March 15, 2013 Coats Museum News
Last week the Coats High School auditorium which was built in 1936 was disassembled to the ground. Just as the students who have memories made in that structure are scattered around the country, there is the same possibility that the recycled material from that structure will find a home in some of the same locations that some of those Coats students relocated. What do you think?
I do know in December of 1938 that the Coats PTA met in that high school auditorium. A special feature of the program was a musical reading, “We Haven’t Said Our Prayers” by Jane Grimes. A violin quintet presented “Go Tell Aunt Patsy” and was played by W.F. Ryals, Hugh Turlington, Warren Ennis, Douglas Roycroft, and Eastwood Turlington. Do you ever wonder what happened to all of those musical instruments that were played by those students? Does anyone know what happened to these men after graduation?
An accidental discharging of his gun resulted in having to amputate a couple of toes of young Robert Matthews. Game Warden Jeff Turlington sounded a warning to all hunters to take special care with their guns. Also in the same paper it was shared that J.B. Ennis was renamed Chairman of the HCBOC with Angus Cameron as Vice Chairman (Harnett County News December 8, 1938).
Does anyone know when the Social Security law was signed into action? Do you know when the North Carolina Legislature passed a law setting up a reserve fund for pensioning state teachers 60 years old and 35 years of teaching service? The teachers would pay 5 percent out of their salaries and the state would match it with a similar amount. The funds would be placed in the hands of a board appointed by the Governor and could not be diverted for any other use even by the General Assembly. Teachers were expected to retire by 65 and would be required to retire by 70 years of age. Setting up a reserve would cost between $500,000 and $1,200,000 for the first year.
It was in this same newspaper that it was noted that an appeal was made to keep the same size of license plates from year to year. Car owners had fixed holders on their cars, front and back, for tags and thousands had casements to protect tags. Change the color or scheme but keep the size the same was the simple request. Couldn’t that be done? (Harnett County News December 22, 1938)
Harnett cotton farmers did not fare so well in 1938. They produced only one –third the amount of bales of 1926 when 50,000 bales were produced. The overall income of farmers in 1938 decreased by 11 percent from 1937.
Wonder if Howard Godwin was a farmer. I do know that the marriage of Miss Geneva Dorman and Howard Godwin, both of near Coats,-near the Johnston and Harnett County line near Bethel -was solemnized on Wednesday evening, December 7, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dan Holland of near Angier. Mrs. Godwin was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Dorman. Mr. Godwin was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Godwin. Yes, Mr. Godwin was a young farmer in his community, but his new father-in-law operated a county store which still stands today near Cecil Parrish’s garage (Harnett County News December 22, 1939).
As 1938 was giving way to 1939, a well-known family of the county was touched by the death of a dear one. Mrs. T.E. Barnes, 50, had been in ill health and very despondent since the summer. Funeral services were held at the Gift Primitive Baptist Church in Coats by Elder J.T. Lewis with burial in the Coats Cemetery. Mrs. Barnes was survived by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. W.L. Lassiter; her husband, T.E. Barnes; one daughter Edna Mae Barnes, and three sons-J.R., W.S., and Max Lassiter Barnes (Harnett County News December 22, 1938).
The year was 1939 and it was a big year for Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy, Errol Flynn, Bettie Davis, and Jimmy Cagney. People lined up to see Robin Hood, Jezebel and others on the big screen. Pearl Buck won the Nobel Prize. The Standard Oil Company was granted permission to drill for oil in Saudi Arabia. The Nazis invaded Poland and divided the country. Russia, Britain, and France declared war on Germany, but FDR proclaimed the neutrality of the United States in the war in Europe. Gone with the Wind opened to cheers. Housewives were glued to radio romances like Our Girl Friday, Backstage Wife, and Search for Tomorrow. They were called soap opera because they were sponsored by soap manufacturers.
In Harnett County, Mrs. Inez Harrington, Register of Deeds, verified that more marriages are performed in December than in the heralded month of June. Fifty-five couples were issued licenses at the cost of $5.00 each. Three dollars went to the state and $2.00 to the Harnett Fund. The Harnett County BOC tried to get funds for a road project to widen and topsoil a stretch of dirt road leading from Highway 210, three miles southeast of Angier to Barclaysville. J.B. Ennis was informed that no machinery was available currently that could do the work (Harnett County News January 5, 1939).
