May 17, 2012 Coats Museum News
By 1928, there had been several schools in the Turlington area of Grove Township. The first one was built by Andrew Jackson Turlington for his crippled granddaughter Mary to attend so she would not have to walk the distance to the Sorrell School over on the current Red Hill Church Road. Did you know that there was also a Turlington Grove Colored School and Church in the Turlington area? Several readers have shared that there was such a school and church in the vicinity of Clester Johnson’s homestead. There is little left of them today but there is some history recorded about the school in 1928. The Harnett County News November 29, 1928 issue shared that Marquerite Cain, Emily Hilburn and Sadie Ellen Woodley had announced that there would be entertainment given at Turlington School on December 5 at 7:30 P.M. There would be string music and a Negro minstrel. There would also be several contests and a box party.
Once again death has claimed a beloved one from the Coats area. Mr. Augustus Turner, veteran of the War Between the States, had died on Sunday morning at 8 o’clock at his home near Coats. He had been ill for three weeks. He was ninety years old. He was buried at the Turner family burial grounds. He left a widow, two sons and two daughters. Two brothers, Elder W.Y. and Preston Turner, also survived him (Harnett County News December 13, 1928). You may have asked as I did, “What were the names of his children and widow?” Does anyone know?
Many of our readers were living in 1929. This was the beginning of an era that is the source of comparison for later economic times. Herbert Hoover was president. He had been born on August 10, 1874 in a small town in Iowa. Since his parents had died before he was nine years old, he had lived with an aunt and uncle in Oregon. He attended a private Quaker school where he received an excellent education. Liking to invent things, he became an engineer after graduating from Stanford University. He managed gold mines in Australia and was chief engineer of China’s Bureau of Mines. He was a millionaire by the age of forty. As U.S. Food Administrative during WWI, he helped get food distributed to all parts of the U.S. and Europe. Hoover served Presidents Harding and Coolidge. He helped reduce the work day from twelve hours to eight hours. He won the election for president by a landslide and had done very little campaigning. Seven months after Hoover became president, the stock market collapsed and the country entered the “Great Depression”. The people had been promised a “chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.” The people blamed Hoover for the disaster. Shantytowns called Hoovervilles sprang up across the country. Brokendown automobiles became Hoover-wagons and Hoover –carts. Hoover flag was the name given to empty pockets turned inside out. He set up the Reconstruction Finance Corporation that loaned money to businesses and homeowners. He did not believe in federal aid to the unemployed. “He did too little too late.” Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated him in a landslide in Hoover’s run for a second term (Bumann, Joan and John Patterson. 40 Presidents-Facts and Fun. Willowisp Press, Inc. 1981. pp. 110-113).
Locally, one of the major concerns in January of 1929 was whether the N.C. General Assembly would require all schools to operate on the eight months schedule. The concern of farm counties was two-fold. Can the counties afford two additional months and can the farmers survive without the help of the children during those two months (Harnett County News January 10, 1929).
That same edition of the paper shared much insight into the life of the Coats High School student body in 1929. Miss Williams‘s seventh grade class gave a very appropriate program on “Preservation and Conservation of the Forest”. Since so many of the evergreens were destroyed at Christmas, it was well to remind the pupils of the fast disappearing cedars and hollies. Neill Patterson was in charge of the following programs: Poem-“The Oak” by Lois Grimes; “Forest Conservation ” by Josie Cannady; poem- “A Tree” by Joyce Kilmer quoted by Elease Williams. Miss Maynard, assisted by Miss Witty, gave a Christmas program on the Thursday evening before the school closed for the holidays. Although there was a downpour of rain, the auditorium was well filled with an appreciative audience. The program consisted of a pageant, “Christmas in Other Lands” and concluded with a Bethlehem scene. Practically everyone in the school took part in the entertainment. The Glee Club sang several numbers.
A Coats High School play which was to be given the last of January by a number of Juniors and Seniors was entitled “Lighthouse Man”. The scene of the play would be a lighthouse on the Carolina coast. The play would last two hours and fifteen minutes. Remember folks, this play was to be presented in the old 1920 brick building where the auditorium was on the third level. You do remember that the school now has heat and bathrooms since 1926.
Miss Maynard had been responsible for organizing a Glee Club at the school and had found talent sufficient to form a male quartet composed of Felton Ennis, David Wood, Alvis Langdon, and Vernon Wood. In the organization of the Literary and Dramatic Club under the supervision of Misses Broadwell and Johnson, the following students were elected: president-Felton Ennis, vice-president-William Patterson, Secretary-Thelma McLamb, and treasurer-Hector Langdon. The Science Club was organized with Mr. Lewis in charge. Alvis Langdon was elected president and Annie Belle King was elected by vice president. Ruby Johnson was secretary and Ed Ennis was sergeant of arms. Alice Godwin was picked to chair the program committee (Harnett County News January 10, 1929).
Read next week’s column to discover which road in Harnett County is ready to be tarred and which state raises the most tobacco.
A special thank you goes to Judy Parrish for honoring the memory of Rev. J.M. Mewborn with a contribution to the Coats Museum. Many of the former Coats students will recognize the name Betty Frazier who called the museum to offer eighteen Coats School yearbooks and school memorabilia. She later arrived at the museum with them along with some packaged toothpicks from LUKES. Remember that grill? Also a very special thank you is extended to the Daily Record and Kyle Douglas for the article on Dr. Moses Jones. Because of the article, I received a call from a delightful lady from Dunn named Dorothy Watts who moved back to Dunn from Baltimore several years to be with her elderly parents. She has shared several names that will help Dr. Jones and the Coats Museum in gathering more Ryals genealogy.
Please be mindful that this Coats Museum News was published in the Daily Record in May 17, 2012.
