November 1, 2019 Coats Museum News
The August 1980 calendar had a variety of news coming out of Coats Mrs. Hettie Jean Stephenson and William Curtis Stephenson announced the engagement of their daughter, Jatana Kaye, to Terry Ken Young, son of Mr. and Mrs. Hershal Lee Young (Daily Record Aug. 21, 1980).
Mrs. Betty J. Porter announced the engagement of her daughter, Sandy Porter, to Jimmy Dorman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Thurman Dorman of Coats. The bride-elect was a 1971 graduate of Dunn and Jimmy; a 1968 graduate of Coats High (Daily Record Aug. 25, 1980).
Larue Doan Coats of rural Coats had received special recognition on August 2, at the commencement exercises of Campbell University. She graduated with distinction as she received her ME degree in secondary education in English. Doan was the daughter of the late Ransom Coats and Edna Hayes Coats (Daily Record Aug. 25, 1980).
The tickets had been sold and the time had come to draw the ticket for the 1980 Horizon. Over 200 people gathered at the Harnett Central High School for the magical moment. However, a few lucky numbers were drawn which gave prizes before the big winner was announced. Those winning prizes were Wade Stephenson, Linda Norris, Curtis Guy, Ronnie Stewart and the Coats Jr. Order. The big lucky number came last and Dr. Donald Moore, a Coats physician, received the keys to the new car. The good man we know Dr. Moore to be then been presented the Recreation Department a $500.00 check toward the fundraising event. The total raised was over $5,000 in profit. Of the $13,000 needed, the community had helped raise $10,500 (Daily Record Aug. 27, 1980).
Mrs. Mary White Ennis, 97, of Coats, had died at the Charles Parrish Memorial Nursing Center on Wednesday. She was the widow of Lawrence Ennis and the daughter of the late John B. White and Flora Bishop White. Mrs. Alice Williams was her sister (Daily Record Aug. 26, 1980).
Another death touched the Coats community. Mrs. Lottie Parrish Beasley, 68, of Winnabow, formerly of Coats, had died on Friday. Burial was in the Bethsaida Church Cemetery that had followed her funeral in Rose Funeral Home Chapel. She had two sisters from Coats-Mrs. Lucille Norris and Mrs. Delphia Norris. Carl and James Parrish were two of her brothers who resided in Coats (Daily Record Sept. 1, 1980).
Are you recognizing any of these names? How about these- Mr. and Mrs. Michael R. Hudson and children, Jason and Bradley Hudson? They were formerly of Coats but were living in Charlotte when it was announced that the family was headed to San Jose in CA. Christine was a former Coats teacher and Mike was associated with Arthur Anderson Co. in Charlotte. Christine was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Stewart and Mike’s parents were Mr. and Mrs. Mack R. Hudson (Daily Record Sept. 2, 1980).
Ashley Stewart celebrated his first birthday on Aug. 23rd with a pig picking. Ashley was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Keith Stewart. His grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Byrd and Mr. and Mrs. Rupert Stewart, were among the thirty guests who attended (Daily Record Sept. 3, 1980)
Death once again made the September news. Rites were held for Verdie Moore, widow of Riley Moore. Surviving her were three sons- William, Wayne and Devon Moore. Mrs. Moore was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Messer. Her services were held at Red Hill FWB Church and burial was in the church cemetery (Daily Record Sept. 3, 1960).
A Buies Creek-Coats Wastewater District was to be formed according to the Record headlines. Mrs. Ophelia Roberts announced her retirement as Postmistress at Coats. She took over after Mrs. Lucy Kelly who had retired. Mrs. Roberts was working in the office at that time. Fred Honeycutt followed Mrs. Roberts as the officer-in-charge (Daily Record Sept. 9, 1980).
The town discussed matters regarding two subdivisions-Oak Ridge on Crawford Road and Oakwood. The town board also voted to pay public works workers every two weeks (Daily Record Sept. 12, 1980).
Several weddings had occurred in families with Coats connections- Peggie Clayton and Billy Gail Pope ; Shelia Stephenson Phillips and Robert White; Teresa Ann Weaver and James Travis Creech, and Ann Barnes Langdon and George Kaneklides. Residents of Coats met in the school auditorium to learn about a crime prevention program called Community Watch and Operation ID, a program designed for property protection (Daily Record Sept. 24, 1980).Did you know that Community Watch had been around that long?
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Jerome Lucas of Coats shared that their daughter Nancy Denise Lucas would marry John Powell (J.P.) Cole, Jr., of Coats. The First Baptist Church in Erwin was the site of the wedding (Daily Record Sept. 29, 1980).
