July 19, 2013 Coats Museum News
Can you remember the name of your Coats rural mail carrier? Was he Henry Lee, Thomas Williams, or maybe he was Graham Turlington? Do you know the name of your carrier today? Mail carriers are people whom we hold in high esteem. One of our former Coats mail carriers once shared with me that one day on his route that there was a one hundred dollar bill left in a mailbox to order some postage stamps. That’s trust. In 1941, Henry Lee was a letter carrier from the Coats post office. He was elected vice president of the Carolina Rural Letter Carrier’s Association. This same edition of the paper also reported that ninety-two merchants in Harnett County were allowed to sell cotton goods to participate in the Cotton Stamp program (Harnett County News May 8, 1941).
Aluminum was being collected in form of pots and pans to help in airplane construction. Hugh Turlington, a 4-H member of Coats, collected 15 pounds of aluminum (Harnett County News July 17 and 31, 1941). A lady form Lillington who visited our museum when we had our WW II event in 2009 told me that she remembered the students in her school in Michigan saving the foil off chewing gum wrappers. How did they use it? In our museum, we have pictures of Juanita Ogburn Hudson christening a ship as the result of her high school 4-H club collecting the most metal.
The summer of 1941 found the county mechanics putting headlights on school trucks during the summer break (Harnett County News August 14, 1941).
Aluminum had been collected by citizens throughout Harnett County and the result was that 912 pounds was weighed in. The library expansion called for a Bookmobile. A call for Route 421 to be hard-surfaced was made. James A. Hawley, recently of Coats, had died early last Thursday. Tobacco markets in Lumberton reported tobacco was bringing 38 to 49 cents a pound. Betty Rose Messer, fourteen month-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. O.C. Messer, died. The school truck drivers were to be tested by a highway patrolman in order to carry the approximate 6,000 Harnett County school children to school (Harnett County News August 21, 1941).
M.O. Phillips and six other vocational teachers and twenty-one students toured the Harnett County schools to find the best program. Lamas Denning of Coats High School was picked as having the best program of a farm shop: painting the building, installing water in the kitchen, starting a home-farm library, grading and beautifying the yard, two corn projects (one yellow and one white), corn planted with soybeans, a brood sow and one acre of cotton (Harnett County News August 28, 1941). Did you say WOW? Recall that he was also a main character in a school play in an earlier news column.
On September 11, 1941, the class of 1942 entered their senior year at Coats. The last lap of their journey through Coats saw Miss Mafalda Dawson and Miss Sarah Evans as homeroom teachers. The class voted Eva Wright, president; Opal Lee Satterfield, vice president, and Audrey Parrish as secretary-treasurer.
These seniors of 1942 recalled that their freshmen class officers were president-Rachel Twill, vice-president-Frances Kelly, and secretary-treasurer-Doris Jackson.
Certainly they laughed as they recalled memories of the picnic at Dr. Fleming’s pond and the wiener roast they enjoyed in the spring. Some members probably could not recall who the sophomore class officers were as they reminisced about their high school days with Miss Pearl Rosser and Mr. Arthur Edwards as their homeroom teachers. Levin Beasley was elected class president; D. M. Raynor served as vice-president and Edgar Poe Raynor was secretary-treasurer.
Some 1942 seniors might have teased about how many magazines they sold to help finance the Junior –Senior Banquet. Grade mothers for the junior class year were Mrs. James K. Denning, Mrs. Eddie Parrish, Mrs. J.B. Pope, and Mrs. Owen Odum. Miss Mattie Gainey and Mr. George Richards were the class sponsors for the class when they were juniors in high school at the time when the world was in turmoil.
Would you believe a few years back we had visitors at the museum seeking information on George Richards who later had a career at Campbell. We made pictures of Mr. Richards from the yearbook for the descendent of the teacher. A note that might be of interest about Miss Gainey was that she had a long switch and successfully used it to tame all of the big male students who bullied both teachers and classmates.
Poe Raynor had been elected senior class president, D.M. Raynor was vice-president and Berlene Langdon was keeper of the finances and minutes. Likely they all recalled their pride as classmates had marched down the auditorium aisle carrying American flags rather than a rose or daisy chain.
