January 31, 2011
Coats Museum News
In the Coats Museum News last week, you read that Coats “manufactures her own brick and lumber and uses them at home.” The Dunn paper article which contained the 1913 Industrial Report of Coats continued to record that one of the leading industries at Coats was the Coats Brick Mill Company under the management of Mr. P.F. Pope. (Readers note that the article did not say that Pope owned the company and nor did it address him as Mayor Pope.)
The 1913 Industrial Report of Coats recorded that “the plant is located one and one-half miles from Coats and is one of the most complete brick mills in the state. It makes about 20 to 25 thousand bricks per day. About 25 men work on the yard, and they make the prettiest and best brick in the state and use the very best and latest machinery for making the brick. Mr. Pope has sales for the entire output of the mill and is shipping large orders every day.” The article continues, “This is quite an industry for our county.”
You might query,”Where were the bricks used in Coats?” The same article from the Dunn paper in 1913 recorded that “the business section of the town of Coats now has ten handsome brick buildings; nine are stores and one (a) bank. There are several wooden structures. Three two- story brick buildings are now being erected by Messrs. B.F. Byrd, J.W. Talton, and David Bryd. At least a dozen new buildings are now nearing completion.”
Accurate or inaccurate, the following business firms were listed as being in Coats from the 1913 Industrial Report of Coats: “ Winstead and Allen (groceries and general merchandise), F. Langdon and Son (general store, fertilizer and vehicles), J.R. Harmon and Bro.(general hardware), J.L. Johnson (jewelry and feed stuff), A.D. Coats (groceries), Stewart and Johnson (general store), J.W. Talton (general merchandise), W.W. Wood (barber shop), Thady Whittington ( groceries), P.F. Pope (mill plant), B.A. Norris (general merchandise), T.V. Stewart ( dry goods and groceries), Norris and Moore (market and groceries), Arthur Byrd (garage), J.P. Stephens (cotton gin), P.F. Pope (cotton gin), Coats Drug, Co. (general line of drugs-Mr. G.S. Fields, pharmacist), G.H. Stephenson (undertaker), R.M. Coats (canning factory), J.T. Pollard (buggy and wagon shop), W.H. Parrish (real estate and automobiles), and R.R. Jones (repair shop, buggy and wagons).”
The descendants of William Graymon Williams shared that “Bill Dad” operated a store in that time frame. Did B.F. “Barty” Parrish have a business at that time? Also recall that a bank building was mentioned, but no name was given. Ida Coats Turlington (daughter of J.T. Coats) wrote for the 1955 Harnett County Centennial project a history of the town of Coats. Mrs. Turlington wrote that the Bank of Coats was organized around 1906 with P.S. Cooper of Dunn as first president, N. T. Patterson as cashier and Edith Fuquay as teller. There is a red flag here. Recall from an earlier column that Dr. Bill Patterson wrote in his book, “From the Isle of Skye to the Isle of Maui” that N.T. Patterson and his family moved to Coats from Broadway in 1912.
A letter from President P.F. Pope of the Bank of Coats shows that the officials of that bank were Pope, W.M. McKay, Vice President; and N.T. Patterson, Cashier. The letter also stated that the bank opened for business on August 12. No year was given. Pope mentioned pride in the equipment- a first class building, fireproof vault, burglary proof safe with time lock and automatic locking device and a set of fixtures that would be a credit to the city. Pope reminded the recipients of the letter that the bank carried fire and burglary insurance. (Did the bank believe it was better to be safe than sorry?) The bank cashier was also under heavy bond according to Pope. “Mr. N.T. Patterson, the cashier, is a courteous gentleman and any business entrusted to him will be treated confidentially.”
Next week, we shall continue to discover from the P.F. Pope letter more about the bank, other individuals and businesses which called Coats home in the second decade of 1900.
Please be mindful that this article was published in the Daily Record on January 31, 2011.
In the Coats Museum News last week, you read that Coats “manufactures her own brick and lumber and uses them at home.” The Dunn paper article which contained the 1913 Industrial Report of Coats continued to record that one of the leading industries at Coats was the Coats Brick Mill Company under the management of Mr. P.F. Pope. (Readers note that the article did not say that Pope owned the company and nor did it address him as Mayor Pope.)
The 1913 Industrial Report of Coats recorded that “the plant is located one and one-half miles from Coats and is one of the most complete brick mills in the state. It makes about 20 to 25 thousand bricks per day. About 25 men work on the yard, and they make the prettiest and best brick in the state and use the very best and latest machinery for making the brick. Mr. Pope has sales for the entire output of the mill and is shipping large orders every day.” The article continues, “This is quite an industry for our county.”
You might query,”Where were the bricks used in Coats?” The same article from the Dunn paper in 1913 recorded that “the business section of the town of Coats now has ten handsome brick buildings; nine are stores and one (a) bank. There are several wooden structures. Three two- story brick buildings are now being erected by Messrs. B.F. Byrd, J.W. Talton, and David Bryd. At least a dozen new buildings are now nearing completion.”
Accurate or inaccurate, the following business firms were listed as being in Coats from the 1913 Industrial Report of Coats: “ Winstead and Allen (groceries and general merchandise), F. Langdon and Son (general store, fertilizer and vehicles), J.R. Harmon and Bro.(general hardware), J.L. Johnson (jewelry and feed stuff), A.D. Coats (groceries), Stewart and Johnson (general store), J.W. Talton (general merchandise), W.W. Wood (barber shop), Thady Whittington ( groceries), P.F. Pope (mill plant), B.A. Norris (general merchandise), T.V. Stewart ( dry goods and groceries), Norris and Moore (market and groceries), Arthur Byrd (garage), J.P. Stephens (cotton gin), P.F. Pope (cotton gin), Coats Drug, Co. (general line of drugs-Mr. G.S. Fields, pharmacist), G.H. Stephenson (undertaker), R.M. Coats (canning factory), J.T. Pollard (buggy and wagon shop), W.H. Parrish (real estate and automobiles), and R.R. Jones (repair shop, buggy and wagons).”
The descendants of William Graymon Williams shared that “Bill Dad” operated a store in that time frame. Did B.F. “Barty” Parrish have a business at that time? Also recall that a bank building was mentioned, but no name was given. Ida Coats Turlington (daughter of J.T. Coats) wrote for the 1955 Harnett County Centennial project a history of the town of Coats. Mrs. Turlington wrote that the Bank of Coats was organized around 1906 with P.S. Cooper of Dunn as first president, N. T. Patterson as cashier and Edith Fuquay as teller. There is a red flag here. Recall from an earlier column that Dr. Bill Patterson wrote in his book, “From the Isle of Skye to the Isle of Maui” that N.T. Patterson and his family moved to Coats from Broadway in 1912.
A letter from President P.F. Pope of the Bank of Coats shows that the officials of that bank were Pope, W.M. McKay, Vice President; and N.T. Patterson, Cashier. The letter also stated that the bank opened for business on August 12. No year was given. Pope mentioned pride in the equipment- a first class building, fireproof vault, burglary proof safe with time lock and automatic locking device and a set of fixtures that would be a credit to the city. Pope reminded the recipients of the letter that the bank carried fire and burglary insurance. (Did the bank believe it was better to be safe than sorry?) The bank cashier was also under heavy bond according to Pope. “Mr. N.T. Patterson, the cashier, is a courteous gentleman and any business entrusted to him will be treated confidentially.”
Next week, we shall continue to discover from the P.F. Pope letter more about the bank, other individuals and businesses which called Coats home in the second decade of 1900.
Please be mindful that this article was published in the Daily Record on January 31, 2011.