The ground breaking was held for a mini-park behind the Community Building. Charles Ennis was Chairman of the Board and also represented the Hunting and Fishing Club; Margaret Johnson was representative of the Woman’s Club. Lottie Lamm, the treasurer, came as the representative of the merchants and Grady Matthews represented the Jr. Order. Isobel Wolf stood in for the school advisory board while Wendell Dorman rounded out the Board of Trustees (Daily Record Sept 22, 1980). Question-what happened to this mini-park and what was there in this park? I do know it became the site of the two -room school museum in 1990 which has since become the theater and research rooms of the Coats Museum.
Coats students were named to the ESSA Student Advisory Committee according to Coats Principal Joe Hawley. Chairperson Delores Royster was a senior and Samantha Stewart was secretary-treasurer of the group. Others on the committee were Carol Hawley, Cora Scurlock, Donna Barnes, Rhonda Faircloth, Roger Jernigan, Sharon Weaver, Karen Capps, Katie Dunston, Brenda Johnson, Helen Dennis, and Judy West. Two of the students were selected to serve on the county advisory board (Daily Record Oct. 2, 1980). Who were those two?
Dottie Tyndall was pictured in the Daily Record October 3, 1980 edition “beating the pump” at Coats Motor Company. Company owner Eugene Stewart obtained a gas pump from Fitchett Oil Company. He allowed citizens to hit the pump with a rubber hammer to protest rising gas prices.
Dr. Harry C. Roberts established the car dealership in 1917. Eugene’s father Guy Stewart had operated the dealership for Dr. Roberts (Daily Record Oct. 3, 1980) and later bought it and the rest is history as it passed on from Guy to son Eugene to son Don Stewart. It might be interesting to note that car parts came into the town in boxes by train to be assembled in the dealership.
Another interesting fact about the car dealership is that Alton Stewart worked there when it was owned by Dr. Roberts. The story is that a WWI plane was having engine issues when flying over Coats and was forced to land. Alton Stewart who was a mechanic at the business repaired it and was offered a ride up in it and hence got the bug to learn to fly and to own a plane. Later on, an advertisement in the Dunn Dispatch shared that Guy Stewart would offer a plane ride to anyone who would purchase or order a car from the dealership.
Many people in Coats were bitten by the desire to fly machines high into the sky. We have a notebook in the Research Library filled with pictures of dozens of Coats licensed pilots with their planes. Someone said that Coats should be labeled as the cradle of aviation for Harnett County. That’s interesting. I do know that we are the home of the first licensed pilot from NC and it is interesting to watch people strain to read the name Orville Wright on Alton Stewart’s pilot license and to note Alton Stewart and his boss, Dr. Harry Roberts, both met death because of plane crashes.
Interestingly, Coats once had two landing strips though they may have been short but served the purpose. Dr. Roberts and John Allen Smith had landing fields. Later Albert Gregory would add one at his farm on Abattoir Road and there is one on Langdon Road in Barclaysville. Were ones on the Sawyer farm on Highway 421 and one on Earl Stewart farm on Harvell outside of Coats? Many of our war veterans were pilots and even today we have a young man involved with flight of drones. Cory Godwin has earned quiet a name in that arena. Maybe we should have a Flight Over Coats Museum and recognize and share the town’s aviation history. Drop by the museum and look at the two wall murals of the aerial view of McKinley Street and the other of Main Street of Coats believed to have been photographed in the 1960’s and it is interesting to see the number of structures that are no longer in the landscape.
I do know that even though Albert Gregory loved flying, he also found time to be involved in business ventures. He was named to the Board of Directors of the Carolina Bank. He and his family owned CAG Manufacturing (Daily Record Oct. 7, 1980).
Kevin Pope and Marc Powell are planning our next major tunnel exhibit honoring the scout leaders from Coats and recognizing our young men who earned the rank of Eagle Scout. If you were a scout master or if you or your son won that Eagle rank, Kevin and Marc need a copy of the program when the recognition was honored. The volunteers have collected some of these programs but nowhere near the number of Coats scouts who earned that rank.
As we reflect on October, we are reminded of the many folks who have lost loved ones to death. Patsy and Stacy Avery have expressed their love to those families of Sandra Dennis and Wanda Pope by remembering them with Coats Museum memorials. The museum folks were saddened to hear about the death of Annie Ruth Penny Stewart who had shared some vintage Penny family pictures. Annie Ruth’s mother was sister of Mrs. Naomi Stewart Hudson, mother of Mack Reid Hudson. Her father, Archie Penny, was brother of Joe Penny, Mary Coats and Lizzie Turlington of the Grove area. Her grandfather Henry Penny was half –brother to Preacher James Thomas Coats, the town’s namesake. A memorial has been given to the Coats Museum by H.L. Sorrell to honor the life of Annie Ruth Penny Stewart.
Some friends of the Coats Museum simply give to support the operation of the museum. A big thank you goes to Mike and Claudia Tocci of Sparks, NV and to Ralph and Lorena Denning of Raleigh for their generous support of the museum.
