January 31, 2020 Coats Museum News
How many lives in the Coats and surrounding areas were touched by the words of the late Ralph Byrd? The April 30, 1982 issue of the Daily Record recorded that Rev. R.O. Byrd had received the Doctor of Humanities Degree from Heritage Bible School. The humble man as he was known, wonder if he ever introduced himself as Dr. Ralph Byrd.
I do know that a large crowd honored Mrs. Mary Coats on her 89th birthday. Mrs. Coats was the last surviving child of the late Henry H. and Unity Coats Penny. Mary’s husband, Roger Coats, had died of a heart attack in 1929 (Daily Record May 7, 1982).
A bit more information can be shared about Mrs. Mary Coats and her family. The Roger Coats house remains a residence and is located next to what was once the Earl Ennis Grocery Store and later various hardware stores on McKinley. Family history records show that her father, H.H. Penny, was half- brother to the town’s namesake, Preacher James Thomas “Tom” Coats. Unity Coats Penny was daughter of John Rufus Coats who was the first chairman of the Johnston County Board of Commissioners. H.H. Penny left his home on Zack’s Mill Road in Pleasant Grove Township in Johnston County to move to Coats on a lot which he had purchased in the first decade of the 1900’s. His house in Coats would later become the doctor’s office of Drs. Fred Fleming and Donald Moore. Before the Coats Medical Clinic was constructed on that Penny site, the Penny house had been relocated at the fork of NC 27 and Ebenezer Church Road. Mary Penny Coats was sister to several local families-Joseph H. Penny, Sr., Mrs. Willie H. (Lizzie) Turlington, Sr. and Mrs. Ben F. (Laura) Byrd whose husband is said to have built the old hotel which would be purchased in 1912 by Mrs. Mollie Stewart and operated until 1938 and be referred to as the old Stewart Hotel which would be taken down in October of 1999. Mary Coats was known for her love of quilting. Her husband was foreman at the Pope Lumber Company where he actually had his heart attack. Mr. Roger Coats had a 1911 (12) automobile which was recalled as being one of the early cars in Coats. Leo McDonald of Lillington actually acquired that car, restored it and brought it for viewing at our 2013 opening of the Kress and Nell Penny Williams Exhibit Hall in the Coats Museum.
One is not to be confused on the names written about above. H.H Penny married Unity Coats and he had a half brother “Tom” who was also a Coats. H.H. Penny’s mother was the widow of Harry Penny when she married William Henry Coats, Jr. and later was the mother of twins James Thomas “Tom” and William Benjamin Coats. Interestingly, H.H. also had a twin sister (William Henry Coats, Sr. Genealogy in Coats Museum Research Library).
The May 11, 1982 edition of the Daily Record wrote that Pope’s Convenient Mart had held a ribbon cutting to mark its opening. Also the news was shared with the school and town that Miss Brenda Sutton had received the “Assistant Principal of the Year” award in NC.
The Ted Penny Family was honored as the Coats Woman’s Club “Family of the Year” award. Ted and Sue Penny and children Vance and Angela Gayle were active in the community and the Methodist Church (Daily Record May 19, 1982).
Mrs. Laura Langdon had presented the “Woman of the Year” award to Mrs. Jane Temper who was outgoing president of the Coats Woman’s Club (Daily Record May 17, 1982).
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Flowers of Coats announced the birth of Colby Thomas Flowers. The mother was the former Nell Hawley, daughter of Mrs. Ora Pond Hawley and J.C. Hawley (Daily Record May 19, 1982).
Chris Ennis, son of Mr. and Mrs. Don Ennis, celebrated his birthday at McDonald’s. An unexpected guest, Captain T.E. King of Durham Police Dept. flashed his badge and extended an offer to Chris to have a tour of the Durham County Jail if Chris was ever in Durham. Did it happen? Some more good news came to Coats-Martha Joyce Stewart had married Henri Hank Hurd. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Stewart announced the engagement of their daughter, Tammy Ruth Stewart, to Terry Ennis, son of Mr. and Mrs. Warren Ennis (Daily Record May 21, 1982).
