January 15, 2016 Coats Museum News
Several years ago when a group of us were researching to write the history of Coats and the surrounding Grove Township areas, we had long conversations with many of the locals who had lived most of their lives in the area. We asked them to share any memories they had about the people, places or events that stood out to them. One gentleman, Mr. Lloyd Hall, said that he remembered as he entered Coats from Erwin there was always the smell of freshly sawed lumber or when he entered it from the Angier direction that same smell was present. Coats indeed did have its share of sawmills both in the rural and within the town limits.
Some of these sawmills complemented a cotton gin by providing energy to run the gin. Many of the gins and sawmills went from one owner to another. There are no cotton gins or sawmills in Coats now, but many people can tell you exactly where they were and what is on the site today. One such case would be the Stewart Brothers Lumber Company which is now the location of Ronnie Stewart’s –Stewart Tire Service. The Stewart Lumber Company actually had a fire in January of 1951 and had several thousand dollars worth of fire damage according to the January 29, 1951 edition of the Daily Record. Does anyone know someone who worked at the mill?
That same edition of the paper also wrote that Eddie Janns and his band entertained the faculty and students at Coats High School. The band was from Boston, Massachusetts. When originally reading that in the paper, it caused pause to us researchers. We asked how a band from that far away book an engagement in our small town school. Wonder what instruments were played and what kind of music –the new rock “n” roll or the classic?
This I do know. Doris Johnson, star forward of the Coats High girls’ basketball team, held the conference record for the most points scored in Harnett County Schools (Daily Record Feb. 7, 1951).
Max Hayes Beasley, airman apprentice of the USN, son of Mr. and Mrs. T.O. Beasley of Coats, was beginning his schooling at the Aviation Electrician’s Mate School in Memphis Tennessee (Daily Record Feb. 13, 1951).
Graham Byrd and Stacy Dupree furnished entertainment with string music at a party for newlyweds Mr. and Mrs. Albert Johnson in the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. A.L. Johnson. His sister, Josephine Johnson, co-hosted the event (Daily Record Feb. 14, 1951).
The Daily Record wrote “the small, but progressive and wide-awake Harnett town of Coats”, got a new police chief, H.A. Godwin. Was that Aggie Godwin? I do know that Jeanine Ennis, a student at East Carolina Teachers College, was an actress for the Teachers Playhouse (Daily Record Feb. 27, 1951).
Stephens Hardware Company sold a “Genuine Frigidaire” for $279.75 and Carson Gregory was one of the few farmers in the N.C. House according to the same edition of the paper.
Coats School had a flag ceremony. The Junior Order presented the flag to the school. The school band played music during the flag-raising ceremony (Daily Record Feb. 20, 1951). Question-was this the first time that an outdoor flag waved over the campus? What happened to the flag pole when the Coats School campus was cleared?
Miss Christine Tart of Coats was engaged to marry Thomas Edwards of Rocky Mount. Christine was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F.T. Tart. Miss C.D. Howell of Coats was the lucky winner of a gift certificate from the Lee’s Children Shop in Dunn (Daily Record April 24, 1951).
Was Christine in the Coats High School Class of 1946 along with Kathleen Stewart? Were they students when R. Hal Smith came to Coats in the 1945-46 school term? Did the students attend school for 12 years? I do know that Mr. Smith had reported to the county that lunches were now prepared by hired persons and were served for 10 cents each to 300 students daily and in 1947, the prices of lunches were raised to 15 cents each and were served to 500 students (Together We Leave, Sorrell, xiv and 40).
The District Woman’s Clubs met at the home of Mrs. M.O. Phillips. A luncheon was held later at the new teacherage (Daily Record April 30, 1951).
Do any of you remember reading about Evangeline Stewart in earlier columns? She is remembered by many current residents of Coats as being one of the most beautiful girls to ever live in town. Once again she was in the news when she was chosen Campbell College Homecoming Queen (Daily Record May 8, 1951).
Does the name of Mr. J.D. Norris ring a bell with you? He was named Mayor of Coats and Mr. Lester Williams would join him on the Coats Town Council. The Oakdale HD Club met at the home of Mrs. Alonzo Coats (Daily Record May 9, 1951). Surely you remember that she was the former Mrs. Mae Blackwelder Johnson until she had married Mr. Coats last December.
Another beauty contest was held in Coats and this time Sue Stewart, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Stewart, was selected “Miss Coats” and Doris Johnson was second place while Alice Stewart was in the third place (Daily Record May 11, 1951).