The August 1980 calendar had a variety of news coming out of Coats Mrs. Hettie Jean Stephenson and William Curtis Stephenson announced the engagement of their daughter, Jatana Kaye, to Terry Ken Young, son of Mr. and Mrs. Hershal Lee Young (Daily Record Aug. 21, 1980).
Mrs. Betty J. Porter announced the engagement of her daughter, Sandy Porter, to Jimmy Dorman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Thurman Dorman of Coats. The bride-elect was a 1971 graduate of Dunn and Jimmy; a 1968 graduate of Coats High (Daily Record Aug. 25, 1980).
Larue Doan Coats of rural Coats had received special recognition on August 2, at the commencement exercises of Campbell University. She graduated with distinction as she received her ME degree in secondary education in English. Doan was the daughter of the late Ransom Coats and Edna Hayes Coats (Daily Record Aug. 25, 1980).
The tickets had been sold and the time had come to draw the ticket for the 1980 Horizon. Over 200 people gathered at the Harnett Central High School for the magical moment. However, a few lucky numbers were drawn which gave prizes before the big winner was announced. Those winning prizes were Wade Stephenson, Linda Norris, Curtis Guy, Ronnie Stewart and the Coats Jr. Order. The big lucky number came last and Dr. Donald Moore, a Coats physician, received the keys to the new car. The good man we know Dr. Moore to be then been presented the Recreation Department a $500.00 check toward the fundraising event. The total raised was over $5,000 in profit. Of the $13,000 needed, the community had helped raise $10,500 (Daily Record Aug. 27, 1980).
Mrs. Mary White Ennis, 97, of Coats, had died at the Charles Parrish Memorial Nursing Center on Wednesday. She was the widow of Lawrence Ennis and the daughter of the late John B. White and Flora Bishop White. Mrs. Alice Williams was her sister (Daily Record Aug. 26, 1980).
Another death touched the Coats community. Mrs. Lottie Parrish Beasley, 68, of Winnabow, formerly of Coats, had died on Friday. Burial was in the Bethsaida Church Cemetery that had followed her funeral in Rose Funeral Home Chapel. She had two sisters from Coats-Mrs. Lucille Norris and Mrs. Delphia Norris. Carl and James Parrish were two of her brothers who resided in Coats (Daily Record Sept. 1, 1980).
Are you recognizing any of these names? How about these- Mr. and Mrs. Michael R. Hudson and children, Jason and Bradley Hudson? They were formerly of Coats but were living in Charlotte when it was announced that the family was headed to San Jose in CA. Christine was a former Coats teacher and Mike was associated with Arthur Anderson Co. in Charlotte. Christine was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Stewart and Mike’s parents were Mr. and Mrs. Mack R. Hudson (Daily Record Sept. 2, 1980).
Ashley Stewart celebrated his first birthday on Aug. 23rd with a pig picking. Ashley was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Keith Stewart. His grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Byrd and Mr. and Mrs. Rupert Stewart, were among the thirty guests who attended (Daily Record Sept. 3, 1980)
Death once again made the September news. Rites were held for Verdie Moore, widow of Riley Moore. Surviving her were three sons- William, Wayne and Devon Moore. Mrs. Moore was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Messer. Her services were held at Red Hill FWB Church and burial was in the church cemetery (Daily Record Sept. 3, 1960).
A Buies Creek-Coats Wastewater District was to be formed according to the Record headlines. Mrs. Ophelia Roberts announced her retirement as Postmistress at Coats. She took over after Mrs. Lucy Kelly who had retired. Mrs. Roberts was working in the office at that time. Fred Honeycutt followed Mrs. Roberts as the officer-in-charge (Daily Record Sept. 9, 1980).
The town discussed matters regarding two subdivisions-Oak Ridge on Crawford Road and Oakwood. The town board also voted to pay public works workers every two weeks (Daily Record Sept. 12, 1980).
Several weddings had occurred in families with Coats connections- Peggie Clayton and Billy Gail Pope ; Shelia Stephenson Phillips and Robert White; Teresa Ann Weaver and James Travis Creech, and Ann Barnes Langdon and George Kaneklides. Residents of Coats met in the school auditorium to learn about a crime prevention program called Community Watch and Operation ID, a program designed for property protection (Daily Record Sept. 24, 1980).Did you know that Community Watch had been around that long?
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Jerome Lucas of Coats shared that their daughter Nancy Denise Lucas would marry John Powell (J.P.) Cole, Jr., of Coats. The First Baptist Church in Erwin was the site of the wedding (Daily Record Sept. 29, 1980).