Mr. and Mrs. Roy B. Langdon of Benson announced the engagement of their daughter, Deborah Faye Langdon to Raymond D. Turner, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. R.D. Turner, of Erwin. Also in the news was that Mrs. Carlie Stevens had received a special plaque in recognition of 10 years of safe driving for the Harnett County School System (Daily Record May 24, 1982).
Some more good news—Kathy Turlington was appointed as resident assistant for the 1982-83 school year. The responsibilities for the sophomore at Campbell and Coats High School graduate were to program, counsel and work with other women in planning for campus-wide activities (Daily Record May 24, 1982).
The Coats Lions Club had held its annual ladies night and installation of officers at Wade’s Restaurant in Coats. Tim Brown, director; Howard Penny ,Sr., tail twister; Charlie Parker, lion trainer; Ron Jenkins, first vice- president; Earl Jones, second vice-president; and Daywood Langdon, director. The new president was M.T. Strickland. Johnnie Hood of WPTF was guest speaker (Daily Record May 25, 1982).
Mr. John Sherwood Langdon was a recent graduate of NCSU in Raleigh where he had received his Bachelor’s degree of environmental design in architecture. The parents were Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood Langdon of Coats (Daily Record May 26, 1982). Wonder where John is today and what impact he has made in his field of work.
Mrs. Mary Jo Mann was installed as the president of the Harnett County Chapter of NCAE. She followed Dava Gage of the Coats faculty (Daily Record May 26, 1982).
John Derek Barnes received a merit scholarship. Derek was the son of Linda Barnes and Harold Barnes (Daily Record 26, 1982).
Another school term had come to an end. Dr. Jerry Wallace was selected as the Coats High School Baccalaureate Service speaker (Daily Record May 28, 1982).
The Coats town budget was proposed to be $497,000. The town’s tax rate was 90 cents per $100 property was to remain the same with no major fee changes (Daily Record June 3, 1982).What is the tax rate today?
A familiar face around town would be no more. Thomas Lee Barefoot had died on Monday at GHH. He was the son of Pauline Brown Barefoot Honeycutt and the late Luther Barefoot. Tom operated the Luke’s BBQ in Coats. He was a member of the Coats Methodist Church. He was survived by a son and two daughters-Bob Barefoot and Linda Odum and Tommie Lively. His wife was Sadie Starkey Barefoot (Daily Record June 2, 1982).
The children of Lee A. Turlington gathered at the home of Graham Turlington in rural Coats. Ruby Currin, Graham, Robert, Emily T. Weaver and Addie T. Young hosted the event for their father (Daily Record June7, 1982).
The Coats High School graduation exercises were held on Friday, June 4, for the 68 graduating seniors. Robert Lane, President of the Senior Class and Salutatorian of 1982 addressed the group and was followed by Mark Creech, President of the Student Council. Sonya Barbour performed the “Theme from Mahogany” and was followed by Valedictorian Angel Moore. The Advisory Council Chairman Earl Denning made remarks. J. C. Hawley presented the diplomas ( Daily Record June 7, 1982) to the following students: Belinda Adams, Charles Adams, Donna Barnes, Denise Barnes, Derek Barnes, Shane Byrd, James Byrd, Donald Capps, Charlie Causey, Angela Clayton, Tammy Coats, Mark Creech, Cynthia Dailey, Darwin Denning, Teresa Earp, Sherry Ellis, Darryl Ennis, Donna Ennis, Rhonda Faircloth, Kathy Flowers, Joe Gagliardo, Danny Glover, Pam Greene, Kathy Gregory, Cheri Grimes, Saundra Harvey, Jo Bess Hayes, Andy Howard, Janet Jackson, Karen Jernigan, Roderick Jernigan, Brenda Johnson, Felicia Johnson, Michael Johnson, Meta Jones, Barbara Knox, Bill Lamm, Jay Lamm, Robbie Lane, Dale Lucas, Edward McDuffie, Valerie McKoy, Shelia McLamb, Jerry McLamb, Mike Montgomery , Angela Moore, Debra Moore, Tammy Moore, Cathey Norris, Angela Penny, Lisa Pleasant, Brian Pope, Dina Pope, Lynn Stephenson, Scott Stevens, Sabra Stewart, Tonyia Stewart, Randy Stone, Susan Stone, Annie Surles, Scott Tripp, Susan Walker, Greg Weaver, Sharon Weaver, Michael White and Donnie Wood (Together We Leave 112-113).
