May 14, 2021 Coats Museum News
Once there was a town well on the Main Street of Coats. The well was covered with the metal lid that is located on the Coats Heritage Square. The story is that the lid came was from a cannery in Buies Creek. How did the water get from the town well to a fire? Did they “draw” the water from the well and hand the bucket of water to a firefighter who then passed it on to other firefighters until the last one slung the water onto the fire? Was that called the bucket brigade? OR-did they have troughs of water throughout the town where buckets could be filled to fight a fire. If a bucket was used to scoop water from a trough, did it look like the bucket used in home wells back then? Were the people called firefighters or firemen? How were they warned that there was a fire in town? Was there a siren, a bell, gong or a very loud voice that warned of the fire? Would it be 1948 before Coats had some type of real fire equipment or was something available before the Coats Fellowship Club discussed securing fire equipment at their January 14, 1948 meeting at the Coats Café? Former Coats Fire Chief Keith McLeod has promised the museum one of those unique buckets.
When there was a burn patient from the fire or there was a wreck in town or rural community, how did they get the injured to the hospital or doctors’ offices? If the injuries were serious, what Harnett County hospital was the injured taken before we had the Good Hope Hospital in 1913 or the Dunn Hospital in 1947? Main question is when did Coats have a Rescue Squad?
I do know the Coats Rescue Squad honored one of their volunteers with a special recognition. Della Pleasant was an ambulance driver/attendant and assistant. She was the daughter of Mrs. Delphia Norris and the late Mr. W.C. Norris and was married to James L. Pleasant. Her children were Tommy Young, Kay Y. Lawrence and Mark L. Pleasant. Did her dad operate a jewelry store and was her first husband Gerald Young, a local musician?
Wanda Pollard must have been busy collecting all the news for her “Social Notes from Coats”. She sent birthday wishes to Mary Smith, Gail M. Smith, Bartley Cook, Brandon Turlington, Charles Norris, Shayla Renee Byrd, Andrea Ennis, and Jean Pleasant. Anniversary wishes went out to Mr. and Mrs. Grady Matthews. Sympathy was extended to Fleming Peede at the loss of his brother and to the family of Lovie Coats McCurdle (Daily Record May 15, 1987).
Photo scenes of the IGA Street Festival at Coats also appeared in the May 15th edition of the Daily Record. Mr. Maylon (?) Upchurch was seen watching the festivities while Leigh Pollard danced with her father, Danny Pollard, and Lyle Pollard danced with his mother, Rita Pollard.
A three-car accident injured 15- year-old Christy Mangum of Coats who was taken by Life Flight to Chapel Hill and was listed in serious condition. Also injured were Gina Lynn Mangum and Linda Mangum who were treated at Betsy Johnson Memorial Hospital in Dunn. One of the other drivers, Mrs. Edna Byrd Norris of Route 3, Dunn was treated and released from Good Hope Hospital. Barclay Setzer of Dunn was the driver of the third car.
Carolina Telephone, under the direction of Charles W. Wright, Community Relations Manager of the company, hosted a “wall raising” event in honor of the new Coats Senior Citizens Center that was under construction. Marvin Johnson was a key speaker. A memorial set up in honor of Estelle Stewart’s name was donated to the project which was contracted to Nelson Currin and Dorman Construction. Carsie Denning, Sr. designed the building; Johnnie Barnes did the electrical work and Doc Denning was in charge of the plumbing. Mack Reid Hudson (Harnett County Commissioner) and Dallas Pope (County Manager) worked together to drive the first nail.
Mr. Robert Hough, formerly of Coats, had died in Baltimore, MD. He was survived by brothers-Carl L. and Leroy Hough, and sisters- Mary Ross Williams and Gladys Tyndall, all of Coats (Daily Record May 20, 1987).
Amy E. Allen, 13 –year-old seventh grader at Coats school, was one of 735 students honored by the Duke University Talent Identification Program (TIP). TIP participants had to score at least 450 out of 800 on the verbal portion or 52 out of 60 on the test of Standard Writing English (Daily Record May 22, 1987).
Jesse Howell Lee, 80, of Route One, Coats had died. He was survived by a daughter Linda. J. McKoy; sons-Howard Lee, Jr., and Shelton Lee; and sisters-Bertha McKoy and Lillie Rowland. Does anyone recognize these folks?
A wedding had to be planned in the Stancil household. Mr. and Mrs. Larry Stancil of Route 3, Dunn, announced the engagement of their daughter, Jennifer Carol Stancil, to Ronnie Paul Faircloth of Erwin. The bride was the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Prince and Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Stancil.