The ground breaking was held for a mini-park behind the Community Building. Charles Ennis was Chairman of the Board and also represented the Hunting and Fishing Club; Margaret Johnson was representative of the Woman’s Club. Lottie Lamm, the treasurer, came as the representative of the merchants and Grady Matthews represented the Jr. Order. Isobel Wolf stood in for the school advisory board while Wendell Dorman rounded out the Board of Trustees (Daily Record Sept 22, 1980). Question-what happened to this mini-park and what was there in this park? I do know it became the site of the two -room school museum in 1990 which has since become the theater and research rooms of the Coats Museum.
Coats students were named to the ESSA Student Advisory Committee according to Coats Principal Joe Hawley. Chairperson Delores Royster was a senior and Samantha Stewart was secretary-treasurer of the group. Others on the committee were Carol Hawley, Cora Scurlock, Donna Barnes, Rhonda Faircloth, Roger Jernigan, Sharon Weaver, Karen Capps, Katie Dunston, Brenda Johnson, Helen Dennis, and Judy West. Two of the students were selected to serve on the county advisory board (Daily Record Oct. 2, 1980). Who were those two?
Dottie Tyndall was pictured in the Daily Record October 3, 1980 edition “beating the pump” at Coats Motor Company. Company owner Eugene Stewart obtained a gas pump from Fitchett Oil Company. He allowed citizens to hit the pump with a rubber hammer to protest rising gas prices.
Dr. Harry C. Roberts established the car dealership in 1917. Eugene’s father Guy Stewart had operated the dealership for Dr. Roberts (Daily Record Oct. 3, 1980) and later bought it and the rest is history as it passed on from Guy to son Eugene to son Don Stewart. It might be interesting to note that car parts came into the town in boxes by train to be assembled in the dealership.
Another interesting fact about the car dealership is that Alton Stewart worked there when it was owned by Dr. Roberts. The story is that a WWI plane was having engine issues when flying over Coats and was forced to land. Alton Stewart who was a mechanic at the business repaired it and was offered a ride up in it and hence got the bug to learn to fly and to own a plane. Later on, an advertisement in the Dunn Dispatch shared that Guy Stewart would offer a plane ride to anyone who would purchase or order a car from the dealership.
Many people in Coats were bitten by the desire to fly machines high into the sky. We have a notebook in the Research Library filled with pictures of dozens of Coats licensed pilots with their planes. Someone said that Coats should be labeled as the cradle of aviation for Harnett County. That’s interesting. I do know that we are the home of the first licensed pilot from NC and it is interesting to watch people strain to read the name Orville Wright on Alton Stewart’s pilot license and to note Alton Stewart and his boss, Dr. Harry Roberts, both met death because of plane crashes.
Interestingly, Coats once had two landing strips though they may have been short but served the purpose. Dr. Roberts and John Allen Smith had landing fields. Later Albert Gregory would add one at his farm on Abattoir Road and there is one on Langdon Road in Barclaysville. Were ones on the Sawyer farm on Highway 421 and one on Earl Stewart farm on Harvell outside of Coats? Many of our war veterans were pilots and even today we have a young man involved with flight of drones. Cory Godwin has earned quiet a name in that arena. Maybe we should have a Flight Over Coats Museum and recognize and share the town’s aviation history. Drop by the museum and look at the two wall murals of the aerial view of McKinley Street and the other of Main Street of Coats believed to have been photographed in the 1960’s and it is interesting to see the number of structures that are no longer in the landscape.
I do know that even though Albert Gregory loved flying, he also found time to be involved in business ventures. He was named to the Board of Directors of the Carolina Bank. He and his family owned CAG Manufacturing (Daily Record Oct. 7, 1980).
Kevin Pope and Marc Powell are planning our next major tunnel exhibit honoring the scout leaders from Coats and recognizing our young men who earned the rank of Eagle Scout. If you were a scout master or if you or your son won that Eagle rank, Kevin and Marc need a copy of the program when the recognition was honored. The volunteers have collected some of these programs but nowhere near the number of Coats scouts who earned that rank.
As we reflect on October, we are reminded of the many folks who have lost loved ones to death. Patsy and Stacy Avery have expressed their love to those families of Sandra Dennis and Wanda Pope by remembering them with Coats Museum memorials. The museum folks were saddened to hear about the death of Annie Ruth Penny Stewart who had shared some vintage Penny family pictures. Annie Ruth’s mother was sister of Mrs. Naomi Stewart Hudson, mother of Mack Reid Hudson. Her father, Archie Penny, was brother of Joe Penny, Mary Coats and Lizzie Turlington of the Grove area. Her grandfather Henry Penny was half –brother to Preacher James Thomas Coats, the town’s namesake. A memorial has been given to the Coats Museum by H.L. Sorrell to honor the life of Annie Ruth Penny Stewart.
Some friends of the Coats Museum simply give to support the operation of the museum. A big thank you goes to Mike and Claudia Tocci of Sparks, NV and to Ralph and Lorena Denning of Raleigh for their generous support of the museum.