The Rev. D.R. Ennis, retired minister of Coats and one of Harnett’s best known citizens, died at the home of one of his daughters, Mrs. Fred Kuhn of Durham. He was 68 years old and was a leading Freewill Baptist minister in the Cape Fear Conference. He had served as pastor of Lee’s Chapel, Corinth, Roberts’s Grove, and St. Paul’s Oak Grove. Surviving him were three sons- J.C., Rev. L.R. , and W. A. Ennis. Other than Mrs. Kuhn, he had two other daughters-Mrs. Charlie Spence and Mrs. Howard Hodges (Harnett County News January 19, 1939).
Death stayed in Coats and carried with it Miss Juanita Williams who was only 26 years old. She had been ill for the past five months. Prior to her illness she had been actively involved in the younger society. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Williams. Her siblings were Johnnie V. Williams, Mrs. Callie Ennis, Miss Myrtle Williams and Mrs. Lawrence Stewart (Harnett County News January 19, 1939).
When you visit the Coats Heritage Square, check out the three latest additions to the Wall of Honor. Doris Johnson Nolan added a gold level plaque to honor her Joe and Mamie Weeks Johnson family. The Coats High School Class of 1969 added a Bronze level plaque. The Heroes’ Courtyard plaque was placed to mark the entrance to an area that will be a patio of bricks and pavers to honor someone’s special hero. Thank you Steve Pope for use of your drill. A few plaque spaces are available if you would like to honor someone on the wall. Contact the museum at 897-2525. Check coatsmuseum.com to see all the plaques on the wall. Thanks to Paul Parker all of the special lighting is completed in the exhibit hall. Thanks again, Paul. Also thank you goes to Jerry Faulkner who spent an afternoon at the museum identifying the periods of the Native American artifacts that will be on display from the Latta Stewart Collection. They were a gift from Dorothea S. Gilbert. We thank you Lentis Trogden for your gift of a mattress for the Cole family’s 1880 cast iron bed on display. Robie and Lynda Butler gave the museum a military book to honor the memory of Ravon Stone. H.L. Sorrell gave a memorial to the Coats Museum Endowment to honor Mrs. Frances K. Langdon.
PLEASE BE MINDFUL THAT THIS COLUMN APPEARED IN THE DAILY RECORD ON MARCH 15, 2013.
Last week the Coats High School auditorium which was built in 1936 was disassembled to the ground. Just as the students who have memories made in that structure are scattered around the country, there is the same possibility that the recycled material from that structure will find a home in some of the same locations that some of those Coats students relocated. What do you think?
I do know in December of 1938 that the Coats PTA met in that high school auditorium. A special feature of the program was a musical reading, “We Haven’t Said Our Prayers” by Jane Grimes. A violin quintet presented “Go Tell Aunt Patsy” and was played by W.F. Ryals, Hugh Turlington, Warren Ennis, Douglas Roycroft, and Eastwood Turlington. Do you ever wonder what happened to all of those musical instruments that were played by those students? Does anyone know what happened to these men after graduation?
An accidental discharging of his gun resulted in having to amputate a couple of toes of young Robert Matthews. Game Warden Jeff Turlington sounded a warning to all hunters to take special care with their guns. Also in the same paper it was shared that J.B. Ennis was renamed Chairman of the HCBOC with Angus Cameron as Vice Chairman (Harnett County News December 8, 1938).
Does anyone know when the Social Security law was signed into action? Do you know when the North Carolina Legislature passed a law setting up a reserve fund for pensioning state teachers 60 years old and 35 years of teaching service? The teachers would pay 5 percent out of their salaries and the state would match it with a similar amount. The funds would be placed in the hands of a board appointed by the Governor and could not be diverted for any other use even by the General Assembly. Teachers were expected to retire by 65 and would be required to retire by 70 years of age. Setting up a reserve would cost between $500,000 and $1,200,000 for the first year.
It was in this same newspaper that it was noted that an appeal was made to keep the same size of license plates from year to year. Car owners had fixed holders on their cars, front and back, for tags and thousands had casements to protect tags. Change the color or scheme but keep the size the same was the simple request. Couldn’t that be done? (Harnett County News December 22, 1938)
Harnett cotton farmers did not fare so well in 1938. They produced only one –third the amount of bales of 1926 when 50,000 bales were produced. The overall income of farmers in 1938 decreased by 11 percent from 1937.