They were an awesome group of students that I was given the opportunity to teach after I returned to teaching after my son Bryan entered kindergarten. They represented much that is good in young people. They were enthusiastic, competitive and respectful learners.
Hard work had paid off for many of the Coats High students. The students who served as marshals were Mark Langdon, Gwen Bass, Patti Dennis, Sherri Whittington, Brookie Betts, Sonya Barbour, Patricia Royals, Gina Keene and Jackie McLamb. Angel Moore, the 1982 Class Valedictorian, had received the Juliet Hamlet Harris Scholarship at Meredith College. The student was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Devon Moore. Robert Julius Lane, the 1982 Class Salutatorian, had received the Presidential Scholarship to Campbell University. Robie was the son of Mrs. Shirley Lane and the late Robert Lane (Daily Record June 3, 1982).
Interest has been showed in revitalizing a DAR chapter in the area. The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) informative meeting will be held at the Coats Museum on Saturday, February 8 at 1:00. We invite those interested in knowing more about the organization attend this meeting.
Last week I had a chance to visit with Donald and Bobbie Jones at my brother-in-law‘s funeral. The Joneses now live below Dunn and I was excited to learn that Donald reads the column and will share his sons’ two Eagle Scout Court Honor Ceremony programs and other materials needed to help pull off the Boy Scout Exhibit planned for May. Michael and Adam Jones were outstanding scouts in Troop 779 when the family lived in Coats. I encourage all families to assist Kevin Pope and Marc Powell in collection of needed Eagle Scout documents.
Death has claimed two older brothers of H.L.’s in less than a year and a half. The Sorrell families from Dunn, Benson, Lillington and Coats are known for living long lives and being good Christian people who serve God, family and neighbors. Thank you, H.L., for remembering Don F. Sorrell with a memorial to the Coats Museum.
How many lives in the Coats and surrounding areas were touched by the words of the late Ralph Byrd? The April 30, 1982 issue of the Daily Record recorded that Rev. R.O. Byrd had received the Doctor of Humanities Degree from Heritage Bible School. The humble man as he was known, wonder if he ever introduced himself as Dr. Ralph Byrd.
I do know that a large crowd honored Mrs. Mary Coats on her 89th birthday. Mrs. Coats was the last surviving child of the late Henry H. and Unity Coats Penny. Mary’s husband, Roger Coats, had died of a heart attack in 1929 (Daily Record May 7, 1982).
A bit more information can be shared about Mrs. Mary Coats and her family. The Roger Coats house remains a residence and is located next to what was once the Earl Ennis Grocery Store and later various hardware stores on McKinley. Family history records show that her father, H.H. Penny, was half- brother to the town’s namesake, Preacher James Thomas “Tom” Coats. Unity Coats Penny was daughter of John Rufus Coats who was the first chairman of the Johnston County Board of Commissioners. H.H. Penny left his home on Zack’s Mill Road in Pleasant Grove Township in Johnston County to move to Coats on a lot which he had purchased in the first decade of the 1900’s. His house in Coats would later become the doctor’s office of Drs. Fred Fleming and Donald Moore. Before the Coats Medical Clinic was constructed on that Penny site, the Penny house had been relocated at the fork of NC 27 and Ebenezer Church Road. Mary Penny Coats was sister to several local families-Joseph H. Penny, Sr., Mrs. Willie H. (Lizzie) Turlington, Sr. and Mrs. Ben F. (Laura) Byrd whose husband is said to have built the old hotel which would be purchased in 1912 by Mrs. Mollie Stewart and operated until 1938 and be referred to as the old Stewart Hotel which would be taken down in October of 1999. Mary Coats was known for her love of quilting. Her husband was foreman at the Pope Lumber Company where he actually had his heart attack. Mr. Roger Coats had a 1911 (12) automobile which was recalled as being one of the early cars in Coats. Leo McDonald of Lillington actually acquired that car, restored it and brought it for viewing at our 2013 opening of the Kress and Nell Penny Williams Exhibit Hall in the Coats Museum.