Twenty of the 150 bus drivers and subs in Harnett County passed the test with a perfect score. Daywood Langdon and Lamas Denning of Coats passed the test with a perfect score. Others passing the test were Carl Edison Ryals, Millard E. Pope, Gerald Langdon, John S. Neighbors, Zeb Stewart, Jr., W. Clyde Ennis, Hyson Denning, D. M. Raynor, Jr., and Williard Messer (Harnett County News September 11, 1941).
Harnett County 4-H boys who had groomed calves ready for the fair were Theodore Smith, Harold Smith, Duvalle and Danville Langdon, Rupert Honeycutt, Coyte Lanier and Truman Smith (Harnett County News September 18, 1941).
Walter Keene, 50, died in his home in Coats (Harnett County News September 25, 1941).
Miss Ruby Mae Turlington, of near Coats and a stenographer in the office of the Clerk of Court, was hurt in a car accident with her sister Addie Turlington and Joseph Young and Clinton Currin (Harnett County News October 9, 1941).
Do you recall that the County Hospital in Dunn had opened in October of 1940. The hospital had had an average of 29 patients per day. The hospital had to increase the number of beds from 33 to 40 and 6 bassinettes to 8. The hospital had started with 10 employers and now had 26, 12 of whom were graduate nurses (Harnett County News October 30, 1941).
A special thank you goes to Martha Goff of Dunn who gave a donation to the Coats Museum to honor the birthday of her brother Robie Butler. Thanks to Brenda Rhiner who continues to share awesome vintage photos for the museum to scan and add to our family genealogies.
Can you imagine giving an hour and a half tour to about 20 young people ranging in age from about 5 to 19 with a few adults thrown in? That was the case and believe it or not, young people know some history and are eager to share it. Watching from a short distance was James Rabon of Four Oaks who came to learn more about how the Coats Museum began and how it operates with hopes of building a museum in Four Oaks. Also visiting during H.L. and my volunteer day was Mr. and Mrs. Jack Honeycutt of Cary. Mrs. Honeycutt had lived in the old school house after it was converted to a residence. Her father was a bluegrass musician. She had visited a few years back when we were planning for the expansion. She plans to share some of her father’s music. Come visit us on Monday (9-3), Wednesday (9-3) and on Sunday (2-5). Groups can make appointments to fit their schedules.
Can you remember the name of your Coats rural mail carrier? Was he Henry Lee, Thomas Williams, or maybe he was Graham Turlington? Do you know the name of your carrier today? Mail carriers are people whom we hold in high esteem. One of our former Coats mail carriers once shared with me that one day on his route that there was a one hundred dollar bill left in a mailbox to order some postage stamps. That’s trust. In 1941, Henry Lee was a letter carrier from the Coats post office. He was elected vice president of the Carolina Rural Letter Carrier’s Association. This same edition of the paper also reported that ninety-two merchants in Harnett County were allowed to sell cotton goods to participate in the Cotton Stamp program (Harnett County News May 8, 1941).
Aluminum was being collected in form of pots and pans to help in airplane construction. Hugh Turlington, a 4-H member of Coats, collected 15 pounds of aluminum (Harnett County News July 17 and 31, 1941). A lady form Lillington who visited our museum when we had our WW II event in 2009 told me that she remembered the students in her school in Michigan saving the foil off chewing gum wrappers. How did they use it? In our museum, we have pictures of Juanita Ogburn Hudson christening a ship as the result of her high school 4-H club collecting the most metal.
The summer of 1941 found the county mechanics putting headlights on school trucks during the summer break (Harnett County News August 14, 1941).
Aluminum had been collected by citizens throughout Harnett County and the result was that 912 pounds was weighed in. The library expansion called for a Bookmobile. A call for Route 421 to be hard-surfaced was made. James A. Hawley, recently of Coats, had died early last Thursday. Tobacco markets in Lumberton reported tobacco was bringing 38 to 49 cents a pound. Betty Rose Messer, fourteen month-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. O.C. Messer, died. The school truck drivers were to be tested by a highway patrolman in order to carry the approximate 6,000 Harnett County school children to school (Harnett County News August 21, 1941).
M.O. Phillips and six other vocational teachers and twenty-one students toured the Harnett County schools to find the best program. Lamas Denning of Coats High School was picked as having the best program of a farm shop: painting the building, installing water in the kitchen, starting a home-farm library, grading and beautifying the yard, two corn projects (one yellow and one white), corn planted with soybeans, a brood sow and one acre of cotton (Harnett County News August 28, 1941). Did you say WOW? Recall that he was also a main character in a school play in an earlier news column.
