March 1, 2024 Coats Museum News
Does the name Joe Byrd ring a bell for those who attended Coats High School in the 1960’s. Did he not have a band that entertained the student body on many occasions? Did Joe serve his country in the military? A Joe Byrd was later a photographer for the Daily Record because the April 5, 1994 edition shared that Joe Byrd had snapped a picture of Glenn Faircloth and Richard Beasley as they were fishing in the Fleming’s Pond in Coats. They had to cut the fishing short because they had to hurry to baseball practice even though they were on Easter break from school.
The many memories of school students of Easter egg hunts at the Fleming’s Pond could cover an entire article; however, the news of April 6, 1994 was about the Coats Senior Center hosting an open forum for the 19th District House candidates. Those attending to answer questions were Don Davis, L. Banks (?), (?)Brewer, Carnell Robinson, Norfleet Gardner, Willis Brown, Bill Currin, Betty McRae, Dava Miller, Tim Morris and Clyde Rhyne (Daily Record April 6, 1994).
Belle Williams informed her readers in her “Notes from Coats” that the W.M.U. of the Oakdale Baptist Church had held a yard sale. The church was located near the Bass’s Store between Benson and Coats on the Red Hill Church Road.
Question- was the Red Hill Church Road originally known as the Averasboro-Smithfield Road? Today that route intersects with NC 50 as the Denning Road. This is the area that Patrick Dixon purchased land using his parting money from the War of 1812 so the story is told. He and his brother moved here from Greene County and settled around the Mingo Swamp. There Patrick raised a large family that has multiplied into hundreds of descendants. My great-great-great grandparents were Patrick and Delana Hill Dixon. My great-great granddaddy was their son, Lemuel Dixon. We have in our Dixon history in our Research Library some items from that era like an order for supplies for the CSA soldiers from the Dixon store and the multiplication card that my great-great granddaddy Lemuel used to learn math.
Common sense tells us that the trails, paths, roads looked nothing like today’s roads and we know that the soldiers traveled from one battlefield to the next requiring that they travel through rough terrain. They did not march in a line like little toy soldiers. Apparently they were spread out over a wide range of territory as they headed to Bentonville. In fact on the Elevation Road on which my grandmother Anna Dixon Thornton lived, there is a historical marker saying that the northern army stopped here on their way to Goldsboro. A question-was the Elevation Road also a part of the former Averasboro- Smithfield Road since it is also a way to get to Smithfield.
Family stories passed down from one generation to the next give some proof that the thousands of soldiers were scattered across the territory. For example, the Rudolph Miller family shared with us a picture of the pre-Civil War Reaves House which is off the current Old Fairground Road. Today it is several hundred yards behind the house of Rudolph (Betty Wood) Miller. The Miller family said the Reaves house was a stopping point for Sherman and his Yankee soldiers to eat a meal on the porch. Who provided the meal was not mentioned but it was said that they sat on the porch to enjoy it. The Miller family owns that house which has been modernized and at the time we were researching in 2003-05 for our Heritage of Coats, N.C., a Miller family member lived in the house and shared the story with us.
Another bit of history shared was from the Denning family genealogy in which they wrote that the Yankee soldiers came through their property near the Barclaysville region. The story passed from one generation to the next is that the family heard that the soldiers were coming their way and the children were so excited that in the commotion that the dishes were broken. When the soldiers did arrive and saw that the children were eating peas on broken dishes that they did not disturb them.
Yet another story from that same area was that when the soldiers did pass this family’s house, several of the soldiers abused one of the pretty daughters and afterwards she was never able to get over the brutality she had experienced.
Even farther north in Johnston County where my Grandmother Mary Johnson was born in 1857, she recalled hearing that the soldiers came through their property and were stealing everything they could get their hands upon. She said her mother Mary Alice Sutton Johnston shared with her that the soldiers were warned about bothering the beehives and paid the price for not heeding the advice.
We have heard the beehive story from many other families so we might conclude that each story had to be with a different group of Yankee soldiers.
I do know that a large group of family and friends gathered for a surprise birthday party for Jenny Pollard thanks to her husband Danny Pollard. He surprised her with a barbeque chicken dinner for her 34th birthday.
Another big crowd gathered for the political event for Max Matthews, a candidate for sheriff of Harnett County. The group met and enjoyed good food and fellowship. Another event was planned for Max at Ernies where breakfast was to be served.
