May 30, 2025 Coats Museum News
The date on the Daily Record displayed August 17, 1995. Printed within that issue was news that Liffie H. Williams had planned to celebrate her 89th birthday. Wonder if she had shared with her youngest family members that when she was a little girl that boys and girls might have gone to school by subscription at the New Hope Primitive Baptist Church one-half mile north of an area referred to as Troyville but later became Coats after Elder Tom Coats had donated land for the right of way and for a depot for a railroad that was being built through the area by the Cape Fear and Northern Railroad. The boys and girls would have been taught by Miss Lillian Stack from Bethel Hill in Person County. Every twenty days their parents would have paid $1.00 for each pupil in the family.
That was a bunch of money in the earliest years of the 1900’s so possibly most of the youngsters went to another school in Grove District #3 while the men were laying rails for the railroad. Sparse records indicate that W.P. Byrd was the first professor. Others recalled by those living at that date stated that F.H. Taylor and M.C. Wilder were early teachers in the District #3 (Sorrell xi in Together We Leave 1985).
Possibly the family members of Mrs. Annie Norris Miller had heard her talk about her school days, but in August of 1995 they were more concerned with saying their final farewell to this lady (Daily Record Aug. 17, 1995). The paper did not give the names of her children but from my knowledge of that family there were Kenneth Miller, Betty Jean Miller Wilkins and Eva Carol Miller Penny. She was sister to J.D. Norris, popular businessman and activist for growing Coats to new heights.
A name that is well respected in the Coats community is the Wilkie family. The oldest son of Julia and Everett is Steven Wilkie. The family resided on Route One, Coats when Steven had returned from Russia. The senior at ECU was a member of the Crusaders for Christ. While in Russia, Steven had experienced the hardships of shortage of light bulbs, contaminated water and no modern laundry machines. The Coats Baptist Church had sponsored Steven on this mission trip (Daily Record Aug.17, 1995).
The saga continued in Coats as to whether a candidate could run for an open seat on the town board. His registration in the town was the issue in question. Possibly the family of Ruth Williams was more concerned with making their mom’s 79th birthday very special. She was the widow of Everette Williams and mother to seven children, twenty-two grandchildren, several great- grandchildren and three great-great- grandchildren.
Other news from Coats was that Mrs. Thelma Denning was living in Dunn at the Senior Citizens Village. Sympathy was extended to Barbara Abney in the death of her father, Joseph C. Burnette and to Ophelia Roberts in the death of her nephew. Belle Williams also shared that lots of Coats folks were ailing: G.R. Stephenson, Pat Styons, Agatha McLamb, Linwood Jernigan, Alton Wood, Vickie Abate and Cecil Stephenson.
It was obvious that the Stewart triplets were not ailing. They each weighed about eight pounds and were growing fast. Monica and Ronnie were taking one each Sunday to church. Wes went the first Sunday, then Sarah went the second Sunday and John was to go the next Sunday. Did you wonder where the two remaining triplets stayed on Sunday mornings while the third went to Coats Baptist? The grandmothers had one each on Sundays (Daily Record Aug. 23, 1995).
The parents of Ricky Johnson had to be proud of their son as he signed a contract with a full scholarship to Lenoir Community College where he agreed to play baseball for the college. He had been recognized as the Most Valuable Player and first team All-Conference during his junior and senior years. He was son of Rick and Dee Johnson (Daily Record Aug. 24, 1995).
Wonder how excited Ricky was to learn that his Triton teammate Brandon Norris had also signed to go to Lenoir Community College. Brandon was a star first baseman and had a hitting average over 350. Parents of Brandon, Mike and Kay Norris, along with sister Amber and granddaddy Bryant Norris, appeared to be proud to be photographed with Brandon for the Daily Record photograph (Daily Record Aug. 29, 1995).
A big thank you goes to Dr. Lori Langdon for having a book signing at our museum. In my lifetime, I have read thousands of books, but I have never read one book that brought as many tears to my eyes nor increased my respect for the medical field as Lori’s book as she shared her journey to become a MD FAAP. My son, many nieces and nephews have all earned medical degrees; but to be honest, I was never fully aware of what it took to get those letters behind their names until I read Lori’s book. That book is the best $15.00 I have spent in a very long time.