On September 11, 1941, the class of 1942 entered their senior year at Coats. The last lap of their journey through Coats saw Miss Mafalda Dawson and Miss Sarah Evans as homeroom teachers. The class voted Eva Wright, president; Opal Lee Satterfield, vice president, and Audrey Parrish as secretary-treasurer.
These seniors of 1942 recalled that their freshmen class officers were president-Rachel Twill, vice-president-Frances Kelly, and secretary-treasurer-Doris Jackson.
Certainly they laughed as they recalled memories of the picnic at Dr. Fleming’s pond and the wiener roast they enjoyed in the spring. Some members probably could not recall who the sophomore class officers were as they reminisced about their high school days with Miss Pearl Rosser and Mr. Arthur Edwards as their homeroom teachers. Levin Beasley was elected class president; D. M. Raynor served as vice-president and Edgar Poe Raynor was secretary-treasurer.
Some 1942 seniors might have teased about how many magazines they sold to help finance the Junior –Senior Banquet. Grade mothers for the junior class year were Mrs. James K. Denning, Mrs. Eddie Parrish, Mrs. J.B. Pope, and Mrs. Owen Odum. Miss Mattie Gainey and Mr. George Richards were the class sponsors for the class when they were juniors in high school at the time when the world was in turmoil.
Would you believe a few years back we had visitors at the museum seeking information on George Richards who later had a career at Campbell. We made pictures of Mr. Richards from the yearbook for the descendent of the teacher. A note that might be of interest about Miss Gainey was that she had a long switch and successfully used it to tame all of the big male students who bullied both teachers and classmates.
Poe Raynor had been elected senior class president, D.M. Raynor was vice-president and Berlene Langdon was keeper of the finances and minutes. Likely they all recalled their pride as classmates had marched down the auditorium aisle carrying American flags rather than a rose or daisy chain.
Twenty of the 150 bus drivers and subs in Harnett County passed the test with a perfect score. Daywood Langdon and Lamas Denning of Coats passed the test with a perfect score. Others passing the test were Carl Edison Ryals, Millard E. Pope, Gerald Langdon, John S. Neighbors, Zeb Stewart, Jr., W. Clyde Ennis, Hyson Denning, D. M. Raynor, Jr., and Williard Messer (Harnett County News September 11, 1941).
Harnett County 4-H boys who had groomed calves ready for the fair were Theodore Smith, Harold Smith, Duvalle and Danville Langdon, Rupert Honeycutt, Coyte Lanier and Truman Smith (Harnett County News September 18, 1941).
Walter Keene, 50, died in his home in Coats (Harnett County News September 25, 1941).
Miss Ruby Mae Turlington, of near Coats and a stenographer in the office of the Clerk of Court, was hurt in a car accident with her sister Addie Turlington and Joseph Young and Clinton Currin (Harnett County News October 9, 1941).
Do you recall that the County Hospital in Dunn had opened in October of 1940. The hospital had had an average of 29 patients per day. The hospital had to increase the number of beds from 33 to 40 and 6 bassinettes to 8. The hospital had started with 10 employers and now had 26, 12 of whom were graduate nurses (Harnett County News October 30, 1941).
A special thank you goes to Martha Goff of Dunn who gave a donation to the Coats Museum to honor the birthday of her brother Robie Butler. Thanks to Brenda Rhiner who continues to share awesome vintage photos for the museum to scan and add to our family genealogies.
Can you imagine giving an hour and a half tour to about 20 young people ranging in age from about 5 to 19 with a few adults thrown in? That was the case and believe it or not, young people know some history and are eager to share it. Watching from a short distance was James Rabon of Four Oaks who came to learn more about how the Coats Museum began and how it operates with hopes of building a museum in Four Oaks. Also visiting during H.L. and my volunteer day was Mr. and Mrs. Jack Honeycutt of Cary. Mrs. Honeycutt had lived in the old school house after it was converted to a residence. Her father was a bluegrass musician. She had visited a few years back when we were planning for the expansion. She plans to share some of her father’s music. Come visit us on Monday (9-3), Wednesday (9-3) and on Sunday (2-5). Groups can make appointments to fit their schedules.