March 10, 2017 Coats Museum News
There was a time when a small, homemade cloth bag containing a sausage or ham biscuit along with a hot sweet potato which kept the hands warm on the cold mornings of the school kids headed out on the long trek to their school. Later there was hot soup and sandwiches available for a dime or so under the preparation of Mrs. Roycroft at Coats Grove #3 School. It was even told that the girls in the home economics department prepared food for students. Gone are most of those students who lived in that age. Next there was a basement cafeteria where full lunches, even including desserts such as cherry cobbler and sweet potato balls filled with marshmallows, could be purchased. Mrs. Westbrook from Dunn was one manager. Finally in 1957, there was a new building devoted entirely to feeding the students who might have preferred not to bring lunch from home. Some will remember Mrs. Lillian Earp, Dorothy Ferrell and Linda Thompson as early managers.
How many students were attending Coats School in the mid 1930’s and later in the mid 1950’s? Would you believe that 800 students had enrolled in 1936 and enrollment peaked at 1042 in 1955? I also know that Rev. Milliard Westbrook, husband of the former manager of the basement cafeteria and father of Frank Westbrook, had died according to the Oct. 2, 1961 Daily Record.
The same edition of the paper noted that Jessie McNeill and Mrs. Audrey Stewart were hospital patients at Betsy Johnson. It was also reported that Willard Harold Bunn, a 48 year-old carpenter, had suffocated Sunday afternoon at his home apparently from a smoldering bed. On a much happier note, Herbert Johnson had had guests at his cottage at Carolina Beach- Mrs. Joe Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Johnson and Mrs. J.L. Johnson. Were they relatives?
The paper printed that Johnson and Norris, Auctioneers, had auctioned the sale of Lydia Byrd’s farm (Daily Record Oct. 4, 1961).
The father of Troy, Charles, and Lois Daniel Williams had died. Noah Daniel Wiilliams, 52, of Buies Creek, had passed away on Wednesday. Elsewhere, President Jack F. Kennedy was to visit Fort Bragg and was to come by copter (Daily Record October 5, 1961).
Lt. Colonel Oliver Hord had presented orders and stripes to Albert L. Johnson of rural Coats. Johnson had a wife and four children living in Harnett County. SFC Johnson had a total of 11 years in service and planned to remain a career man in the Army. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ennis and Deborah and Mr. and Mrs. Roger Sexton and Ruth of Lillington had attended the Horse Show at the NC State Fair. Ruth was to soon graduate from ECC and to begin her practice teaching.
Mr. and Mrs. A.H. Denton’s three year-old granddaughter was buried Friday at Oak Grove Church (Daily Record October 6, 1961).
Hughie E. Baker, 74, retired farmer, had died on Saturday. Three daughters survived him. Mrs. R.W. Poole was one from rural Coats. Another death occurred in that area that affected a Grove resident. Mr. Robert L. Barefoot, 45, of rural Benson had died on Saturday. He was survived by a sister, Mrs. D.H. Surles of Coats (Daily Record Oct. 9, 1961).
Who remembers the George Porter Room of the Porter’s Restaurant in Dunn? Was it a place to impress? It was written in the paper that Herbert L. Johnson of Coats had entertained a few of the out-of- state guests who had attended the wedding of Joyce Johnson of Washington, D.C. and Walter Milton Farmer of Spring Hope, N.C. Guests enjoying the steak supper were U.S. Consul Marshall and Mable Johnson Wright of Rangoon, Burma, Attorney Bill and Alice Johnson Beckett of Maryland, U.S. Congressman and Mrs. David Henderson of Wallace, N.C. and U.S. Congressman William Jennings Bryan and Mildred Johnson Dorn, of Greenwood, S.C. The Johnson sisters were all graduates of Coats High School.
The same October 10, 1961 edition of the Daily Record reported that good news for Angier fans had come when their team defeated the Coats gridders by 20-6 score.
Mr. Fletcher Flowers and Mrs. Maxine Thompson were patients in the local hospital. Funeral services were held for Edward Baker of rural Coats and the Reverends Irvin Stephens and R.O. Byrd had conducted the services (Daily Record Oct. 11. 1961).Was this Hughie E. Baker?
The announcement was made that WPYB, the Benson radio facility, would open on October20, 1961. Elsewhere, Mr. and Mrs. William Edward Thompson of rural Coats announced the arrival of a daughter. The mother was the former Maxine Avery (Daily Record Oct. 12, 1961).
