October 11, 2024 Coats Museum News
Have you ever heard someone say,” I thought I would never get old enough to get my driver’s license but once I had it, man has time flown”? While researching the history of our Coats area at the Daily Record Library, we quickly became aware of passage of time in a new light that I have difficulty in putting that feeling into words. It was like 1740, 1776, 1855, 1905 were not that terribly long ago but in reality, they were. It was like we have so much in common with the people who lived then and it was if we stepped right into their setting and understood as if we were a part of it, but we weren’t.
This I do know. After sitting in front of a computer hour after hour, year after year to write hundreds and hundreds of columns for the Coats Museum News for the Daily Record, I really believe I have become a better person-- wiser, more appreciative and more understanding of how much our past has affected our future.
As passage of time is in high gear and the obituaries in the paper make us aware that there are fewer and fewer people who can recall what it means to pick a plant bed, sucker tobacco, turn potato vines, shell peas, feed the animals and get up at 3 AM to take out a couple of barns of tobacco.
But wait-none of us ever had to clear a small acreage of land to plant wheat, oats, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes and maize for food. We did not have to make our clothes from flax grown on the new land that was cleared by using oxen. We did not have to cut trees to make our houses. We did not have to raise herbs for our medicine or have a cow for our milk or kill a hog for our meat.
Several columns could be written on what life was like over two and half centuries ago when there was the possibility that the neighbors spoke different languages and worshipped a different god but they were able to form a new nation, but for now let’s see what some of the descendants of those early colonists were doing in the year of 1994.
The Ennis name appears on some of the area’s earliest land deeds; however, in the Nov. 8, 1994 edition of the Daily Record it printed that Florence Kay Wells and Gary Michael Ennis had exchanged vows at the Wedding Chapel in Cary. The bride was the daughter of Mrs. R.V. Wells and the late Mr. Wells and Mike was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Billy Ray Ennis of Coats.
The Harnett County Tournament and East Division Tournament Pee-Wee Soccer champions were from Coats. Some on the team were Myles Poole, Julia Wal(d)en, Simon Parrish, Kimberly Christianson, Joshua Smith, Demetrice Anderson, Morgan Langdon, Shawn Core, Amanda Langdon, Dustin Frye, Bruce West, Latasha Anderson, Richard Pope, Josh Waters and coaches Keith Waters, Kevin Pope and Danny West (Daily Record Nov. 5, 1994).
Wendy Williams of Coats, daughter of Barney and Mary Frances Weaver Williams, was selected to participate in the 1995 Miss North Carolina USA Pageant. She was the granddaughter of Mrs. Lucy Weaver of Coats. Wendy was a student at Campbell University School of Pharmacy (Daily Record Nov. 9, 1994).
Mr. and Mrs. Wade Weaver, Jr., of Route 1, Coats, announced the engagement of their daughter Penny Gale Weaver to Craig Gordon Drouillard. The bride-elect was a 1986 graduate of Triton High School and Campbell University with a B.A. in Communications. She was serving in the U.S. Navy and was stationed in Sabana Seca. Puerto Rica. The prospective groom was stationed at the same naval base (Daily Record Nov. 10, 1994). Would you like to know that marriage produced a young son who is now pursuing a career in medicine?
Marion Ennis Williams, 65, of Dunn, had died after an extended illness. She was the daughter of the late Edward and Gertie Hight Ennis. Marion was a graduate of Harbarger Business College and earned her nursing degree. She was secretary to the late Dr. W.W. Stanfield. Marion later became Utilization Review Coordinator for BJMH in Dunn. She was survived by her second husband Roy Williams and was brother to Tommy Ennis (Daily Record Nov. 14, 1994).
Death has robbed many of those who knew the following lady well: Mrs. Lucy Langdon Weaver who was a beloved seamstress and businesswoman. She had a surprise pulled over her in 1994 when her daughter, Mary Frances Weaver Williams, had invited her to eat a causal meal with her. Mary told her mom she had to run up to Bennie and Patty Weaver’s house to pick up something before they had dinner. When they arrived at Bennie’s, a crowd was waiting to celebrate Mrs. Lucy’s birthday.
Another lady also had a birthday surprise. Mavis Spivey Colville was honored with a pig picking on her 75th birthday at her son Frankie Colville‘s house. All of Mavis’ children were at the surprise gathering: Delores (Dee) Carter, William Earl Spivey, Patty Weaver, and Frankie Colville. The grandchildren and many friends were also there.
Have you ever heard someone say-Thank God for memories? Do you go to the Rose and Graham website and other funeral home websites and read the obituaries, watch the videos and enter a memory of the deceased? Just in the past few years, the Ebenezer, Bailey’s Crossroad, Johnson, Silas Moore, and Cobb Roads, death has claimed about dozen of our neighbors.
Just a few days ago, Bobby Pope died and so many of us have fond memories of Bobby from his days at Coats High and Campbell University while others remember seeing him farm the land he loved or feeding his cows in his pastures. Lynda and Robie Butler and Ralph and Lorena Denning have entered his name on our Coats Museum Memorial page on our coatsmuseum.com-I feel sure Bobby’s family will remember your generosity.