Cecil Fuquay was chosen manager of the Coats Merchants Bureau, a newly organized group. There were 17 charter members; Coats Café, McKnight’s Drug Store, Pope’s Department Store, L. Marvin Johnson Market, Triangle Service Center, M.E. Ennis Company, Coats Mercantile, Wellons’ Mercantile, Malone and Company, Roberts Supply, O K Keene Dry Goods, Variety Store, Electric Sales and Service, Coats Theater, Stephens Hardware, First Citizens Bank and the Daily Record (Daily Record May 14, 1951). Who’s missing?
If you purchased our Heritage of Coats, NC, set of books, you will find in Volume 2 on pages 19-28 a chronological listing of businesses which operated in the Coats area and we also listed the sources from which we gathered the names. Sondra Smith and Ann Johnson O’Neal helped us on that section of the book. Plus -we have in our Research Library, pictures and locations of most of those businesses.
The 1950-51 school term had come to an end. Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Honeycutt and Mr. and Mrs. Lonnie Moore, parents of Susan Honeycutt and Larry Moore, the class mascots, entertained the Coats High seniors at an event in the Coats Community Building which was decorated with a profusion of flowers. Twenty-three seniors attended (Daily Record May 14, 1951).
I often wonder what the people I write about look like and if they are still alive. Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Honeycutt’s names have appeared in the columns several times. Would you believe when H.L. and I attended the funeral of Mr. Rupert Honeycutt, we met Bobby Honeycutt who is Rupert’s brother. The name now has a face!
When former Coats students return to their birthplace for family events or class reunions, many tour the Coats Museums. After their visits and noting all the hard work that has gone into the museums, they respond that they want to be a part of it. In fact, much of the museum’s strongest support comes from former students living in other states and towns. Larry and La Rue Stanley Mills of Florida recently gave a second large donation to the museum as an appreciation for what has been done to preserve the heritage of La Rue’s hometown. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Baxter Ennis of Chesapeake, VA is also a second time contributor. Baxter was the Public Relations Officer for the 82nd Airborne. He served in the Operation Just Cause, Invasion of Panama and Persian Gulf, Operation Desert Storm. Baxter’s uniform and collection of military memorabilia gets much attention from museum visitors. Thank you, La Rue and Larry and Baxter for making a difference at the museum.
Several years ago when a group of us were researching to write the history of Coats and the surrounding Grove Township areas, we had long conversations with many of the locals who had lived most of their lives in the area. We asked them to share any memories they had about the people, places or events that stood out to them. One gentleman, Mr. Lloyd Hall, said that he remembered as he entered Coats from Erwin there was always the smell of freshly sawed lumber or when he entered it from the Angier direction that same smell was present. Coats indeed did have its share of sawmills both in the rural and within the town limits.
Some of these sawmills complemented a cotton gin by providing energy to run the gin. Many of the gins and sawmills went from one owner to another. There are no cotton gins or sawmills in Coats now, but many people can tell you exactly where they were and what is on the site today. One such case would be the Stewart Brothers Lumber Company which is now the location of Ronnie Stewart’s –Stewart Tire Service. The Stewart Lumber Company actually had a fire in January of 1951 and had several thousand dollars worth of fire damage according to the January 29, 1951 edition of the Daily Record. Does anyone know someone who worked at the mill?
That same edition of the paper also wrote that Eddie Janns and his band entertained the faculty and students at Coats High School. The band was from Boston, Massachusetts. When originally reading that in the paper, it caused pause to us researchers. We asked how a band from that far away book an engagement in our small town school. Wonder what instruments were played and what kind of music –the new rock “n” roll or the classic?
This I do know. Doris Johnson, star forward of the Coats High girls’ basketball team, held the conference record for the most points scored in Harnett County Schools (Daily Record Feb. 7, 1951).
Max Hayes Beasley, airman apprentice of the USN, son of Mr. and Mrs. T.O. Beasley of Coats, was beginning his schooling at the Aviation Electrician’s Mate School in Memphis Tennessee (Daily Record Feb. 13, 1951).
Graham Byrd and Stacy Dupree furnished entertainment with string music at a party for newlyweds Mr. and Mrs. Albert Johnson in the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. A.L. Johnson. His sister, Josephine Johnson, co-hosted the event (Daily Record Feb. 14, 1951).
The Daily Record wrote “the small, but progressive and wide-awake Harnett town of Coats”, got a new police chief, H.A. Godwin. Was that Aggie Godwin? I do know that Jeanine Ennis, a student at East Carolina Teachers College, was an actress for the Teachers Playhouse (Daily Record Feb. 27, 1951).