The marriage of Miss Evelyn Marie Blalock and Luther Marvin Walters, Jr. was solemnized in the Methodist Church in Angier on September 29th. The bride was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Pierce Blalock of rural Angier. The groom’s parents were Mr. and Mrs. Walters of Rocky Mount. The bride had graduated in 1957 from Coats High School and had attended Atlantic Christian College in Wilson.
The names of several Coats folks were drawn for November Superior Court juror duty. Willie F. Dorman, Howard Barnes, Eugene Ferrell, J. M. Coats, Myatt Alonzo Coats, J. Monroe Dunn, Tommy Y. Carroll, Esco Denning, John B. Ennis, and J. David Norris were summoned (Daily Record Oct. 13, 1961).
The HCBOC in a special session authorized the establishment of a full time County Civil Defense office (Daily Record Oct.18, 1961). Do you wonder why and if that office is currently in place?
Carson Gregory’s pig, “Dorothy”, a champion Poland China sow and mother of 11 babies, was a big hit at the N.C. State Fair. Likely, the arrival of a son for Mr. and Mrs. Linwood Pleasant brought excitement in Coats and the Good Hope Hospital. Lera Bennett was the new mom.
Campbell College had a large number of students attending the campus from the Coats area. Those named in the paper were James Charles Benner, Judith Carol Byrd, Kenneth Wayne Ennis, William Howard Frazier, Henry B. Herring, Madeline Gayle Johnson, Stacy F. Johnson, Jimmy King Jones, Bobby Wayne Pope, June Dianna Powell, Charles Leon Recktenwald, Harry Brock Roberts, Larry Rose, Donald David Stewart, and Robert Elton West (Daily Record Oct. 20, 1961).
Army Specialist Four John R. Norris, 23, whose wife Margaret lived on rural route Coats, had completed a nine weeks diesel engine repair course at Engineer School, Fort Belvoir, VA. He had entered the Army in March 1959. Army Specialist Four Berlin J. Blake, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Z. Blake of Coats, had participated with other personnel from the 92nd Transportation Company in Checkmate, a NATO tactical training exercise conducted in Germany (Daily Record Oct. 24, 1961).
Teresa Honeycutt is our superhero when it comes to keeping the museum grounds beautifully manicured. Occasionally a few other volunteers jump in and do a task, and this past week, she received a special assistance in preparing the grounds for spring. Misty and Ruben Gil, Fernando and Viri Ruiz donated their time to mulch and trim. Misty and Ruben work with Greenscape and used their equipment. The mulch was donated by Southern Pine Straw. Thank you to those who were involved with this effort. The unplanned timing was perfect and the grounds were beautiful for our visit from WRAL’s TAR HEEL TRAVELER for the first anniversary of the dedication of the Black Heritage Monument on the Heritage Square.
Peggy Robinson and Desi Campbell and their support team are working tirelessly to produce a documentary on Black Heritage in Harnett County. This tireless team will show the documentary in Coats Community Building March 26-Sunday 2-5PM.
We enjoyed a visit from Luby Sawyer, his wife and friends who brought by the Sawyer Family Tree Book for the museum to copy for the Research Library. His father, James W. Sawyer, was a WWI veteran, and Luby donated his WWI Honorable Discharged Button and the Croix de Guerre awarded for bravery to military personnel. He also donated among other items a 1929 chattel mortgage to the Coats Mercantile Co. and a 1935 book, “Capital City Book of Etiquette” used by his cousin who worked in the White House. We added a picture of James W. Sawyer’s sister, Molly Williams, to our digital photo collection. Thank you to Luby and to the many veterans who have shared their military information and stories for the Defenders of the Red, White and Blue”. The task of the volunteers is to now compile the pictures, letters, stories and the veterans’ information into the book. The readers will be kept abreast of the progress of the book. Some are asking about the price of the book and we will not know that until we complete the compilation of the materials.
Many of our visitors comment on the passing of Lib Guy and what a lovely lady she was. Lib spent many of her early years in the old Stewart Hotel that was located across the museum until October of 1999. Lib’s grandmother was Mrs. Mollie Stewart who operated the hotel from 1912 until 1938. Both of Lib’s daughters- Sybil Beasley Wells and Ann Beasley Jones- were Miss Coats High winners and were also outstanding scholars. They have many local friends who continue to keep in contact with them. It was not surprising to receive memorials for Lib from Sybil’s friends in Atlanta. Sarah Millett sent a check from Sybil’s Sine Nomine Book Club and one from herself to honor their friend Sybil’s mom. Thank you goes to our Atlanta museum donors.
