News
We are continuing our journey into the Coats community in the second decade of 20th century.
From the letter written by P.F. Pope, President of the Bank of Coats, we continue to get insight into the lives of the folks in the Coats area in the early years of 1900’s. The letter stated,“ Coats will offer the people of this section unexcelled advantage this fall, in the way of selling their farm products and carrying away what they will need in return. Mark Bros. of Broadway, N.C. will be added to our force of cotton buyers, a new drug store with new medicines, a physician who graduated with honors already located, a clever and courteous set of merchants with new stores, new goods and new prices, and a new bank with its manifold advantages to both merchant and farmer, all go to make COATS the ideal place to do your trading in the future.”
Pope went ahead to write, “Call on Mr. Patterson, the cashier.” On behalf of the board of directors, Pope thanked the reader of the letter for any business that they might give to the bank. He signed the letter as P.F. Pope, President. The date had to be in mid 1912 or later due to the fact that N.T. Patterson did not arrive in Coats until early 1912.
Another interesting question pops up about the information in the Pope letter. Who is the new physician in town who has just graduated with honors? Dr. H.H. Utley had sold a house lot prior to 1913 according to the Harnett County Grantor-Grantee records. However, the birth certificate of Louise Coats, daughter of Mary and Roger Coats, was signed by both Dr. Utley and Dr. H.C. Roberts after that date of 1913. (A picture of Dr. Utley and his Benson house are on display in the Benson Museum. Did anyone’s relatives ever take piano lessons from his daughter, Willamenia Utley?)
Dr. H.C. Roberts was living in Coats in 1914 because he served on the town board of commissioners. He surely must have been in town for a period of time to have been elected to the town board. Surely, the new doctor mentioned in Pope’s letter must have been Dr. H. C. Roberts. Dr. Roberts graduated from Tulane Medical School in 1912 according to his diploma stored in the Coats Museum.
Missing from the Dunn newspaper list of Coats businesses in the 1913 Industrial Report of Coats are several names mentioned by Mrs. Ida Coats Turlington in her “The History of Coats” written for the Harnett County Centennial in 1955. She indicated that Ed Williams, Lonnie Stewart, and Wyatt Wiggins were early merchants. The mystery of the missing Wyatt H. Wiggins from the list can be explained in that he was killed 1911 in a cotton gin accident according to Daniel Stewart in his book, “Thank You Lord for a Good Life” (55-56). Stewart indicated that Wiggins owned a cotton gin and sawmill on the current site of the Coats Museum. Mark Parrish stated that his ancestor, B.F. “Barty” Parrish, had sold his cotton gin to Wiggins in 1908. (Who operated that cotton gin after Wiggins was killed?)The 1911 N.C. Business Directory (Harnett) included Barty Parrish as being the owner of a cotton gin.
Another name mentioned by Mrs. Turlington was Lonnie Stewart who operated businesses in several buildings throughout the town. Can we conclude that 1913 was too early for his business ventures to be included? Joel Ennis was thought to have operated a business out of a wooden structure east of the railroad. Joe Keen of Johnston County was given as a very early Coats businessman. He was said to have lived in the house that was vacated by Mollie Stewart who operated a boarding house on Main Street. Years later the house next to it burned and the lot would become the site of the 1946 Coats Theater. Recall that Mollie moved to McKinley Street where she operated the Mollie Stewart Hotel (Old Hotel).
In the 1914 “N.C. Business Directory (Harnett)”, valuable history about Coats was recorded. The population of the town was 400 white and 25 colored for a total of 425 residents. The town tax rate was 33 1/3 cents on the $100 value. J.L. Johnson was mayor; W.M. McKay was secretary; N.T. Patterson was treasurer, and commissioners were W.H. Parrish and Dr. H.C. Roberts. The chief of police was John Richardson. R.O. Stuart (Stewart) was postmaster; W.E. Nichols was railroad agent and manager of the Express and Telegraph. J.A. Campbell was the Baptist pastor; J.T. Coats was the Primitive Baptist elder, and A.T. Lassiter was the Presbyterian pastor.
Read the news next week to discover the location of the Coats Presbyterian Church and learn who lives in it in 2011 and who lived there earlier.
Thanks to Carsie Denning, who was instrumental in the startup of the Coats Museum, for presenting the Coats Museum Committee with a copy of his latest book, “A World War II Secret Weapon”. In his book, the WWII veteran relives the Secretive CDL Project in which he played a vital role. The Coats Museum Committee will have a Book Signing and Open House to honor Carsie and dozens of other WWII veterans who are living in Harnett County and surrounding areas in early March. Also thanks to the H.L. Sorrell family for honoring the memory of Agnes Hall by giving a gift to the Coats Museum Endowment. Thank you to Dot Byrd and Cherie Short who spent several hours at the museum last week answering questions and sharing data about the Coats Cotton Gin and the John McKay Byrd family with Dr. Lamar Bland from Elon University.
Please be mindful that this Coats Museum News was in the Daily Record on February 5, 2011.