The date on the Daily Record displayed August 17, 1995. Printed within that issue was news that Liffie H. Williams had planned to celebrate her 89th birthday. Wonder if she had shared with her youngest family members that when she was a little girl that boys and girls might have gone to school by subscription at the New Hope Primitive Baptist Church one-half mile north of an area referred to as Troyville but later became Coats after Elder Tom Coats had donated land for the right of way and for a depot for a railroad that was being built through the area by the Cape Fear and Northern Railroad. The boys and girls would have been taught by Miss Lillian Stack from Bethel Hill in Person County. Every twenty days their parents would have paid $1.00 for each pupil in the family.
That was a bunch of money in the earliest years of the 1900’s so possibly most of the youngsters went to another school in Grove District #3 while the men were laying rails for the railroad. Sparse records indicate that W.P. Byrd was the first professor. Others recalled by those living at that date stated that F.H. Taylor and M.C. Wilder were early teachers in the District #3 (Sorrell xi in Together We Leave 1985).
Possibly the family members of Mrs. Annie Norris Miller had heard her talk about her school days, but in August of 1995 they were more concerned with saying their final farewell to this lady (Daily Record Aug. 17, 1995). The paper did not give the names of her children but from my knowledge of that family there were Kenneth Miller, Betty Jean Miller Wilkins and Eva Carol Miller Penny. She was sister to J.D. Norris, popular businessman and activist for growing Coats to new heights.
A name that is well respected in the Coats community is the Wilkie family. The oldest son of Julia and Everett is Steven Wilkie. The family resided on Route One, Coats when Steven had returned from Russia. The senior at ECU was a member of the Crusaders for Christ. While in Russia, Steven had experienced the hardships of shortage of light bulbs, contaminated water and no modern laundry machines. The Coats Baptist Church had sponsored Steven on this mission trip (Daily Record Aug.17, 1995).
The saga continued in Coats as to whether a candidate could run for an open seat on the town board. His registration in the town was the issue in question. Possibly the family of Ruth Williams was more concerned with making their mom’s 79th birthday very special. She was the widow of Everette Williams and mother to seven children, twenty-two grandchildren, several great- grandchildren and three great-great- grandchildren.
Other news from Coats was that Mrs. Thelma Denning was living in Dunn at the Senior Citizens Village. Sympathy was extended to Barbara Abney in the death of her father, Joseph C. Burnette and to Ophelia Roberts in the death of her nephew. Belle Williams also shared that lots of Coats folks were ailing: G.R. Stephenson, Pat Styons, Agatha McLamb, Linwood Jernigan, Alton Wood, Vickie Abate and Cecil Stephenson.
It was obvious that the Stewart triplets were not ailing. They each weighed about eight pounds and were growing fast. Monica and Ronnie were taking one each Sunday to church. Wes went the first Sunday, then Sarah went the second Sunday and John was to go the next Sunday. Did you wonder where the two remaining triplets stayed on Sunday mornings while the third went to Coats Baptist? The grandmothers had one each on Sundays (Daily Record Aug. 23, 1995).
The parents of Ricky Johnson had to be proud of their son as he signed a contract with a full scholarship to Lenoir Community College where he agreed to play baseball for the college. He had been recognized as the Most Valuable Player and first team All-Conference during his junior and senior years. He was son of Rick and Dee Johnson (Daily Record Aug. 24, 1995).
Wonder how excited Ricky was to learn that his Triton teammate Brandon Norris had also signed to go to Lenoir Community College. Brandon was a star first baseman and had a hitting average over 350. Parents of Brandon, Mike and Kay Norris, along with sister Amber and granddaddy Bryant Norris, appeared to be proud to be photographed with Brandon for the Daily Record photograph (Daily Record Aug. 29, 1995).
A big thank you goes to Dr. Lori Langdon for having a book signing at our museum. In my lifetime, I have read thousands of books, but I have never read one book that brought as many tears to my eyes nor increased my respect for the medical field as Lori’s book as she shared her journey to become a MD FAAP. My son, many nieces and nephews have all earned medical degrees; but to be honest, I was never fully aware of what it took to get those letters behind their names until I read Lori’s book. That book is the best $15.00 I have spent in a very long time.