May 17, 2013 Coats Museum News
Were there shopping malls in the 1940’s or did most folks do their shopping at the nearest towns to their homes or farms? I do know that in 1940 that people in and around Coats had many stores in which to shop. Merchants who advertised in the Lillington newspaper to entice customers were W.M. Keene, Joel Ennis, M.E. Ennis, L.L. Stewart, L.M. Johnson, and Charlie Williams. C.C. Adams had a business to offer his neighbors in Barclaysville (Harnett County News February 29, 1940). Surely there were many other Coats merchants in 1940. In fact, if you check out your Heritage of Coats, North Carolina that was published in 2005, you will find the names of all the businesses that we could locate from interviews, newspapers, Coats School yearbooks and advertisements on calendars, fans, and artifacts. Check it out because the businesses are listed by decades.
How many of you recall that the 1920-21 brick school building had the third floor strictly for an auditorium which is why there were steps at the east end of the hall leading up to the stage. This auditorium gave way to six classrooms in 1931. The auditorium was the setting for all kinds of fiddlers conventions, Blue Book Spelling Contests, school plays and other school related activities.
Surely the patrons of Coats enjoyed the spacious auditorium in the 1936 school building. Many of the organizations and churches had an occasional need for a bigger meeting place. Hence, the Harnett County Board of Education voted to levy a $1.50 fee for anyone who used the school auditorium who was not connected with the school organization or PTA (Harnett County News March 7, 1940).
Did towns have fire departments in 1940? If not, then how did the people save a dwelling if a fire occurred in a house or barn? I do know that a two-story barn on the farm of U.S. Deputy Marshal H.A. Turlington at Turlington’s Crossroads went up in flames. His 47 by 57 feet barn created one of the biggest rural fires ever reported and attracted several hundred people to the scene. A year’s supply of feedstuff, farm equipment and supplies burned. Included in the loss were 1200 bushels of corn, 10,000 lbs. of hay, cottonseed, and a small quantity of fertilizer. Chief Ralph Hanna and his firemen of the Dunn Fire Department extinguished the fire and prevented it from burning the country home. The fire did not reach the hog pens where Turlington had award-winning animals (Harnett County News March 7, 1940).
The same edition of the paper reported that Harnett County colored schools had a countywide music festival in which students from 19 colored schools participated on March 19 at the Harnett Training School. Is that building still around? I do know that the Harnett County Republican Party picked Felix Stewart and Stuart Turlington as delegates.
The folks had a new eating place. The Stewart’s Café joined the Dixie Grill as places to eat away from home. It was also that at this time 29 Negro midwives were issued certificates. Keep in mind that in 1940 Good Hope Hospital was a long way from many points in Harnett. The county hospital in Dunn had just been completed. Doctors made house calls in 1940? Were midwives cheaper?
The editor of the Harnett County News, Henderson Steele, wrote an article praising the leadership of Coats for pushing for a water and sewer system. He commented that Coats had a progressive spirit since it was organized and had been pointed out as one of this section’s most thriving communities (Harnett County News March 14, 1940).
Joe Everett sought $10,250 as compensation for injuries he had received in an automobile accident on January 10, 1940. The accident had occurred at the intersection of 210 and 55 highways. A truck belonging to the Coats Mercantile Company had hit him.
Friends and relatives in Grove Township were saddened to hear that Ernest Alphin, 54, had died. He had been injured in a fall, but his death was attributed to a heart attack. He was the son of Jesse Lee and Martha Huffman Alphin of Onslow County. Mr. Alphin was one of the area’s leading citizens. He was survived by his wife, Mrs. Lula Ellen Sorrell Alphin: four sons, Silas, Jesse, Velton, and Jarvis; two daughters, Misses Louise and Bertha Grace Alphin (Harnett County News March 21, 1940). Do you recognize any of those names?
Does anyone remember seeing buttercups and hyacinths peeping through the snow? Do you ever recall any snow on the ground on an Easter? In 1940, several inches of snow blanketed this section on Easter. Seeing robins flittering in the snow was a unique sight.
Surely there was no snow as Carlos Stewart, Lee Gregory, and Kirkland Stewart went from house to house to take census of Grove Township households. The HCBOC selected one member in each district to serve a three-year term. Eddie Parrish followed T.E. Barnes of Coats on the Coats School Board (Harnett County News March 28, 1940).
