May 8, 2011 Coats
Museum News
Today we shall visit and question how the automobile and other issues would have affected the people in Coats and surrounding areas in the 1919 time frame.
Did Dr. Lewis Fuquay’s wife question why he purchased the expensive white Hupmobile for $2,000 when he could have bought a first class mule for only $300 or, even cheaper, a first class horse for $250 to pull a buggy or wagon on those poor roads in Harnett County? Did she remind him that they could have used some of that money to buy a first class $100 milk cow to provide milk and butter for their three growing children? Probably not! Wonder if he purchased the Hupmobile from W.H. Parrish who sold automobiles in Coats. Was the car assembled when it arrived? Were women allowed to drive automobiles in 1919? Could women vote in 1919?
The State Board of Health continued to encourage anti-typhoid vaccinations in 1919. Cases of typhoid fever deaths had declined as more people had been vaccinated since 1914. Were people in Coats affected by the typhoid fever? Dr. Bill Patterson in his book, “From the Isle of Skye to the Isle of Maui” wrote that his Uncle Lewis Fuquay had saved the life of a young pregnant woman who had typhoid and three months later she delivered a normal baby at her home. You picked up on the “at home”, didn’t you?
Do you think R.A. Turlington, Willis A. Gregory, W.N. Harper, and R.M. Coats drove automobiles to go to the Lillington courthouse to serve on jury duty? Was there a gravel road going on the same route that is the current N.C. Highway 27? Where is the Old Lillington Road? When did N.C. 27 begin going through Buies Creek and when did it stop going through there? Did a road go through Buies Creek in 1919? Was Buies Creek always called Buies Creek? Where was Poe? Does anyone know what job Junius F. Blackman held in Buies Creek? Coats readers-Reubon O. Stewart had the job description in Coats in 1919. Last question-What was the Sheriff Johnson Road called previously and where did it take its travelers?
When researching one’s ancestors, one often discovers that their ancestors had married locally and, in many cases, cousins. The automobile (don’t know when they began to call them cars) expanded the social lives of people in Harnett County. For example, “The Harnett County News” (May,1919) reported that M.B. Matthews and Roger Sexton paid Coats a social visit on Sunday and reported having a pleasant evening and that Sheriff W.H. Turlington spent the weekend with his family in Coats (Turlington’s Crossroads). Alvah, his daughter who attended Lillington School, was reported in the paper as having spent the weekend with her parents, Lizzie Penny and W.H. Turlington.
Question. Did the sheriff and his daughter stay in Lillington during the work week so the sheriff could be close to the courthouse? Wonder how long it took him to drive his Hupmobile from Turlington’s Crossroads to the courthouse. How fast could an automobile travel safely on those graveled and dirt roads in Harnett? Was night travel possible and if so, were the lights gas or battery generated?
The same edition of “The Harnett County News” wrote that N.A. Smith, a cashier at the Bank of Coats, paid a visit to Lillington. Was the Bank of Coats large enough to have two cashiers? Was not N.T. Patterson the bank’s cashier? We do know that Mr. J.M. Byrd, former sheriff, and his son Fred Byrd also visited Lillington on Tuesday according to the same edition of that paper.
Were all these folks driving automobiles? If so, where did they purchase gasoline in 1919? Were there filling stations, service stations or gas stations? Again-if so, how did the gasoline get to the filling stations? Where was it stored there? Did trains bring in the gasoline in car tanks? Were there gas trucks to transport gasoline to the stations? How much gasoline would an automobile hold in the 1920 era? Did the drivers carry extra gasoline in cans when traveling a long distance? This I do know. Henry Ford painted the Model T Ford black because it was the fastest drying paint. Texaco and Amoco supplied gasoline and gasoline products in the 1920’s. Coats native Alton Stewart was an automobile mechanic before he was the first licensed pilot in North Carolina.
Some of the above questions will be answered in future columns in due time as we travel through Coats and the surrounding areas in Harnett. A special thank you goes to Tim Penny and Lock Muse for repairing the wind damage to the roof of the Coats Museum. Also thank you to the donors for the gifts to the Coats Museum Endowment to honor the memory of Audrey Stewart and Rosa N. Jackson and to honor the birthday of museum volunteer Becky Adams. This writer is proud to honor my mom, Alice Thornton Johnson, with a memorial gift to the endowment for Mother’s Day. By example, she taught me the importance of and love for history.