Wonder if Howard Godwin was a farmer. I do know that the marriage of Miss Geneva Dorman and Howard Godwin, both of near Coats,-near the Johnston and Harnett County line near Bethel -was solemnized on Wednesday evening, December 7, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dan Holland of near Angier. Mrs. Godwin was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Dorman. Mr. Godwin was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Godwin. Yes, Mr. Godwin was a young farmer in his community, but his new father-in-law operated a county store which still stands today near Cecil Parrish’s garage (Harnett County News December 22, 1939).
As 1938 was giving way to 1939, a well-known family of the county was touched by the death of a dear one. Mrs. T.E. Barnes, 50, had been in ill health and very despondent since the summer. Funeral services were held at the Gift Primitive Baptist Church in Coats by Elder J.T. Lewis with burial in the Coats Cemetery. Mrs. Barnes was survived by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. W.L. Lassiter; her husband, T.E. Barnes; one daughter Edna Mae Barnes, and three sons-J.R., W.S., and Max Lassiter Barnes (Harnett County News December 22, 1938).
The year was 1939 and it was a big year for Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy, Errol Flynn, Bettie Davis, and Jimmy Cagney. People lined up to see Robin Hood, Jezebel and others on the big screen. Pearl Buck won the Nobel Prize. The Standard Oil Company was granted permission to drill for oil in Saudi Arabia. The Nazis invaded Poland and divided the country. Russia, Britain, and France declared war on Germany, but FDR proclaimed the neutrality of the United States in the war in Europe. Gone with the Wind opened to cheers. Housewives were glued to radio romances like Our Girl Friday, Backstage Wife, and Search for Tomorrow. They were called soap opera because they were sponsored by soap manufacturers.
In Harnett County, Mrs. Inez Harrington, Register of Deeds, verified that more marriages are performed in December than in the heralded month of June. Fifty-five couples were issued licenses at the cost of $5.00 each. Three dollars went to the state and $2.00 to the Harnett Fund. The Harnett County BOC tried to get funds for a road project to widen and topsoil a stretch of dirt road leading from Highway 210, three miles southeast of Angier to Barclaysville. J.B. Ennis was informed that no machinery was available currently that could do the work (Harnett County News January 5, 1939).
The Rev. D.R. Ennis, retired minister of Coats and one of Harnett’s best known citizens, died at the home of one of his daughters, Mrs. Fred Kuhn of Durham. He was 68 years old and was a leading Freewill Baptist minister in the Cape Fear Conference. He had served as pastor of Lee’s Chapel, Corinth, Roberts’s Grove, and St. Paul’s Oak Grove. Surviving him were three sons- J.C., Rev. L.R. , and W. A. Ennis. Other than Mrs. Kuhn, he had two other daughters-Mrs. Charlie Spence and Mrs. Howard Hodges (Harnett County News January 19, 1939).
Death stayed in Coats and carried with it Miss Juanita Williams who was only 26 years old. She had been ill for the past five months. Prior to her illness she had been actively involved in the younger society. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Williams. Her siblings were Johnnie V. Williams, Mrs. Callie Ennis, Miss Myrtle Williams and Mrs. Lawrence Stewart (Harnett County News January 19, 1939).
When you visit the Coats Heritage Square, check out the three latest additions to the Wall of Honor. Doris Johnson Nolan added a gold level plaque to honor her Joe and Mamie Weeks Johnson family. The Coats High School Class of 1969 added a Bronze level plaque. The Heroes’ Courtyard plaque was placed to mark the entrance to an area that will be a patio of bricks and pavers to honor someone’s special hero. Thank you Steve Pope for use of your drill. A few plaque spaces are available if you would like to honor someone on the wall. Contact the museum at 897-2525. Check coatsmuseum.com to see all the plaques on the wall. Thanks to Paul Parker all of the special lighting is completed in the exhibit hall. Thanks again, Paul. Also thank you goes to Jerry Faulkner who spent an afternoon at the museum identifying the periods of the Native American artifacts that will be on display from the Latta Stewart Collection. They were a gift from Dorothea S. Gilbert. We thank you Lentis Trogden for your gift of a mattress for the Cole family’s 1880 cast iron bed on display. Robie and Lynda Butler gave the museum a military book to honor the memory of Ravon Stone. H.L. Sorrell gave a memorial to the Coats Museum Endowment to honor Mrs. Frances K. Langdon.
PLEASE BE MINDFUL THAT THIS COLUMN APPEARED IN THE DAILY RECORD ON MARCH 15, 2013.