ope hospital wherhhHo
There was a time when a small, homemade cloth bag containing a sausage or ham biscuit along with a hot sweet potato which kept the hands warm on the cold mornings of the school kids headed out on the long trek to their school. Later there was hot soup and sandwiches available for a dime or so under the preparation of Mrs. Roycroft at Coats Grove #3 School. It was even told that the girls in the home economics department prepared food for students. Gone are most of those students who lived in that age. Next there was a basement cafeteria where full lunches, even including desserts such as cherry cobbler and sweet potato balls filled with marshmallows, could be purchased. Mrs. Westbrook from Dunn was one manager. Finally in 1957, there was a new building devoted entirely to feeding the students who might have preferred not to bring lunch from home. Some will remember Mrs. Lillian Earp, Dorothy Ferrell and Linda Thompson as early managers.
How many students were attending Coats School in the mid 1930’s and later in the mid 1950’s? Would you believe that 800 students had enrolled in 1936 and enrollment peaked at 1042 in 1955? I also know that Rev. Milliard Westbrook, husband of the former manager of the basement cafeteria and father of Frank Westbrook, had died according to the Oct. 2, 1961 Daily Record.
The same edition of the paper noted that Jessie McNeill and Mrs. Audrey Stewart were hospital patients at Betsy Johnson. It was also reported that Willard Harold Bunn, a 48 year-old carpenter, had suffocated Sunday afternoon at his home apparently from a smoldering bed. On a much happier note, Herbert Johnson had had guests at his cottage at Carolina Beach- Mrs. Joe Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Johnson and Mrs. J.L. Johnson. Were they relatives?
The paper printed that Johnson and Norris, Auctioneers, had auctioned the sale of Lydia Byrd’s farm (Daily Record Oct. 4, 1961).
The father of Troy, Charles, and Lois Daniel Williams had died. Noah Daniel Wiilliams, 52, of Buies Creek, had passed away on Wednesday. Elsewhere, President Jack F. Kennedy was to visit Fort Bragg and was to come by copter (Daily Record October 5, 1961).
Lt. Colonel Oliver Hord had presented orders and stripes to Albert L. Johnson of rural Coats. Johnson had a wife and four children living in Harnett County. SFC Johnson had a total of 11 years in service and planned to remain a career man in the Army. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ennis and Deborah and Mr. and Mrs. Roger Sexton and Ruth of Lillington had attended the Horse Show at the NC State Fair. Ruth was to soon graduate from ECC and to begin her practice teaching.
Mr. and Mrs. A.H. Denton’s three year-old granddaughter was buried Friday at Oak Grove Church (Daily Record October 6, 1961).
Hughie E. Baker, 74, retired farmer, had died on Saturday. Three daughters survived him. Mrs. R.W. Poole was one from rural Coats. Another death occurred in that area that affected a Grove resident. Mr. Robert L. Barefoot, 45, of rural Benson had died on Saturday. He was survived by a sister, Mrs. D.H. Surles of Coats (Daily Record Oct. 9, 1961).
Who remembers the George Porter Room of the Porter’s Restaurant in Dunn? Was it a place to impress? It was written in the paper that Herbert L. Johnson of Coats had entertained a few of the out-of- state guests who had attended the wedding of Joyce Johnson of Washington, D.C. and Walter Milton Farmer of Spring Hope, N.C. Guests enjoying the steak supper were U.S. Consul Marshall and Mable Johnson Wright of Rangoon, Burma, Attorney Bill and Alice Johnson Beckett of Maryland, U.S. Congressman and Mrs. David Henderson of Wallace, N.C. and U.S. Congressman William Jennings Bryan and Mildred Johnson Dorn, of Greenwood, S.C. The Johnson sisters were all graduates of Coats High School.
The same October 10, 1961 edition of the Daily Record reported that good news for Angier fans had come when their team defeated the Coats gridders by 20-6 score.
Mr. Fletcher Flowers and Mrs. Maxine Thompson were patients in the local hospital. Funeral services were held for Edward Baker of rural Coats and the Reverends Irvin Stephens and R.O. Byrd had conducted the services (Daily Record Oct. 11. 1961).Was this Hughie E. Baker?
The announcement was made that WPYB, the Benson radio facility, would open on October20, 1961. Elsewhere, Mr. and Mrs. William Edward Thompson of rural Coats announced the arrival of a daughter. The mother was the former Maxine Avery (Daily Record Oct. 12, 1961).