Have you ever heard someone say,” I thought I would never get old enough to get my driver’s license but once I had it, man has time flown”? While researching the history of our Coats area at the Daily Record Library, we quickly became aware of passage of time in a new light that I have difficulty in putting that feeling into words. It was like 1740, 1776, 1855, 1905 were not that terribly long ago but in reality, they were. It was like we have so much in common with the people who lived then and it was if we stepped right into their setting and understood as if we were a part of it, but we weren’t.
This I do know. After sitting in front of a computer hour after hour, year after year to write hundreds and hundreds of columns for the Coats Museum News for the Daily Record, I really believe I have become a better person-- wiser, more appreciative and more understanding of how much our past has affected our future.
As passage of time is in high gear and the obituaries in the paper make us aware that there are fewer and fewer people who can recall what it means to pick a plant bed, sucker tobacco, turn potato vines, shell peas, feed the animals and get up at 3 AM to take out a couple of barns of tobacco.
But wait-none of us ever had to clear a small acreage of land to plant wheat, oats, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes and maize for food. We did not have to make our clothes from flax grown on the new land that was cleared by using oxen. We did not have to cut trees to make our houses. We did not have to raise herbs for our medicine or have a cow for our milk or kill a hog for our meat.
Several columns could be written on what life was like over two and half centuries ago when there was the possibility that the neighbors spoke different languages and worshipped a different god but they were able to form a new nation, but for now let’s see what some of the descendants of those early colonists were doing in the year of 1994.
The Ennis name appears on some of the area’s earliest land deeds; however, in the Nov. 8, 1994 edition of the Daily Record it printed that Florence Kay Wells and Gary Michael Ennis had exchanged vows at the Wedding Chapel in Cary. The bride was the daughter of Mrs. R.V. Wells and the late Mr. Wells and Mike was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Billy Ray Ennis of Coats.
The Harnett County Tournament and East Division Tournament Pee-Wee Soccer champions were from Coats. Some on the team were Myles Poole, Julia Wal(d)en, Simon Parrish, Kimberly Christianson, Joshua Smith, Demetrice Anderson, Morgan Langdon, Shawn Core, Amanda Langdon, Dustin Frye, Bruce West, Latasha Anderson, Richard Pope, Josh Waters and coaches Keith Waters, Kevin Pope and Danny West (Daily Record Nov. 5, 1994).
Wendy Williams of Coats, daughter of Barney and Mary Frances Weaver Williams, was selected to participate in the 1995 Miss North Carolina USA Pageant. She was the granddaughter of Mrs. Lucy Weaver of Coats. Wendy was a student at Campbell University School of Pharmacy (Daily Record Nov. 9, 1994).
Mr. and Mrs. Wade Weaver, Jr., of Route 1, Coats, announced the engagement of their daughter Penny Gale Weaver to Craig Gordon Drouillard. The bride-elect was a 1986 graduate of Triton High School and Campbell University with a B.A. in Communications. She was serving in the U.S. Navy and was stationed in Sabana Seca. Puerto Rica. The prospective groom was stationed at the same naval base (Daily Record Nov. 10, 1994). Would you like to know that marriage produced a young son who is now pursuing a career in medicine?
Marion Ennis Williams, 65, of Dunn, had died after an extended illness. She was the daughter of the late Edward and Gertie Hight Ennis. Marion was a graduate of Harbarger Business College and earned her nursing degree. She was secretary to the late Dr. W.W. Stanfield. Marion later became Utilization Review Coordinator for BJMH in Dunn. She was survived by her second husband Roy Williams and was brother to Tommy Ennis (Daily Record Nov. 14, 1994).
Death has robbed many of those who knew the following lady well: Mrs. Lucy Langdon Weaver who was a beloved seamstress and businesswoman. She had a surprise pulled over her in 1994 when her daughter, Mary Frances Weaver Williams, had invited her to eat a causal meal with her. Mary told her mom she had to run up to Bennie and Patty Weaver’s house to pick up something before they had dinner. When they arrived at Bennie’s, a crowd was waiting to celebrate Mrs. Lucy’s birthday.
Another lady also had a birthday surprise. Mavis Spivey Colville was honored with a pig picking on her 75th birthday at her son Frankie Colville‘s house. All of Mavis’ children were at the surprise gathering: Delores (Dee) Carter, William Earl Spivey, Patty Weaver, and Frankie Colville. The grandchildren and many friends were also there.
Have you ever heard someone say-Thank God for memories? Do you go to the Rose and Graham website and other funeral home websites and read the obituaries, watch the videos and enter a memory of the deceased? Just in the past few years, the Ebenezer, Bailey’s Crossroad, Johnson, Silas Moore, and Cobb Roads, death has claimed about dozen of our neighbors.
Just a few days ago, Bobby Pope died and so many of us have fond memories of Bobby from his days at Coats High and Campbell University while others remember seeing him farm the land he loved or feeding his cows in his pastures. Lynda and Robie Butler and Ralph and Lorena Denning have entered his name on our Coats Museum Memorial page on our coatsmuseum.com-I feel sure Bobby’s family will remember your generosity.