March 1, 2013 Coats Museum News
It was late spring in Coats in 1938 and it was party time at the home of Mrs. Owen Odum. Mrs. Charlie Williams was co-hostess. Mrs. J.T. Jerome gave a program on “Kinds of Art” and Miss Lois Odum gave a delightful reading. Mrs. Fred Fleming rendered a vocal number (Harnett County News June 2, 1938). It is interesting to note that the Odum house is located across the road from the current Coats Baptist Church. The house was built in 1928.
The certified figures showed that the Harnett County Board of Commissioners top vote getter was J.B. Ennis with 4,000 votes (Harnett County News June 9, 1938).
William Henry Ennis, 70, of Dunn, died in Mary Elizabeth Hospital in Raleigh in early afternoon. He had been in declining health for a couple of years. Funeral services were held at home and burial was in the family cemetery near Coats. He was a member of the Red Hill Church. Mr. Ennis, a retired farmer, was a native and life-long resident of Harnett County and was well known as a leading farmer. He was survived by his wife, Mrs . Ianna Ennis; three sons, Joe(l), Clem, and J.F. Ennis; and a daughter, Mrs. J.D. Nordan. All lived in the Coats community. Were any of them Coats merchants?
The same edition of the paper printed that the Coats Café and West Lunch were inspected. Do you wonder where these food establishments were located (Harnett County News June 16, 1938)?
I do know that the Coats School gained one high school and one elementary school teacher in the 1938-39 school term (Harnett County News June 30, 1938).
Every summer about the middle of July, the Young Tar Heel Farmer Association sent a few young men to the annual convention. In 1938, Elbert Tripp and Stewart Hardee had a chance to attend where they had the opportunity to hear Governor Hoey speak (Harnett County News July 21, 1938).
Mrs. Margaret Presley, 67, well known resident of Coats, died in Highsmith Hospital in Fayetteville, on a Thursday morning. She had died of a heart ailment, Services were held at her home with burial in the Coats Cemetery. She had lived in the Coats vicinity all of her life. Her surviving daughters were Mrs. Addie Messer and Mrs. Bessie Faircloth.
Wonder if any of Mrs. Presley’s friends attended the wedding of Hazel Louise Gunter and William Thomas Sorrell, Jr. They were united in marriage on Friday afternoon at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Alton Massengill in Benson. The bride wore a dress fashioned of Alice Blue alpaca. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A.K. Gunter who had been a railroad agent in Coats. The bride was a graduate of Atlantic Christian College and was a member of the Coats School faculty. Mr. Sorrell, who operated the hatchery in Benson, was the son of Mr. and Mrs. W.T. Sorrell (Harnett County News July 21, 1938).
Who remembers the name of the first elected mayor of Coats? His wife died in August of 1938. The paper wrote that the wife of former Mayor Pat Pope had died Saturday afternoon at her home after a long illness. Services were held at the Coats Baptist Church. Burial was in the Greenwood Cemetery in Dunn. Mrs. Pope was the daughter of the late Angus and Margaret Bain of Cumberland County. Forty years ago the Popes were married. In addition to her husband, she was survived by three sons-Herman and Lynwood Pope of Coats and Tyson Pope of Wilmington. One daughter, Mrs. C.C. Upchurch, lived in Dunn. Mrs. Pope had five surviving brothers-Dr. C.D. Bain, Rev. G.A. Bain, John Bain, R.A. Bain and Oscar Bain. Miss Mattie Bain of Coats was her sister. Does that name sound familiar to the folks at Coats Baptist.
Another obituary appeared in that same September 1, 1938 edition of the Harnett County News. Mrs. Robert K. Jones, 73, who lived near Coats, died at her home due to infirmities of old age. She was the daughter of the late Lazarus and Effie Branch Matthews. She was a member of the Coats Baptist Church and was a leader in community affairs. She had two sons-O.M. and Sexton Jones and one daughter-Mrs. Dora Baker.
School would open on September 22nd and Principal J.T. Jerome announced his faculty. The teachers M.O. Phillips, M.A. Godwin, Mattie Gainey, Mabel Lynch, Pearl Rosser, and Claudia McDonald were high school teachers. For elementary school, Nettie P. Tilley, Rosa Edwards, Willa Horton, Ada Burt, Mary Baker, Erma Benson, Pauline Hudson, Mrs. J.T. Jerome, Mrs. Raymond Woodall, Mrs. W.T. Sorrell, Jr., Mrs. J. B. Williams, Mrs. Mattie Highfill, Mrs. R.K. Footman, and Mrs. Percy Parrish were listed (Harnett County News August 11, 1938).
