October 4, 2013 Coats Museum News
Corn shuckings were popular on farms in the WWII era. Enjoy as you travel down memory lane once again with Carsie K Denning, Sr. (Denning 2004). “Farmers would gather the ears of corn from the fields and unload them from mule drawn wagons onto large piles in an open space near storage barns. After all the harvesting was completed, they would contact the neighbors and invite them to a corn shucking where the men would shuck corn and the women would do the cooking for the evening meal. Some farmers would make the corn shucking into a real special day with a banquet like meal being served. One in particular in the Coats area was Seth Lee whose farm was located on the Bethel Church Road (Abattoir Rd. in 2013) near Coats. He had many acres of corn and would spend weeks gathering corn from the fields. The pile of corn was usually in excess of one hundred feet long and six feet high. (A squirrel’s paradise?) Lee had a small field where he planted corn that produced red grain ears. As the other corn was harvested, he would place ears of the red corn in the pile. Until it was shucked, it looked like the regular white or yellow corn. A corn shucking at the Lee farm was a special event. Farmers from all around looked forward to the Lee corn shucking day. (Don’t you want to know why it was so special?) The shucking would start at one in the afternoon with the women preparing the big outdoor feast. (That could be another story.)
“When a shucker would find a red ear, he would yell and for a good reason. Mr. Lee or one of his helpers would pour a glass of whiskey for the lucky person. This would go on for the afternoon and by the call of the dinner, most of the men would be feeling the effects of the refreshments. O course, most of the corn would have been shucked and the big layout of food was a welcomed sight. After the feast, corn shucking continued until the corn was shucked.
The two most common uses of corn were for human and animal consumption for food. The farmer fed it shelled and on the cob. They ground it for the poultry. They soaked it in water for the hogs. The humans consumed corn as a fresh or canned vegetable and as a bread from ground meal, much of which was grounded at the “Ole Stewart’s Corn Mill”.
Mr. Henry Clay Stewart (1885-1958) was owner and operator of the old mill built around 1918. Claud D. Stewart, principal of several of the early schools in the Grove Township, helped his son Henry build the mill according to Henry’s brother Alfred G. Stewart. He recalled that “it was real hard times” and Henry furnished the family of eleven with flour and meal. He also brought the family off the farm near Bailey’s Crossroads, and built a house into which Reggie Parrish later moved.
The mill consisted of three mills. Earlier there had been only two. Three flat rocks called boulders were placed on top of a bed of rocks and the top one rotated by force from an electric motor, driven by pulley and belts. Each mill had a little wheel attached to it that raised and lowered the top rock to make the cornmeal grind. The rocks had to be whetted or sharpened, every so often, to make the corn meal ground right” (Evangeline Stewart).
After WWIII, Keith Wayne Stewart and Laverne Stewart, Henry’s sons, came home to help him run the mill. After Henry died in 1958, the sons ran the mill for their mother Myrtle. (She was the daughter of Lonnie and Nettie Stewart. Lonnie was one of Coats’s early merchants. One general store he operated is the site of the parking lot adjoining the former Garland Coats Barber Shop and current Teddy Byrd Nationwide site.)
Whether farmers got their own corn when grounded at Stewart’s Mill or not, they all noted that Stewart’s Mill cornmeal was the best to be found.
Yes, corn was a staple on the tables in Grove homes. What other food could be so delicious whether fried, baked or dropped into a glass of cold buttermilk?
The museum continues to buzz with visitor activity. Every week there is a new story. Donald and Juanita Page are an amazing couple. They have presented the museum a Revell 1:72 scale model of the B-26 Marauder “Flak Bait” that holds the record within the US Army Air Force for the number of bombing missions survived during WWII. The B-26B was manufactured in Baltimore, Maryland, by Martin. This aircraft was completed in April, 1943. It was christened Flak Bait by one of the pilots, James J. Farrell. Flak Bait was assigned to the 449th Bombardment Squadron, 322d Bombardment Group stationed in England.