A large number of visitors have toured since we reopened. Sunday, the 5th, was packed and on Wednesday, we enjoyed several families who brought in their young children who are home schooled. We have also had several families coming in to check on research on their family genealogies. Thanks to Joe Turlington for allowing us to copy his research on his Turlington and Capps families-awesome work. Last Saturday, May 11, 2013, the Avery family toured the museum. Relatives from Florida came up to celebrate the 90th birthday of a loved one. Missing this year was Preston Avery who had died a short while back in California. What a legacy the Avery family has in the history of our area. Thank you goes to Mary Avery for arranging that tour. Thank you also goes to Alan Roberts for giving us a copy of a video of the Wheeler family of Johnston County having a hog killing. Appreciation goes to Kenneth Keene, Verle Flowers and Lib Guy who are faithful in responding to my questions in the column.
Thank you goes to several friends of Becky Adams who remembered her birthday with donations made to the museum building fund and to the Coats Museum Endowment. The museum folks were sad to hear that Eugene Stewart had died. He was brother to our much loved Christine Parrish, formerly our Coats Museum chair person. Eugene Stewart has been remembered with memorials from H.L. Sorrell, and Ed and Mary Ellen Lauder. Another friend of the museum, Betty Manning, whose family has experienced several deaths in recent weeks, lost her mother, Ruth Williams, last Saturday morning. Mrs. Williams has been remembered with memorials from Dorsey and Pauline Daniel, Jeanette Johnson, Robie and Lynda Butler, and H.L. Sorrell. Helen Butts was remembered by Mary Ellen and Ed Lauder. Lewis Smith was remembered by Cheryl Dorman Whittington, Elizabeth Johnson and Mildred Dorman who were his half sisters.
We welcome Patsy and Stacy Avery who have come on board to volunteer their time to give tours. No one who works at the museum receives any pay. Giving the gift of time and memorial donations are necessary to help pay for the new addition, insurance, security and other operating costs and to guarantee the future of the Coats Museum through the endowment.
PLEASE BE MINDFUL THAT THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE DAILY RECORD ON MAY 17, 2013.
Were there shopping malls in the 1940’s or did most folks do their shopping at the nearest towns to their homes or farms? I do know that in 1940 that people in and around Coats had many stores in which to shop. Merchants who advertised in the Lillington newspaper to entice customers were W.M. Keene, Joel Ennis, M.E. Ennis, L.L. Stewart, L.M. Johnson, and Charlie Williams. C.C. Adams had a business to offer his neighbors in Barclaysville (Harnett County News February 29, 1940). Surely there were many other Coats merchants in 1940. In fact, if you check out your Heritage of Coats, North Carolina that was published in 2005, you will find the names of all the businesses that we could locate from interviews, newspapers, Coats School yearbooks and advertisements on calendars, fans, and artifacts. Check it out because the businesses are listed by decades.
How many of you recall that the 1920-21 brick school building had the third floor strictly for an auditorium which is why there were steps at the east end of the hall leading up to the stage. This auditorium gave way to six classrooms in 1931. The auditorium was the setting for all kinds of fiddlers conventions, Blue Book Spelling Contests, school plays and other school related activities.
Surely the patrons of Coats enjoyed the spacious auditorium in the 1936 school building. Many of the organizations and churches had an occasional need for a bigger meeting place. Hence, the Harnett County Board of Education voted to levy a $1.50 fee for anyone who used the school auditorium who was not connected with the school organization or PTA (Harnett County News March 7, 1940).
Did towns have fire departments in 1940? If not, then how did the people save a dwelling if a fire occurred in a house or barn? I do know that a two-story barn on the farm of U.S. Deputy Marshal H.A. Turlington at Turlington’s Crossroads went up in flames. His 47 by 57 feet barn created one of the biggest rural fires ever reported and attracted several hundred people to the scene. A year’s supply of feedstuff, farm equipment and supplies burned. Included in the loss were 1200 bushels of corn, 10,000 lbs. of hay, cottonseed, and a small quantity of fertilizer. Chief Ralph Hanna and his firemen of the Dunn Fire Department extinguished the fire and prevented it from burning the country home. The fire did not reach the hog pens where Turlington had award-winning animals (Harnett County News March 7, 1940).