One is not to be confused on the names written about above. H.H Penny married Unity Coats and he had a half brother “Tom” who was also a Coats. H.H. Penny’s mother was the widow of Harry Penny when she married William Henry Coats, Jr. and later was the mother of twins James Thomas “Tom” and William Benjamin Coats. Interestingly, H.H. also had a twin sister (William Henry Coats, Sr. Genealogy in Coats Museum Research Library).
The May 11, 1982 edition of the Daily Record wrote that Pope’s Convenient Mart had held a ribbon cutting to mark its opening. Also the news was shared with the school and town that Miss Brenda Sutton had received the “Assistant Principal of the Year” award in NC.
The Ted Penny Family was honored as the Coats Woman’s Club “Family of the Year” award. Ted and Sue Penny and children Vance and Angela Gayle were active in the community and the Methodist Church (Daily Record May 19, 1982).
Mrs. Laura Langdon had presented the “Woman of the Year” award to Mrs. Jane Temper who was outgoing president of the Coats Woman’s Club (Daily Record May 17, 1982).
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Flowers of Coats announced the birth of Colby Thomas Flowers. The mother was the former Nell Hawley, daughter of Mrs. Ora Pond Hawley and J.C. Hawley (Daily Record May 19, 1982).
Chris Ennis, son of Mr. and Mrs. Don Ennis, celebrated his birthday at McDonald’s. An unexpected guest, Captain T.E. King of Durham Police Dept. flashed his badge and extended an offer to Chris to have a tour of the Durham County Jail if Chris was ever in Durham. Did it happen? Some more good news came to Coats-Martha Joyce Stewart had married Henri Hank Hurd. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Stewart announced the engagement of their daughter, Tammy Ruth Stewart, to Terry Ennis, son of Mr. and Mrs. Warren Ennis (Daily Record May 21, 1982).
Mr. and Mrs. Roy B. Langdon of Benson announced the engagement of their daughter, Deborah Faye Langdon to Raymond D. Turner, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. R.D. Turner, of Erwin. Also in the news was that Mrs. Carlie Stevens had received a special plaque in recognition of 10 years of safe driving for the Harnett County School System (Daily Record May 24, 1982).
Some more good news—Kathy Turlington was appointed as resident assistant for the 1982-83 school year. The responsibilities for the sophomore at Campbell and Coats High School graduate were to program, counsel and work with other women in planning for campus-wide activities (Daily Record May 24, 1982).
The Coats Lions Club had held its annual ladies night and installation of officers at Wade’s Restaurant in Coats. Tim Brown, director; Howard Penny ,Sr., tail twister; Charlie Parker, lion trainer; Ron Jenkins, first vice- president; Earl Jones, second vice-president; and Daywood Langdon, director. The new president was M.T. Strickland. Johnnie Hood of WPTF was guest speaker (Daily Record May 25, 1982).
Mr. John Sherwood Langdon was a recent graduate of NCSU in Raleigh where he had received his Bachelor’s degree of environmental design in architecture. The parents were Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood Langdon of Coats (Daily Record May 26, 1982). Wonder where John is today and what impact he has made in his field of work.
Mrs. Mary Jo Mann was installed as the president of the Harnett County Chapter of NCAE. She followed Dava Gage of the Coats faculty (Daily Record May 26, 1982).
John Derek Barnes received a merit scholarship. Derek was the son of Linda Barnes and Harold Barnes (Daily Record 26, 1982).
Another school term had come to an end. Dr. Jerry Wallace was selected as the Coats High School Baccalaureate Service speaker (Daily Record May 28, 1982).
The Coats town budget was proposed to be $497,000. The town’s tax rate was 90 cents per $100 property was to remain the same with no major fee changes (Daily Record June 3, 1982).What is the tax rate today?