Belle also wrote that Godfrey Beasley and Charles Pope were hospitalized. The Little River Baptist Association R.A. Day and Field Day was held at the Pleasant Memory Baptist Church. Winners for the Coats churches were Lads’ winner-Michael Peede and runner-up Daniel Stephens. The Crusaders winners were Kyle Turlington and runner-up Chris Matthews. Justin Denning was Pioneers’ winner and Gil Stephens placed second. The winners who went to Kinston for the finals were Samuel Brown and Troy Clayton who had the most original cars. In the Counselor division, Andy Howard and Kent Turlington were the winners.
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Lee Jernigan of Benson announced the engagement of their daughter, Dana Danette Jernigan, to Fred Strickland, Jr. He was son of Fred Strickland, Sr. A “Fairy Tale” setting was planned for the wedding on May 21st at the Polynesian Resort in Orlando, FL. Both were educated at JCC in Smithfield (Daily Record Apr. 7, 1994).
Thank you to Robin and all those who came out to the genealogy workshop last Saturday. There were no chairs left empty and many came from distant towns to benefit from the knowledge of Robin Foster.
The Coats Museum has been fortunate in having so many out of state supporters who have given generously to the museum in honor of their friends and relatives back in the Coats Community. The Dr. William Wells Beckett, Jr. family from Dothan, Alabama and the Tom Beckett family from Lyons, Colorado have supported the museum all the way back to the 2005 Coats Centennial. The father of these two strong supporters died a few weeks ago and I feel fortunate to be a part of their families and give a memorial for their dad, William Wells Beckett, Sr. who died recently in Idaho.
I also want to remember Peggy’s husband - Paul Robinson’s son and Dovie Beasley with memorials. Dovie’s husband, Max, was instrumental in laying out the design for the sidewalks and lighting at the Coats museums and H.L. and Max spent hours mounting the plaques on the Honor Wall at the museum.
When my late husband H.L. was teaching business courses at Coats High School, the class of 1965 had several girls to get married while students and one of them was Freda Adams who married Doug Johnson. The couple celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary a few weeks ago. I am honored to add their names on the Honorarium list on our Funding Page on the coatsmuseum.com website.
Does the name Joe Byrd ring a bell for those who attended Coats High School in the 1960’s. Did he not have a band that entertained the student body on many occasions? Did Joe serve his country in the military? A Joe Byrd was later a photographer for the Daily Record because the April 5, 1994 edition shared that Joe Byrd had snapped a picture of Glenn Faircloth and Richard Beasley as they were fishing in the Fleming’s Pond in Coats. They had to cut the fishing short because they had to hurry to baseball practice even though they were on Easter break from school.
The many memories of school students of Easter egg hunts at the Fleming’s Pond could cover an entire article; however, the news of April 6, 1994 was about the Coats Senior Center hosting an open forum for the 19th District House candidates. Those attending to answer questions were Don Davis, L. Banks (?), (?)Brewer, Carnell Robinson, Norfleet Gardner, Willis Brown, Bill Currin, Betty McRae, Dava Miller, Tim Morris and Clyde Rhyne (Daily Record April 6, 1994).
Belle Williams informed her readers in her “Notes from Coats” that the W.M.U. of the Oakdale Baptist Church had held a yard sale. The church was located near the Bass’s Store between Benson and Coats on the Red Hill Church Road.
Question- was the Red Hill Church Road originally known as the Averasboro-Smithfield Road? Today that route intersects with NC 50 as the Denning Road. This is the area that Patrick Dixon purchased land using his parting money from the War of 1812 so the story is told. He and his brother moved here from Greene County and settled around the Mingo Swamp. There Patrick raised a large family that has multiplied into hundreds of descendants. My great-great-great grandparents were Patrick and Delana Hill Dixon. My great-great granddaddy was their son, Lemuel Dixon. We have in our Dixon history in our Research Library some items from that era like an order for supplies for the CSA soldiers from the Dixon store and the multiplication card that my great-great granddaddy Lemuel used to learn math.
Common sense tells us that the trails, paths, roads looked nothing like today’s roads and we know that the soldiers traveled from one battlefield to the next requiring that they travel through rough terrain. They did not march in a line like little toy soldiers. Apparently they were spread out over a wide range of territory as they headed to Bentonville. In fact on the Elevation Road on which my grandmother Anna Dixon Thornton lived, there is a historical marker saying that the northern army stopped here on their way to Goldsboro. A question-was the Elevation Road also a part of the former Averasboro- Smithfield Road since it is also a way to get to Smithfield.