During the course of its 202 bombing missions over Germany as well as the Netherlands, Belgium and France, Flak Bait lived up to its name by being shot with over 1000 holes, returned twice on one engine and once with an engine on fire, lost its electrical system once and its hydraulic system twice, and participated in bombing missions in support of D-Day and the Battle of the Budge.
This is the model of the B-26 Martin (Flak Bait) that Cecil Fuquay served in the front portion of the fuselage on missions 201 and 202. This front portion of the fuselage is on display in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. Joe Tart took Cecil and some other local veterans to Washington a few years back and while there, the museum authorities allowed Cecil to get into the fuselage after they learned that he had served on it. WOW to the late Cecil Fuquay.
We are anxiously awaiting a visit from 120 school kids from Coats Elementary School next week and the JOY group from Angier the day before the students. Thank you goes to Mary Ellen and Ed Lauder for their memorial donation for Christine Parrish and Ronnie Byrd. Mary Ellen also donated some vintage magazines from her late father’s (Herbert L. Johnson), attic. On the front cover of one of the LIFE magazines is the picture of the front view of a B29 fuselage much like the B-26 Marauder that Cecil sat in to shoot down the enemy planes. Thank you Mary Ellen and also thanks to those who gave an honorarium for Patsy Avery’s birthday.
We are so excited that a donor has come forth with a challenge to name the museum’s exhibit hall. The naming rights are $50,000 and the museum folks must match the $50,000. The Board of Directors agreed to accept the challenge. Those who have visited the museum can surely see that the volunteers don’t back off from a challenge. In fact they will likely ask you to be a small part by adding your family’s name on the donor’s plaques. A container can be filled with small pebbles or it can be filled with some large ones with smaller ones filling the holes but either way the container will be full. Thank you for considering either a small or large donation so the museum folks can meet the challenge. Better yet, come visit the museum on a Monday or Wednesday from 9-3pm or on Sunday from 2-5pm to see a bit of the heritage of Coats and a touch of things that have affected Coats.
PLEASE E MINDFUL THAT THESE ARTICLES APPEARED IN THE DAILY RECORD ON OCTOBER 4, 2013.
Corn shuckings were popular on farms in the WWII era. Enjoy as you travel down memory lane once again with Carsie K Denning, Sr. (Denning 2004). “Farmers would gather the ears of corn from the fields and unload them from mule drawn wagons onto large piles in an open space near storage barns. After all the harvesting was completed, they would contact the neighbors and invite them to a corn shucking where the men would shuck corn and the women would do the cooking for the evening meal. Some farmers would make the corn shucking into a real special day with a banquet like meal being served. One in particular in the Coats area was Seth Lee whose farm was located on the Bethel Church Road (Abattoir Rd. in 2013) near Coats. He had many acres of corn and would spend weeks gathering corn from the fields. The pile of corn was usually in excess of one hundred feet long and six feet high. (A squirrel’s paradise?) Lee had a small field where he planted corn that produced red grain ears. As the other corn was harvested, he would place ears of the red corn in the pile. Until it was shucked, it looked like the regular white or yellow corn. A corn shucking at the Lee farm was a special event. Farmers from all around looked forward to the Lee corn shucking day. (Don’t you want to know why it was so special?) The shucking would start at one in the afternoon with the women preparing the big outdoor feast. (That could be another story.)
“When a shucker would find a red ear, he would yell and for a good reason. Mr. Lee or one of his helpers would pour a glass of whiskey for the lucky person. This would go on for the afternoon and by the call of the dinner, most of the men would be feeling the effects of the refreshments. O course, most of the corn would have been shucked and the big layout of food was a welcomed sight. After the feast, corn shucking continued until the corn was shucked.
The two most common uses of corn were for human and animal consumption for food. The farmer fed it shelled and on the cob. They ground it for the poultry. They soaked it in water for the hogs. The humans consumed corn as a fresh or canned vegetable and as a bread from ground meal, much of which was grounded at the “Ole Stewart’s Corn Mill”.