The same edition of the paper reported that Harnett County colored schools had a countywide music festival in which students from 19 colored schools participated on March 19 at the Harnett Training School. Is that building still around? I do know that the Harnett County Republican Party picked Felix Stewart and Stuart Turlington as delegates.
The folks had a new eating place. The Stewart’s Café joined the Dixie Grill as places to eat away from home. It was also that at this time 29 Negro midwives were issued certificates. Keep in mind that in 1940 Good Hope Hospital was a long way from many points in Harnett. The county hospital in Dunn had just been completed. Doctors made house calls in 1940? Were midwives cheaper?
The editor of the Harnett County News, Henderson Steele, wrote an article praising the leadership of Coats for pushing for a water and sewer system. He commented that Coats had a progressive spirit since it was organized and had been pointed out as one of this section’s most thriving communities (Harnett County News March 14, 1940).
Joe Everett sought $10,250 as compensation for injuries he had received in an automobile accident on January 10, 1940. The accident had occurred at the intersection of 210 and 55 highways. A truck belonging to the Coats Mercantile Company had hit him.
Friends and relatives in Grove Township were saddened to hear that Ernest Alphin, 54, had died. He had been injured in a fall, but his death was attributed to a heart attack. He was the son of Jesse Lee and Martha Huffman Alphin of Onslow County. Mr. Alphin was one of the area’s leading citizens. He was survived by his wife, Mrs. Lula Ellen Sorrell Alphin: four sons, Silas, Jesse, Velton, and Jarvis; two daughters, Misses Louise and Bertha Grace Alphin (Harnett County News March 21, 1940). Do you recognize any of those names?
Does anyone remember seeing buttercups and hyacinths peeping through the snow? Do you ever recall any snow on the ground on an Easter? In 1940, several inches of snow blanketed this section on Easter. Seeing robins flittering in the snow was a unique sight.
Surely there was no snow as Carlos Stewart, Lee Gregory, and Kirkland Stewart went from house to house to take census of Grove Township households. The HCBOC selected one member in each district to serve a three-year term. Eddie Parrish followed T.E. Barnes of Coats on the Coats School Board (Harnett County News March 28, 1940).
A large number of visitors have toured since we reopened. Sunday, the 5th, was packed and on Wednesday, we enjoyed several families who brought in their young children who are home schooled. We have also had several families coming in to check on research on their family genealogies. Thanks to Joe Turlington for allowing us to copy his research on his Turlington and Capps families-awesome work. Last Saturday, May 11, 2013, the Avery family toured the museum. Relatives from Florida came up to celebrate the 90th birthday of a loved one. Missing this year was Preston Avery who had died a short while back in California. What a legacy the Avery family has in the history of our area. Thank you goes to Mary Avery for arranging that tour. Thank you also goes to Alan Roberts for giving us a copy of a video of the Wheeler family of Johnston County having a hog killing. Appreciation goes to Kenneth Keene, Verle Flowers and Lib Guy who are faithful in responding to my questions in the column.
Thank you goes to several friends of Becky Adams who remembered her birthday with donations made to the museum building fund and to the Coats Museum Endowment. The museum folks were sad to hear that Eugene Stewart had died. He was brother to our much loved Christine Parrish, formerly our Coats Museum chair person. Eugene Stewart has been remembered with memorials from H.L. Sorrell, and Ed and Mary Ellen Lauder. Another friend of the museum, Betty Manning, whose family has experienced several deaths in recent weeks, lost her mother, Ruth Williams, last Saturday morning. Mrs. Williams has been remembered with memorials from Dorsey and Pauline Daniel, Jeanette Johnson, Robie and Lynda Butler, and H.L. Sorrell. Helen Butts was remembered by Mary Ellen and Ed Lauder. Lewis Smith was remembered by Cheryl Dorman Whittington, Elizabeth Johnson and Mildred Dorman who were his half sisters.
We welcome Patsy and Stacy Avery who have come on board to volunteer their time to give tours. No one who works at the museum receives any pay. Giving the gift of time and memorial donations are necessary to help pay for the new addition, insurance, security and other operating costs and to guarantee the future of the Coats Museum through the endowment.
PLEASE BE MINDFUL THAT THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE DAILY RECORD ON MAY 17, 2013.