The marriage of Miss Evelyn Marie Blalock and Luther Marvin Walters, Jr. was solemnized in the Methodist Church in Angier on September 29th. The bride was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Pierce Blalock of rural Angier. The groom’s parents were Mr. and Mrs. Walters of Rocky Mount. The bride had graduated in 1957 from Coats High School and had attended Atlantic Christian College in Wilson.
The names of several Coats folks were drawn for November Superior Court juror duty. Willie F. Dorman, Howard Barnes, Eugene Ferrell, J. M. Coats, Myatt Alonzo Coats, J. Monroe Dunn, Tommy Y. Carroll, Esco Denning, John B. Ennis, and J. David Norris were summoned (Daily Record Oct. 13, 1961).
The HCBOC in a special session authorized the establishment of a full time County Civil Defense office (Daily Record Oct.18, 1961). Do you wonder why and if that office is currently in place?
Carson Gregory’s pig, “Dorothy”, a champion Poland China sow and mother of 11 babies, was a big hit at the N.C. State Fair. Likely, the arrival of a son for Mr. and Mrs. Linwood Pleasant brought excitement in Coats and the Good Hope Hospital. Lera Bennett was the new mom.
Campbell College had a large number of students attending the campus from the Coats area. Those named in the paper were James Charles Benner, Judith Carol Byrd, Kenneth Wayne Ennis, William Howard Frazier, Henry B. Herring, Madeline Gayle Johnson, Stacy F. Johnson, Jimmy King Jones, Bobby Wayne Pope, June Dianna Powell, Charles Leon Recktenwald, Harry Brock Roberts, Larry Rose, Donald David Stewart, and Robert Elton West (Daily Record Oct. 20, 1961).
Army Specialist Four John R. Norris, 23, whose wife Margaret lived on rural route Coats, had completed a nine weeks diesel engine repair course at Engineer School, Fort Belvoir, VA. He had entered the Army in March 1959. Army Specialist Four Berlin J. Blake, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Z. Blake of Coats, had participated with other personnel from the 92nd Transportation Company in Checkmate, a NATO tactical training exercise conducted in Germany (Daily Record Oct. 24, 1961).
Teresa Honeycutt is our superhero when it comes to keeping the museum grounds beautifully manicured. Occasionally a few other volunteers jump in and do a task, and this past week, she received a special assistance in preparing the grounds for spring. Misty and Ruben Gil, Fernando and Viri Ruiz donated their time to mulch and trim. Misty and Ruben work with Greenscape and used their equipment. The mulch was donated by Southern Pine Straw. Thank you to those who were involved with this effort. The unplanned timing was perfect and the grounds were beautiful for our visit from WRAL’s TAR HEEL TRAVELER for the first anniversary of the dedication of the Black Heritage Monument on the Heritage Square.
Peggy Robinson and Desi Campbell and their support team are working tirelessly to produce a documentary on Black Heritage in Harnett County. This tireless team will show the documentary in Coats Community Building March 26-Sunday 2-5PM.
We enjoyed a visit from Luby Sawyer, his wife and friends who brought by the Sawyer Family Tree Book for the museum to copy for the Research Library. His father, James W. Sawyer, was a WWI veteran, and Luby donated his WWI Honorable Discharged Button and the Croix de Guerre awarded for bravery to military personnel. He also donated among other items a 1929 chattel mortgage to the Coats Mercantile Co. and a 1935 book, “Capital City Book of Etiquette” used by his cousin who worked in the White House. We added a picture of James W. Sawyer’s sister, Molly Williams, to our digital photo collection. Thank you to Luby and to the many veterans who have shared their military information and stories for the Defenders of the Red, White and Blue”. The task of the volunteers is to now compile the pictures, letters, stories and the veterans’ information into the book. The readers will be kept abreast of the progress of the book. Some are asking about the price of the book and we will not know that until we complete the compilation of the materials.
Many of our visitors comment on the passing of Lib Guy and what a lovely lady she was. Lib spent many of her early years in the old Stewart Hotel that was located across the museum until October of 1999. Lib’s grandmother was Mrs. Mollie Stewart who operated the hotel from 1912 until 1938. Both of Lib’s daughters- Sybil Beasley Wells and Ann Beasley Jones- were Miss Coats High winners and were also outstanding scholars. They have many local friends who continue to keep in contact with them. It was not surprising to receive memorials for Lib from Sybil’s friends in Atlanta. Sarah Millett sent a check from Sybil’s Sine Nomine Book Club and one from herself to honor their friend Sybil’s mom. Thank you goes to our Atlanta museum donors.
ope hospital wherhhHo