Mr. Henry Clay Stewart (1885-1958) was owner and operator of the old mill built around 1918. Claud D. Stewart, principal of several of the early schools in the Grove Township, helped his son Henry build the mill according to Henry’s brother Alfred G. Stewart. He recalled that “it was real hard times” and Henry furnished the family of eleven with flour and meal. He also brought the family off the farm near Bailey’s Crossroads, and built a house into which Reggie Parrish later moved.
The mill consisted of three mills. Earlier there had been only two. Three flat rocks called boulders were placed on top of a bed of rocks and the top one rotated by force from an electric motor, driven by pulley and belts. Each mill had a little wheel attached to it that raised and lowered the top rock to make the cornmeal grind. The rocks had to be whetted or sharpened, every so often, to make the corn meal ground right” (Evangeline Stewart).
After WWIII, Keith Wayne Stewart and Laverne Stewart, Henry’s sons, came home to help him run the mill. After Henry died in 1958, the sons ran the mill for their mother Myrtle. (She was the daughter of Lonnie and Nettie Stewart. Lonnie was one of Coats’s early merchants. One general store he operated is the site of the parking lot adjoining the former Garland Coats Barber Shop and current Teddy Byrd Nationwide site.)
Whether farmers got their own corn when grounded at Stewart’s Mill or not, they all noted that Stewart’s Mill cornmeal was the best to be found.
Yes, corn was a staple on the tables in Grove homes. What other food could be so delicious whether fried, baked or dropped into a glass of cold buttermilk?
The museum continues to buzz with visitor activity. Every week there is a new story. Donald and Juanita Page are an amazing couple. They have presented the museum a Revell 1:72 scale model of the B-26 Marauder “Flak Bait” that holds the record within the US Army Air Force for the number of bombing missions survived during WWII. The B-26B was manufactured in Baltimore, Maryland, by Martin. This aircraft was completed in April, 1943. It was christened Flak Bait by one of the pilots, James J. Farrell. Flak Bait was assigned to the 449th Bombardment Squadron, 322d Bombardment Group stationed in England.
During the course of its 202 bombing missions over Germany as well as the Netherlands, Belgium and France, Flak Bait lived up to its name by being shot with over 1000 holes, returned twice on one engine and once with an engine on fire, lost its electrical system once and its hydraulic system twice, and participated in bombing missions in support of D-Day and the Battle of the Budge.
This is the model of the B-26 Martin (Flak Bait) that Cecil Fuquay served in the front portion of the fuselage on missions 201 and 202. This front portion of the fuselage is on display in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. Joe Tart took Cecil and some other local veterans to Washington a few years back and while there, the museum authorities allowed Cecil to get into the fuselage after they learned that he had served on it. WOW to the late Cecil Fuquay.
We are anxiously awaiting a visit from 120 school kids from Coats Elementary School next week and the JOY group from Angier the day before the students. Thank you goes to Mary Ellen and Ed Lauder for their memorial donation for Christine Parrish and Ronnie Byrd. Mary Ellen also donated some vintage magazines from her late father’s (Herbert L. Johnson), attic. On the front cover of one of the LIFE magazines is the picture of the front view of a B29 fuselage much like the B-26 Marauder that Cecil sat in to shoot down the enemy planes. Thank you Mary Ellen and also thanks to those who gave an honorarium for Patsy Avery’s birthday.
We are so excited that a donor has come forth with a challenge to name the museum’s exhibit hall. The naming rights are $50,000 and the museum folks must match the $50,000. The Board of Directors agreed to accept the challenge. Those who have visited the museum can surely see that the volunteers don’t back off from a challenge. In fact they will likely ask you to be a small part by adding your family’s name on the donor’s plaques. A container can be filled with small pebbles or it can be filled with some large ones with smaller ones filling the holes but either way the container will be full. Thank you for considering either a small or large donation so the museum folks can meet the challenge. Better yet, come visit the museum on a Monday or Wednesday from 9-3pm or on Sunday from 2-5pm to see a bit of the heritage of Coats and a touch of things that have affected Coats.
PLEASE E MINDFUL THAT THESE ARTICLES APPEARED IN THE DAILY RECORD ON OCTOBER 4, 2013.