That same paper shared that Lester Parker, the former Coats police chief who was recently carried back to Texas for the 1932 slaying of Laurie Amey, had been released under bond set at $10,000. Parker returned to Harnett County with letters from Texas authorities that expressed belief in Parker’s self-defense plea. Despite a letter from the clerk of court that Parker was acquitted, the sheriff denied it. Mayor J.B. Williams said that Parker would be rehired to the police position if freed.
Farm work animals were necessary for survival of the farm families. There were 15,240,000 farm work animals in the U.S. in 1938.That was an average of 2.2 per farm. So how many farms were there in the U.S. in 1938? It was also noted that if every American ate one more slice of bread daily, farmers could sell 50 million more bushels of wheat.
H.A. Turlington exhibited his Duroc hogs at the N.C. State Fair and won 11 of the 14 prizes offered in the Duroc class. His largest hog weighed 900 pounds (Harnett County News October 27, 1938). Glenn Eanes, a student at Coats School, won fourth place in judging livestock contest that was conducted at the same fair (Harnett County News October 20, 1938). How proud the community must have of the great showing at the fair. Question—could the Coats folks still raise animals in town in 1938?
Much activity continues at the museum. Paul Parker, thank you for keeping the light burning on the flag on the square. Tim Penny and Locke Muse have worked diligently this week to complete the wall exhibit. A big thank you goes to Gerald Hayes, Jr. for his gift of the picture of himself and other state FFA officers taken with Governor Terry Sanford. Earlier gifts of his FFA and athletic jackets have been shadowboxed and they hang in the Research Library. Once again Stacy and Patsy Avery have come forth in support of the museum. The couple made a very generous donation to honor the memory of W.F. Williams who died last week after a very short illness. Thank you. Also the museum volunteers wish to thank the donor who gave to the Coats Museum Endowment to honor the memory of Hazel Barnes. Her son David is one of our most dependable volunteers who manages our coatsmuseum.com website.
PLEASE BE MINDFUL THAT THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE DAILY RECORD ON MARCH 1, 2013.
It was late spring in Coats in 1938 and it was party time at the home of Mrs. Owen Odum. Mrs. Charlie Williams was co-hostess. Mrs. J.T. Jerome gave a program on “Kinds of Art” and Miss Lois Odum gave a delightful reading. Mrs. Fred Fleming rendered a vocal number (Harnett County News June 2, 1938). It is interesting to note that the Odum house is located across the road from the current Coats Baptist Church. The house was built in 1928.
The certified figures showed that the Harnett County Board of Commissioners top vote getter was J.B. Ennis with 4,000 votes (Harnett County News June 9, 1938).
William Henry Ennis, 70, of Dunn, died in Mary Elizabeth Hospital in Raleigh in early afternoon. He had been in declining health for a couple of years. Funeral services were held at home and burial was in the family cemetery near Coats. He was a member of the Red Hill Church. Mr. Ennis, a retired farmer, was a native and life-long resident of Harnett County and was well known as a leading farmer. He was survived by his wife, Mrs . Ianna Ennis; three sons, Joe(l), Clem, and J.F. Ennis; and a daughter, Mrs. J.D. Nordan. All lived in the Coats community. Were any of them Coats merchants?
The same edition of the paper printed that the Coats Café and West Lunch were inspected. Do you wonder where these food establishments were located (Harnett County News June 16, 1938)?
I do know that the Coats School gained one high school and one elementary school teacher in the 1938-39 school term (Harnett County News June 30, 1938).
Every summer about the middle of July, the Young Tar Heel Farmer Association sent a few young men to the annual convention. In 1938, Elbert Tripp and Stewart Hardee had a chance to attend where they had the opportunity to hear Governor Hoey speak (Harnett County News July 21, 1938).
Mrs. Margaret Presley, 67, well known resident of Coats, died in Highsmith Hospital in Fayetteville, on a Thursday morning. She had died of a heart ailment, Services were held at her home with burial in the Coats Cemetery. She had lived in the Coats vicinity all of her life. Her surviving daughters were Mrs. Addie Messer and Mrs. Bessie Faircloth.