Stephens Hardware Company sold a “Genuine Frigidaire” for $279.75 and Carson Gregory was one of the few farmers in the N.C. House according to the same edition of the paper.
Coats School had a flag ceremony. The Junior Order presented the flag to the school. The school band played music during the flag-raising ceremony (Daily Record Feb. 20, 1951). Question-was this the first time that an outdoor flag waved over the campus? What happened to the flag pole when the Coats School campus was cleared?
Miss Christine Tart of Coats was engaged to marry Thomas Edwards of Rocky Mount. Christine was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F.T. Tart. Miss C.D. Howell of Coats was the lucky winner of a gift certificate from the Lee’s Children Shop in Dunn (Daily Record April 24, 1951).
Was Christine in the Coats High School Class of 1946 along with Kathleen Stewart? Were they students when R. Hal Smith came to Coats in the 1945-46 school term? Did the students attend school for 12 years? I do know that Mr. Smith had reported to the county that lunches were now prepared by hired persons and were served for 10 cents each to 300 students daily and in 1947, the prices of lunches were raised to 15 cents each and were served to 500 students (Together We Leave, Sorrell, xiv and 40).
The District Woman’s Clubs met at the home of Mrs. M.O. Phillips. A luncheon was held later at the new teacherage (Daily Record April 30, 1951).
Do any of you remember reading about Evangeline Stewart in earlier columns? She is remembered by many current residents of Coats as being one of the most beautiful girls to ever live in town. Once again she was in the news when she was chosen Campbell College Homecoming Queen (Daily Record May 8, 1951).
Does the name of Mr. J.D. Norris ring a bell with you? He was named Mayor of Coats and Mr. Lester Williams would join him on the Coats Town Council. The Oakdale HD Club met at the home of Mrs. Alonzo Coats (Daily Record May 9, 1951). Surely you remember that she was the former Mrs. Mae Blackwelder Johnson until she had married Mr. Coats last December.
Another beauty contest was held in Coats and this time Sue Stewart, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Stewart, was selected “Miss Coats” and Doris Johnson was second place while Alice Stewart was in the third place (Daily Record May 11, 1951).
Cecil Fuquay was chosen manager of the Coats Merchants Bureau, a newly organized group. There were 17 charter members; Coats Café, McKnight’s Drug Store, Pope’s Department Store, L. Marvin Johnson Market, Triangle Service Center, M.E. Ennis Company, Coats Mercantile, Wellons’ Mercantile, Malone and Company, Roberts Supply, O K Keene Dry Goods, Variety Store, Electric Sales and Service, Coats Theater, Stephens Hardware, First Citizens Bank and the Daily Record (Daily Record May 14, 1951). Who’s missing?
If you purchased our Heritage of Coats, NC, set of books, you will find in Volume 2 on pages 19-28 a chronological listing of businesses which operated in the Coats area and we also listed the sources from which we gathered the names. Sondra Smith and Ann Johnson O’Neal helped us on that section of the book. Plus -we have in our Research Library, pictures and locations of most of those businesses.
The 1950-51 school term had come to an end. Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Honeycutt and Mr. and Mrs. Lonnie Moore, parents of Susan Honeycutt and Larry Moore, the class mascots, entertained the Coats High seniors at an event in the Coats Community Building which was decorated with a profusion of flowers. Twenty-three seniors attended (Daily Record May 14, 1951).
I often wonder what the people I write about look like and if they are still alive. Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Honeycutt’s names have appeared in the columns several times. Would you believe when H.L. and I attended the funeral of Mr. Rupert Honeycutt, we met Bobby Honeycutt who is Rupert’s brother. The name now has a face!
When former Coats students return to their birthplace for family events or class reunions, many tour the Coats Museums. After their visits and noting all the hard work that has gone into the museums, they respond that they want to be a part of it. In fact, much of the museum’s strongest support comes from former students living in other states and towns. Larry and La Rue Stanley Mills of Florida recently gave a second large donation to the museum as an appreciation for what has been done to preserve the heritage of La Rue’s hometown. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Baxter Ennis of Chesapeake, VA is also a second time contributor. Baxter was the Public Relations Officer for the 82nd Airborne. He served in the Operation Just Cause, Invasion of Panama and Persian Gulf, Operation Desert Storm. Baxter’s uniform and collection of military memorabilia gets much attention from museum visitors. Thank you, La Rue and Larry and Baxter for making a difference at the museum.