The “Notes from Coats” column mentioned that Lynda Weeks was recuperating from surgery and Connie Penny was singing in the Methodist Church Choir and for special services. Amy Parrish was preparing to attend Girls State Conference as the American Legion Auxiliary of Benson Post 109 representative.
Two Coats couples were celebrating wedding anniversaries-Mr. and Mrs. Tom Williams and Mr. and Mrs. James Denning. Grace Williams Cade and her husband, F.P. Cade, visited her siblings –Thomas Williams and Hilda Williams Pope. Lindsey and Hazel Tart had just returned from Texas where they had visited their daughter Linda Tart Thompson.
The Rescue Squad recognized another one of their volunteers. Barbara Byrd, who moved to Coats in 1969, had been a member of the squad since 1981.
The Lane’s Seafood and Steak House-New Deal Warehouse team of the Coats Recreation League won the 1987 Harnett County Men’s Softball Tournament (Daily Record May 25, 1987).
Roger L. Mabry, 79, a retired farmer, Route 2, Angier, had died. His sisters were Mrs. Rebecca Turlington and Mrs. Lucille Cobb who survived him. Also deceased was Charles L. Johnson, 25, of Route One, Coats, who had died in an automobile accident. He was survived by a son, Charles Jr., and his mother-Annie Lee Johnson. His sisters were Alberta, Gertrude, Mattie Spears and Shirley Mack. His six brothers were-William, Jesse, Preston (Jack), Paul, Levon, and Thomas Johnson.
Many of you will recognize the members of Charles’s family. Charles worked with the Harnett County School s in the transportation department where he was a familiar face in the schools where he checked out the buses for safety. Preston, now called Jack, also retired from the Harnett County school system. He does a beautiful job keeping our Coats Museum landscaping manicured. We were very sad to hear that his mother, Annie Lee Johnson, died a couple of weeks ago. She had to be proud of how well respected her children were in school and the community.
As former educators, H.L. and I cherished the friendship shown to us from that family and we humbly add Annie Lee Johnson to our Coats Museum Memorial list. Two other very dear friends have celebrated birthdays and H.L. and I are happy to remember Peggy Robinson and Becky Adams with honorariums to the Coats Museums. Life is never slow or dull when the two volunteer each week at the Coats Museum.
Once there was a town well on the Main Street of Coats. The well was covered with the metal lid that is located on the Coats Heritage Square. The story is that the lid came was from a cannery in Buies Creek. How did the water get from the town well to a fire? Did they “draw” the water from the well and hand the bucket of water to a firefighter who then passed it on to other firefighters until the last one slung the water onto the fire? Was that called the bucket brigade? OR-did they have troughs of water throughout the town where buckets could be filled to fight a fire. If a bucket was used to scoop water from a trough, did it look like the bucket used in home wells back then? Were the people called firefighters or firemen? How were they warned that there was a fire in town? Was there a siren, a bell, gong or a very loud voice that warned of the fire? Would it be 1948 before Coats had some type of real fire equipment or was something available before the Coats Fellowship Club discussed securing fire equipment at their January 14, 1948 meeting at the Coats Café? Former Coats Fire Chief Keith McLeod has promised the museum one of those unique buckets.
When there was a burn patient from the fire or there was a wreck in town or rural community, how did they get the injured to the hospital or doctors’ offices? If the injuries were serious, what Harnett County hospital was the injured taken before we had the Good Hope Hospital in 1913 or the Dunn Hospital in 1947? Main question is when did Coats have a Rescue Squad?
I do know the Coats Rescue Squad honored one of their volunteers with a special recognition. Della Pleasant was an ambulance driver/attendant and assistant. She was the daughter of Mrs. Delphia Norris and the late Mr. W.C. Norris and was married to James L. Pleasant. Her children were Tommy Young, Kay Y. Lawrence and Mark L. Pleasant. Did her dad operate a jewelry store and was her first husband Gerald Young, a local musician?
Wanda Pollard must have been busy collecting all the news for her “Social Notes from Coats”. She sent birthday wishes to Mary Smith, Gail M. Smith, Bartley Cook, Brandon Turlington, Charles Norris, Shayla Renee Byrd, Andrea Ennis, and Jean Pleasant. Anniversary wishes went out to Mr. and Mrs. Grady Matthews. Sympathy was extended to Fleming Peede at the loss of his brother and to the family of Lovie Coats McCurdle (Daily Record May 15, 1987).