Wonder if any of Mrs. Presley’s friends attended the wedding of Hazel Louise Gunter and William Thomas Sorrell, Jr. They were united in marriage on Friday afternoon at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Alton Massengill in Benson. The bride wore a dress fashioned of Alice Blue alpaca. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A.K. Gunter who had been a railroad agent in Coats. The bride was a graduate of Atlantic Christian College and was a member of the Coats School faculty. Mr. Sorrell, who operated the hatchery in Benson, was the son of Mr. and Mrs. W.T. Sorrell (Harnett County News July 21, 1938).
Who remembers the name of the first elected mayor of Coats? His wife died in August of 1938. The paper wrote that the wife of former Mayor Pat Pope had died Saturday afternoon at her home after a long illness. Services were held at the Coats Baptist Church. Burial was in the Greenwood Cemetery in Dunn. Mrs. Pope was the daughter of the late Angus and Margaret Bain of Cumberland County. Forty years ago the Popes were married. In addition to her husband, she was survived by three sons-Herman and Lynwood Pope of Coats and Tyson Pope of Wilmington. One daughter, Mrs. C.C. Upchurch, lived in Dunn. Mrs. Pope had five surviving brothers-Dr. C.D. Bain, Rev. G.A. Bain, John Bain, R.A. Bain and Oscar Bain. Miss Mattie Bain of Coats was her sister. Does that name sound familiar to the folks at Coats Baptist.
Another obituary appeared in that same September 1, 1938 edition of the Harnett County News. Mrs. Robert K. Jones, 73, who lived near Coats, died at her home due to infirmities of old age. She was the daughter of the late Lazarus and Effie Branch Matthews. She was a member of the Coats Baptist Church and was a leader in community affairs. She had two sons-O.M. and Sexton Jones and one daughter-Mrs. Dora Baker.
School would open on September 22nd and Principal J.T. Jerome announced his faculty. The teachers M.O. Phillips, M.A. Godwin, Mattie Gainey, Mabel Lynch, Pearl Rosser, and Claudia McDonald were high school teachers. For elementary school, Nettie P. Tilley, Rosa Edwards, Willa Horton, Ada Burt, Mary Baker, Erma Benson, Pauline Hudson, Mrs. J.T. Jerome, Mrs. Raymond Woodall, Mrs. W.T. Sorrell, Jr., Mrs. J. B. Williams, Mrs. Mattie Highfill, Mrs. R.K. Footman, and Mrs. Percy Parrish were listed (Harnett County News August 11, 1938).
That same paper shared that Lester Parker, the former Coats police chief who was recently carried back to Texas for the 1932 slaying of Laurie Amey, had been released under bond set at $10,000. Parker returned to Harnett County with letters from Texas authorities that expressed belief in Parker’s self-defense plea. Despite a letter from the clerk of court that Parker was acquitted, the sheriff denied it. Mayor J.B. Williams said that Parker would be rehired to the police position if freed.
Farm work animals were necessary for survival of the farm families. There were 15,240,000 farm work animals in the U.S. in 1938.That was an average of 2.2 per farm. So how many farms were there in the U.S. in 1938? It was also noted that if every American ate one more slice of bread daily, farmers could sell 50 million more bushels of wheat.
H.A. Turlington exhibited his Duroc hogs at the N.C. State Fair and won 11 of the 14 prizes offered in the Duroc class. His largest hog weighed 900 pounds (Harnett County News October 27, 1938). Glenn Eanes, a student at Coats School, won fourth place in judging livestock contest that was conducted at the same fair (Harnett County News October 20, 1938). How proud the community must have of the great showing at the fair. Question—could the Coats folks still raise animals in town in 1938?
Much activity continues at the museum. Paul Parker, thank you for keeping the light burning on the flag on the square. Tim Penny and Locke Muse have worked diligently this week to complete the wall exhibit. A big thank you goes to Gerald Hayes, Jr. for his gift of the picture of himself and other state FFA officers taken with Governor Terry Sanford. Earlier gifts of his FFA and athletic jackets have been shadowboxed and they hang in the Research Library. Once again Stacy and Patsy Avery have come forth in support of the museum. The couple made a very generous donation to honor the memory of W.F. Williams who died last week after a very short illness. Thank you. Also the museum volunteers wish to thank the donor who gave to the Coats Museum Endowment to honor the memory of Hazel Barnes. Her son David is one of our most dependable volunteers who manages our coatsmuseum.com website.
PLEASE BE MINDFUL THAT THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE DAILY RECORD ON MARCH 1, 2013.