Family stories passed down from one generation to the next give some proof that the thousands of soldiers were scattered across the territory. For example, the Rudolph Miller family shared with us a picture of the pre-Civil War Reaves House which is off the current Old Fairground Road. Today it is several hundred yards behind the house of Rudolph (Betty Wood) Miller. The Miller family said the Reaves house was a stopping point for Sherman and his Yankee soldiers to eat a meal on the porch. Who provided the meal was not mentioned but it was said that they sat on the porch to enjoy it. The Miller family owns that house which has been modernized and at the time we were researching in 2003-05 for our Heritage of Coats, N.C., a Miller family member lived in the house and shared the story with us.
Another bit of history shared was from the Denning family genealogy in which they wrote that the Yankee soldiers came through their property near the Barclaysville region. The story passed from one generation to the next is that the family heard that the soldiers were coming their way and the children were so excited that in the commotion that the dishes were broken. When the soldiers did arrive and saw that the children were eating peas on broken dishes that they did not disturb them.
Yet another story from that same area was that when the soldiers did pass this family’s house, several of the soldiers abused one of the pretty daughters and afterwards she was never able to get over the brutality she had experienced.
Even farther north in Johnston County where my Grandmother Mary Johnson was born in 1857, she recalled hearing that the soldiers came through their property and were stealing everything they could get their hands upon. She said her mother Mary Alice Sutton Johnston shared with her that the soldiers were warned about bothering the beehives and paid the price for not heeding the advice.
We have heard the beehive story from many other families so we might conclude that each story had to be with a different group of Yankee soldiers.
I do know that a large group of family and friends gathered for a surprise birthday party for Jenny Pollard thanks to her husband Danny Pollard. He surprised her with a barbeque chicken dinner for her 34th birthday.
Another big crowd gathered for the political event for Max Matthews, a candidate for sheriff of Harnett County. The group met and enjoyed good food and fellowship. Another event was planned for Max at Ernies where breakfast was to be served.
Belle also wrote that Godfrey Beasley and Charles Pope were hospitalized. The Little River Baptist Association R.A. Day and Field Day was held at the Pleasant Memory Baptist Church. Winners for the Coats churches were Lads’ winner-Michael Peede and runner-up Daniel Stephens. The Crusaders winners were Kyle Turlington and runner-up Chris Matthews. Justin Denning was Pioneers’ winner and Gil Stephens placed second. The winners who went to Kinston for the finals were Samuel Brown and Troy Clayton who had the most original cars. In the Counselor division, Andy Howard and Kent Turlington were the winners.
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Lee Jernigan of Benson announced the engagement of their daughter, Dana Danette Jernigan, to Fred Strickland, Jr. He was son of Fred Strickland, Sr. A “Fairy Tale” setting was planned for the wedding on May 21st at the Polynesian Resort in Orlando, FL. Both were educated at JCC in Smithfield (Daily Record Apr. 7, 1994).
Thank you to Robin and all those who came out to the genealogy workshop last Saturday. There were no chairs left empty and many came from distant towns to benefit from the knowledge of Robin Foster.
The Coats Museum has been fortunate in having so many out of state supporters who have given generously to the museum in honor of their friends and relatives back in the Coats Community. The Dr. William Wells Beckett, Jr. family from Dothan, Alabama and the Tom Beckett family from Lyons, Colorado have supported the museum all the way back to the 2005 Coats Centennial. The father of these two strong supporters died a few weeks ago and I feel fortunate to be a part of their families and give a memorial for their dad, William Wells Beckett, Sr. who died recently in Idaho.
I also want to remember Peggy’s husband - Paul Robinson’s son and Dovie Beasley with memorials. Dovie’s husband, Max, was instrumental in laying out the design for the sidewalks and lighting at the Coats museums and H.L. and Max spent hours mounting the plaques on the Honor Wall at the museum.
When my late husband H.L. was teaching business courses at Coats High School, the class of 1965 had several girls to get married while students and one of them was Freda Adams who married Doug Johnson. The couple celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary a few weeks ago. I am honored to add their names on the Honorarium list on our Funding Page on the coatsmuseum.com website.