Today we shall visit and question how the automobile and other issues would have affected the people in Coats and surrounding areas in the 1919 time frame.
Did Dr. Lewis Fuquay’s wife question why he purchased the expensive white Hupmobile for $2,000 when he could have bought a first class mule for only $300 or, even cheaper, a first class horse for $250 to pull a buggy or wagon on those poor roads in Harnett County? Did she remind him that they could have used some of that money to buy a first class $100 milk cow to provide milk and butter for their three growing children? Probably not! Wonder if he purchased the Hupmobile from W.H. Parrish who sold automobiles in Coats. Was the car assembled when it arrived? Were women allowed to drive automobiles in 1919? Could women vote in 1919?
The State Board of Health continued to encourage anti-typhoid vaccinations in 1919. Cases of typhoid fever deaths had declined as more people had been vaccinated since 1914. Were people in Coats affected by the typhoid fever? Dr. Bill Patterson in his book, “From the Isle of Skye to the Isle of Maui” wrote that his Uncle Lewis Fuquay had saved the life of a young pregnant woman who had typhoid and three months later she delivered a normal baby at her home. You picked up on the “at home”, didn’t you?
Do you think R.A. Turlington, Willis A. Gregory, W.N. Harper, and R.M. Coats drove automobiles to go to the Lillington courthouse to serve on jury duty? Was there a gravel road going on the same route that is the current N.C. Highway 27? Where is the Old Lillington Road? When did N.C. 27 begin going through Buies Creek and when did it stop going through there? Did a road go through Buies Creek in 1919? Was Buies Creek always called Buies Creek? Where was Poe? Does anyone know what job Junius F. Blackman held in Buies Creek? Coats readers-Reubon O. Stewart had the job description in Coats in 1919. Last question-What was the Sheriff Johnson Road called previously and where did it take its travelers?
When researching one’s ancestors, one often discovers that their ancestors had married locally and, in many cases, cousins. The automobile (don’t know when they began to call them cars) expanded the social lives of people in Harnett County. For example, “The Harnett County News” (May,1919) reported that M.B. Matthews and Roger Sexton paid Coats a social visit on Sunday and reported having a pleasant evening and that Sheriff W.H. Turlington spent the weekend with his family in Coats (Turlington’s Crossroads). Alvah, his daughter who attended Lillington School, was reported in the paper as having spent the weekend with her parents, Lizzie Penny and W.H. Turlington.
Question. Did the sheriff and his daughter stay in Lillington during the work week so the sheriff could be close to the courthouse? Wonder how long it took him to drive his Hupmobile from Turlington’s Crossroads to the courthouse. How fast could an automobile travel safely on those graveled and dirt roads in Harnett? Was night travel possible and if so, were the lights gas or battery generated?
The same edition of “The Harnett County News” wrote that N.A. Smith, a cashier at the Bank of Coats, paid a visit to Lillington. Was the Bank of Coats large enough to have two cashiers? Was not N.T. Patterson the bank’s cashier? We do know that Mr. J.M. Byrd, former sheriff, and his son Fred Byrd also visited Lillington on Tuesday according to the same edition of that paper.
Were all these folks driving automobiles? If so, where did they purchase gasoline in 1919? Were there filling stations, service stations or gas stations? Again-if so, how did the gasoline get to the filling stations? Where was it stored there? Did trains bring in the gasoline in car tanks? Were there gas trucks to transport gasoline to the stations? How much gasoline would an automobile hold in the 1920 era? Did the drivers carry extra gasoline in cans when traveling a long distance? This I do know. Henry Ford painted the Model T Ford black because it was the fastest drying paint. Texaco and Amoco supplied gasoline and gasoline products in the 1920’s. Coats native Alton Stewart was an automobile mechanic before he was the first licensed pilot in North Carolina.
Some of the above questions will be answered in future columns in due time as we travel through Coats and the surrounding areas in Harnett. A special thank you goes to Tim Penny and Lock Muse for repairing the wind damage to the roof of the Coats Museum. Also thank you to the donors for the gifts to the Coats Museum Endowment to honor the memory of Audrey Stewart and Rosa N. Jackson and to honor the birthday of museum volunteer Becky Adams. This writer is proud to honor my mom, Alice Thornton Johnson, with a memorial gift to the endowment for Mother’s Day. By example, she taught me the importance of and love for history.