We are continuing our journey into the Coats community in the second decade of 20th century.
From the letter written by P.F. Pope, President of the Bank of Coats, we continue to get insight into the lives of the folks in the Coats area in the early years of 1900’s. The letter stated,“ Coats will offer the people of this section unexcelled advantage this fall, in the way of selling their farm products and carrying away what they will need in return. Mark Bros. of Broadway, N.C. will be added to our force of cotton buyers, a new drug store with new medicines, a physician who graduated with honors already located, a clever and courteous set of merchants with new stores, new goods and new prices, and a new bank with its manifold advantages to both merchant and farmer, all go to make COATS the ideal place to do your trading in the future.”
Pope went ahead to write, “Call on Mr. Patterson, the cashier.” On behalf of the board of directors, Pope thanked the reader of the letter for any business that they might give to the bank. He signed the letter as P.F. Pope, President. The date had to be in mid 1912 or later due to the fact that N.T. Patterson did not arrive in Coats until early 1912.
Another interesting question pops up about the information in the Pope letter. Who is the new physician in town who has just graduated with honors? Dr. H.H. Utley had sold a house lot prior to 1913 according to the Harnett County Grantor-Grantee records. However, the birth certificate of Louise Coats, daughter of Mary and Roger Coats, was signed by both Dr. Utley and Dr. H.C. Roberts after that date of 1913. (A picture of Dr. Utley and his Benson house are on display in the Benson Museum. Did anyone’s relatives ever take piano lessons from his daughter, Willamenia Utley?)
Dr. H.C. Roberts was living in Coats in 1914 because he served on the town board of commissioners. He surely must have been in town for a period of time to have been elected to the town board. Surely, the new doctor mentioned in Pope’s letter must have been Dr. H. C. Roberts. Dr. Roberts graduated from Tulane Medical School in 1912 according to his diploma stored in the Coats Museum.
Missing from the Dunn newspaper list of Coats businesses in the 1913 Industrial Report of Coats are several names mentioned by Mrs. Ida Coats Turlington in her “The History of Coats” written for the Harnett County Centennial in 1955. She indicated that Ed Williams, Lonnie Stewart, and Wyatt Wiggins were early merchants. The mystery of the missing Wyatt H. Wiggins from the list can be explained in that he was killed 1911 in a cotton gin accident according to Daniel Stewart in his book, “Thank You Lord for a Good Life” (55-56). Stewart indicated that Wiggins owned a cotton gin and sawmill on the current site of the Coats Museum. Mark Parrish stated that his ancestor, B.F. “Barty” Parrish, had sold his cotton gin to Wiggins in 1908. (Who operated that cotton gin after Wiggins was killed?)The 1911 N.C. Business Directory (Harnett) included Barty Parrish as being the owner of a cotton gin.
Another name mentioned by Mrs. Turlington was Lonnie Stewart who operated businesses in several buildings throughout the town. Can we conclude that 1913 was too early for his business ventures to be included? Joel Ennis was thought to have operated a business out of a wooden structure east of the railroad. Joe Keen of Johnston County was given as a very early Coats businessman. He was said to have lived in the house that was vacated by Mollie Stewart who operated a boarding house on Main Street. Years later the house next to it burned and the lot would become the site of the 1946 Coats Theater. Recall that Mollie moved to McKinley Street where she operated the Mollie Stewart Hotel (Old Hotel).
In the 1914 “N.C. Business Directory (Harnett)”, valuable history about Coats was recorded. The population of the town was 400 white and 25 colored for a total of 425 residents. The town tax rate was 33 1/3 cents on the $100 value. J.L. Johnson was mayor; W.M. McKay was secretary; N.T. Patterson was treasurer, and commissioners were W.H. Parrish and Dr. H.C. Roberts. The chief of police was John Richardson. R.O. Stuart (Stewart) was postmaster; W.E. Nichols was railroad agent and manager of the Express and Telegraph. J.A. Campbell was the Baptist pastor; J.T. Coats was the Primitive Baptist elder, and A.T. Lassiter was the Presbyterian pastor.
Read the news next week to discover the location of the Coats Presbyterian Church and learn who lives in it in 2011 and who lived there earlier.
Thanks to Carsie Denning, who was instrumental in the startup of the Coats Museum, for presenting the Coats Museum Committee with a copy of his latest book, “A World War II Secret Weapon”. In his book, the WWII veteran relives the Secretive CDL Project in which he played a vital role. The Coats Museum Committee will have a Book Signing and Open House to honor Carsie and dozens of other WWII veterans who are living in Harnett County and surrounding areas in early March. Also thanks to the H.L. Sorrell family for honoring the memory of Agnes Hall by giving a gift to the Coats Museum Endowment. Thank you to Dot Byrd and Cherie Short who spent several hours at the museum last week answering questions and sharing data about the Coats Cotton Gin and the John McKay Byrd family with Dr. Lamar Bland from Elon University.
Please be mindful that this Coats Museum News was in the Daily Record on February 5, 2011.