By 1928, there had been several schools in the Turlington area of Grove Township. The first one was built by Andrew Jackson Turlington for his crippled granddaughter Mary to attend so she would not have to walk the distance to the Sorrell School over on the current Red Hill Church Road. Did you know that there was also a Turlington Grove Colored School and Church in the Turlington area? Several readers have shared that there was such a school and church in the vicinity of Clester Johnson’s homestead. There is little left of them today but there is some history recorded about the school in 1928. The Harnett County News November 29, 1928 issue shared that Marquerite Cain, Emily Hilburn and Sadie Ellen Woodley had announced that there would be entertainment given at Turlington School on December 5 at 7:30 P.M. There would be string music and a Negro minstrel. There would also be several contests and a box party.
Once again death has claimed a beloved one from the Coats area. Mr. Augustus Turner, veteran of the War Between the States, had died on Sunday morning at 8 o’clock at his home near Coats. He had been ill for three weeks. He was ninety years old. He was buried at the Turner family burial grounds. He left a widow, two sons and two daughters. Two brothers, Elder W.Y. and Preston Turner, also survived him (Harnett County News December 13, 1928). You may have asked as I did, “What were the names of his children and widow?” Does anyone know?
Many of our readers were living in 1929. This was the beginning of an era that is the source of comparison for later economic times. Herbert Hoover was president. He had been born on August 10, 1874 in a small town in Iowa. Since his parents had died before he was nine years old, he had lived with an aunt and uncle in Oregon. He attended a private Quaker school where he received an excellent education. Liking to invent things, he became an engineer after graduating from Stanford University. He managed gold mines in Australia and was chief engineer of China’s Bureau of Mines. He was a millionaire by the age of forty. As U.S. Food Administrative during WWI, he helped get food distributed to all parts of the U.S. and Europe. Hoover served Presidents Harding and Coolidge. He helped reduce the work day from twelve hours to eight hours. He won the election for president by a landslide and had done very little campaigning. Seven months after Hoover became president, the stock market collapsed and the country entered the “Great Depression”. The people had been promised a “chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.” The people blamed Hoover for the disaster. Shantytowns called Hoovervilles sprang up across the country. Brokendown automobiles became Hoover-wagons and Hoover –carts. Hoover flag was the name given to empty pockets turned inside out. He set up the Reconstruction Finance Corporation that loaned money to businesses and homeowners. He did not believe in federal aid to the unemployed. “He did too little too late.” Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated him in a landslide in Hoover’s run for a second term (Bumann, Joan and John Patterson. 40 Presidents-Facts and Fun. Willowisp Press, Inc. 1981. pp. 110-113).
Locally, one of the major concerns in January of 1929 was whether the N.C. General Assembly would require all schools to operate on the eight months schedule. The concern of farm counties was two-fold. Can the counties afford two additional months and can the farmers survive without the help of the children during those two months (Harnett County News January 10, 1929).
That same edition of the paper shared much insight into the life of the Coats High School student body in 1929. Miss Williams‘s seventh grade class gave a very appropriate program on “Preservation and Conservation of the Forest”. Since so many of the evergreens were destroyed at Christmas, it was well to remind the pupils of the fast disappearing cedars and hollies. Neill Patterson was in charge of the following programs: Poem-“The Oak” by Lois Grimes; “Forest Conservation ” by Josie Cannady; poem- “A Tree” by Joyce Kilmer quoted by Elease Williams. Miss Maynard, assisted by Miss Witty, gave a Christmas program on the Thursday evening before the school closed for the holidays. Although there was a downpour of rain, the auditorium was well filled with an appreciative audience. The program consisted of a pageant, “Christmas in Other Lands” and concluded with a Bethlehem scene. Practically everyone in the school took part in the entertainment. The Glee Club sang several numbers.
A Coats High School play which was to be given the last of January by a number of Juniors and Seniors was entitled “Lighthouse Man”. The scene of the play would be a lighthouse on the Carolina coast. The play would last two hours and fifteen minutes. Remember folks, this play was to be presented in the old 1920 brick building where the auditorium was on the third level. You do remember that the school now has heat and bathrooms since 1926.
Miss Maynard had been responsible for organizing a Glee Club at the school and had found talent sufficient to form a male quartet composed of Felton Ennis, David Wood, Alvis Langdon, and Vernon Wood. In the organization of the Literary and Dramatic Club under the supervision of Misses Broadwell and Johnson, the following students were elected: president-Felton Ennis, vice-president-William Patterson, Secretary-Thelma McLamb, and treasurer-Hector Langdon. The Science Club was organized with Mr. Lewis in charge. Alvis Langdon was elected president and Annie Belle King was elected by vice president. Ruby Johnson was secretary and Ed Ennis was sergeant of arms. Alice Godwin was picked to chair the program committee (Harnett County News January 10, 1929).
Read next week’s column to discover which road in Harnett County is ready to be tarred and which state raises the most tobacco.
A special thank you goes to Judy Parrish for honoring the memory of Rev. J.M. Mewborn with a contribution to the Coats Museum. Many of the former Coats students will recognize the name Betty Frazier who called the museum to offer eighteen Coats School yearbooks and school memorabilia. She later arrived at the museum with them along with some packaged toothpicks from LUKES. Remember that grill? Also a very special thank you is extended to the Daily Record and Kyle Douglas for the article on Dr. Moses Jones. Because of the article, I received a call from a delightful lady from Dunn named Dorothy Watts who moved back to Dunn from Baltimore several years to be with her elderly parents. She has shared several names that will help Dr. Jones and the Coats Museum in gathering more Ryals genealogy.
Please be mindful that this Coats Museum News was published in the Daily Record in May 17, 2012.