A familiar face around town would be no more. Thomas Lee Barefoot had died on Monday at GHH. He was the son of Pauline Brown Barefoot Honeycutt and the late Luther Barefoot. Tom operated the Luke’s BBQ in Coats. He was a member of the Coats Methodist Church. He was survived by a son and two daughters-Bob Barefoot and Linda Odum and Tommie Lively. His wife was Sadie Starkey Barefoot (Daily Record June 2, 1982).
The children of Lee A. Turlington gathered at the home of Graham Turlington in rural Coats. Ruby Currin, Graham, Robert, Emily T. Weaver and Addie T. Young hosted the event for their father (Daily Record June7, 1982).
The Coats High School graduation exercises were held on Friday, June 4, for the 68 graduating seniors. Robert Lane, President of the Senior Class and Salutatorian of 1982 addressed the group and was followed by Mark Creech, President of the Student Council. Sonya Barbour performed the “Theme from Mahogany” and was followed by Valedictorian Angel Moore. The Advisory Council Chairman Earl Denning made remarks. J. C. Hawley presented the diplomas ( Daily Record June 7, 1982) to the following students: Belinda Adams, Charles Adams, Donna Barnes, Denise Barnes, Derek Barnes, Shane Byrd, James Byrd, Donald Capps, Charlie Causey, Angela Clayton, Tammy Coats, Mark Creech, Cynthia Dailey, Darwin Denning, Teresa Earp, Sherry Ellis, Darryl Ennis, Donna Ennis, Rhonda Faircloth, Kathy Flowers, Joe Gagliardo, Danny Glover, Pam Greene, Kathy Gregory, Cheri Grimes, Saundra Harvey, Jo Bess Hayes, Andy Howard, Janet Jackson, Karen Jernigan, Roderick Jernigan, Brenda Johnson, Felicia Johnson, Michael Johnson, Meta Jones, Barbara Knox, Bill Lamm, Jay Lamm, Robbie Lane, Dale Lucas, Edward McDuffie, Valerie McKoy, Shelia McLamb, Jerry McLamb, Mike Montgomery , Angela Moore, Debra Moore, Tammy Moore, Cathey Norris, Angela Penny, Lisa Pleasant, Brian Pope, Dina Pope, Lynn Stephenson, Scott Stevens, Sabra Stewart, Tonyia Stewart, Randy Stone, Susan Stone, Annie Surles, Scott Tripp, Susan Walker, Greg Weaver, Sharon Weaver, Michael White and Donnie Wood (Together We Leave 112-113).
They were an awesome group of students that I was given the opportunity to teach after I returned to teaching after my son Bryan entered kindergarten. They represented much that is good in young people. They were enthusiastic, competitive and respectful learners.
Hard work had paid off for many of the Coats High students. The students who served as marshals were Mark Langdon, Gwen Bass, Patti Dennis, Sherri Whittington, Brookie Betts, Sonya Barbour, Patricia Royals, Gina Keene and Jackie McLamb. Angel Moore, the 1982 Class Valedictorian, had received the Juliet Hamlet Harris Scholarship at Meredith College. The student was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Devon Moore. Robert Julius Lane, the 1982 Class Salutatorian, had received the Presidential Scholarship to Campbell University. Robie was the son of Mrs. Shirley Lane and the late Robert Lane (Daily Record June 3, 1982).
Interest has been showed in revitalizing a DAR chapter in the area. The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) informative meeting will be held at the Coats Museum on Saturday, February 8 at 1:00. We invite those interested in knowing more about the organization attend this meeting.
Last week I had a chance to visit with Donald and Bobbie Jones at my brother-in-law‘s funeral. The Joneses now live below Dunn and I was excited to learn that Donald reads the column and will share his sons’ two Eagle Scout Court Honor Ceremony programs and other materials needed to help pull off the Boy Scout Exhibit planned for May. Michael and Adam Jones were outstanding scouts in Troop 779 when the family lived in Coats. I encourage all families to assist Kevin Pope and Marc Powell in collection of needed Eagle Scout documents.
Death has claimed two older brothers of H.L.’s in less than a year and a half. The Sorrell families from Dunn, Benson, Lillington and Coats are known for living long lives and being good Christian people who serve God, family and neighbors. Thank you, H.L., for remembering Don F. Sorrell with a memorial to the Coats Museum.