Photo scenes of the IGA Street Festival at Coats also appeared in the May 15th edition of the Daily Record. Mr. Maylon (?) Upchurch was seen watching the festivities while Leigh Pollard danced with her father, Danny Pollard, and Lyle Pollard danced with his mother, Rita Pollard.
A three-car accident injured 15- year-old Christy Mangum of Coats who was taken by Life Flight to Chapel Hill and was listed in serious condition. Also injured were Gina Lynn Mangum and Linda Mangum who were treated at Betsy Johnson Memorial Hospital in Dunn. One of the other drivers, Mrs. Edna Byrd Norris of Route 3, Dunn was treated and released from Good Hope Hospital. Barclay Setzer of Dunn was the driver of the third car.
Carolina Telephone, under the direction of Charles W. Wright, Community Relations Manager of the company, hosted a “wall raising” event in honor of the new Coats Senior Citizens Center that was under construction. Marvin Johnson was a key speaker. A memorial set up in honor of Estelle Stewart’s name was donated to the project which was contracted to Nelson Currin and Dorman Construction. Carsie Denning, Sr. designed the building; Johnnie Barnes did the electrical work and Doc Denning was in charge of the plumbing. Mack Reid Hudson (Harnett County Commissioner) and Dallas Pope (County Manager) worked together to drive the first nail.
Mr. Robert Hough, formerly of Coats, had died in Baltimore, MD. He was survived by brothers-Carl L. and Leroy Hough, and sisters- Mary Ross Williams and Gladys Tyndall, all of Coats (Daily Record May 20, 1987).
Amy E. Allen, 13 –year-old seventh grader at Coats school, was one of 735 students honored by the Duke University Talent Identification Program (TIP). TIP participants had to score at least 450 out of 800 on the verbal portion or 52 out of 60 on the test of Standard Writing English (Daily Record May 22, 1987).
Jesse Howell Lee, 80, of Route One, Coats had died. He was survived by a daughter Linda. J. McKoy; sons-Howard Lee, Jr., and Shelton Lee; and sisters-Bertha McKoy and Lillie Rowland. Does anyone recognize these folks?
A wedding had to be planned in the Stancil household. Mr. and Mrs. Larry Stancil of Route 3, Dunn, announced the engagement of their daughter, Jennifer Carol Stancil, to Ronnie Paul Faircloth of Erwin. The bride was the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Prince and Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Stancil.
The “Notes from Coats” column mentioned that Lynda Weeks was recuperating from surgery and Connie Penny was singing in the Methodist Church Choir and for special services. Amy Parrish was preparing to attend Girls State Conference as the American Legion Auxiliary of Benson Post 109 representative.
Two Coats couples were celebrating wedding anniversaries-Mr. and Mrs. Tom Williams and Mr. and Mrs. James Denning. Grace Williams Cade and her husband, F.P. Cade, visited her siblings –Thomas Williams and Hilda Williams Pope. Lindsey and Hazel Tart had just returned from Texas where they had visited their daughter Linda Tart Thompson.
The Rescue Squad recognized another one of their volunteers. Barbara Byrd, who moved to Coats in 1969, had been a member of the squad since 1981.
The Lane’s Seafood and Steak House-New Deal Warehouse team of the Coats Recreation League won the 1987 Harnett County Men’s Softball Tournament (Daily Record May 25, 1987).
Roger L. Mabry, 79, a retired farmer, Route 2, Angier, had died. His sisters were Mrs. Rebecca Turlington and Mrs. Lucille Cobb who survived him. Also deceased was Charles L. Johnson, 25, of Route One, Coats, who had died in an automobile accident. He was survived by a son, Charles Jr., and his mother-Annie Lee Johnson. His sisters were Alberta, Gertrude, Mattie Spears and Shirley Mack. His six brothers were-William, Jesse, Preston (Jack), Paul, Levon, and Thomas Johnson.
Many of you will recognize the members of Charles’s family. Charles worked with the Harnett County School s in the transportation department where he was a familiar face in the schools where he checked out the buses for safety. Preston, now called Jack, also retired from the Harnett County school system. He does a beautiful job keeping our Coats Museum landscaping manicured. We were very sad to hear that his mother, Annie Lee Johnson, died a couple of weeks ago. She had to be proud of how well respected her children were in school and the community.
As former educators, H.L. and I cherished the friendship shown to us from that family and we humbly add Annie Lee Johnson to our Coats Museum Memorial list. Two other very dear friends have celebrated birthdays and H.L. and I are happy to remember Peggy Robinson and Becky Adams with honorariums to the Coats Museums. Life is never slow or dull when the two volunteer each week at the Coats Museum.