September 28, 2012 Coats Museum News
The question was asked if Coats ever had a jail or guard house as mentioned in the town meeting minutes. The question was answered by the same gentleman who answers many of my questions in the Coats Museum News-Kenneth Keene, son of the late town leader and businessman Oker (O.K.) and Billie Black Keene. Kenneth stopped by the museum last week sharing old photographs of the inside and outside of several of the old stores on Main Street in Coats, a picture of his dad who served in WWI and was the recipient of a purple heart, and some pictures of the 1958 Tractor Rodeo Parade in Coats. After reading the column on Friday, he stopped by on Saturday morning to share that not only did we have a jail but he knew exactly where it had been and what it looked like on the inside.
The jail was located in the back part of the former Malcolm Stewart business on the Main Street and next to what was the W.E. Nichols Mercantile Store beside the Johnson and Norris business. An alley was beside the Stewart store and today one can see the door to the jail which was about one third of the building. Kenneth jokingly said that it mainly housed drunks who got out of control. The jail was divided in two parts. On the right side of the jail were two cells (rooms) with a door to each that were barred with an iron rod. The solid wall to the cells did not reach the ceiling but had about two feet of a thick wire mesh for ventilation of the area. In fact, Kenneth laughed as he recalled that he heard that a prisoner escaped by somehow managing to get to the top of the wall and pulling the wire mesh apart to escape. Also in the other half of the room was a desk, a coal burning stove and a box made of something akin to iron slats to contain the meanest prisoners. Did you say “WOW’? Questions- Where were the women kept and were the black and white kept in the same jail? Recall at this time, the races did not eat together or use the same bathrooms.
I do know that cars were coming back into vogue. In June 1933, 2,376 cars were sold as compared to 1,429 in 1932.Some names of cars sold were Chevrolets, Pontiacs, Lincolns, Pierre Arrows, Franklins, La Salles, Cadillacs, Packards, Auburns, and Little Austins (Harnett County News July 13, 1933).
The Harnett County News July 27, 1933 edition printed that Misses Thelma Turlington of Erwin and Elizabeth Jones of Norfolk were guests of Misses Inez and Wynona Fowler. Also it reported that “Federal Relief Needs Decline 41 percent”. In March 1933, 164,000 had received aid in N.C. However, in June of 1933, only 92,272 received aid. Harnett County had a total of 945 in March and 400 in May. The business conditions had improved and the support given to families by young men who had been employed by the CCC accounted for the decrease in numbers. Also reported in this same July 27, 1933 edition of the paper wrote the Harnett County Board of Education faced a dilemma when they met. The board had appointed five committeemen to serve in the school districts. No district could have more than three. Basic math tells you that two must go. The board also announced that Coats would have five teachers in high school and 22 in elementary. That was one less than last year.
Teachers were paid $543 a year or $45 per month for 12 months in 1933. There were about 23,000 teachers in N.C. in 1933.The same edition of the News stated that tobacco was selling from 3 cents to 25 cents per pound. Harnett farmers were naturally concerned. Some of the best tobacco ever grown was being cured in the county then. The Harnett County Board of Commissioners levied a 3-cent tax to be placed in the budget for the current fiscal year for the Emergency Relief Fund since the Federal Relief Fund would soon be exhausted.
Beginning in August, a series of group meetings on instruction of midwives were being held throughout Harnett County. Doctors assisted by giving talks. Coats High School was the site for training on Monday, August 12, 1933. Do you know what a midwife is? During this era of our history, most babies were born in the home. The doctor were not always called or sent for when the mother went into labor. There was usually a lady in the neighborhood who knew exactly what to do to help the baby have a healthy delivery. The midwife received small pay for being called out in good and bad weather. Some midwives charged ten dollars in earlier days; later it went to fifteen dollars and finally continued to climb to thirty dollars. Was there a law that required these midwives to be licensed?
I do know that “Avery Day is Observed at Fort Bragg.” Twenty-four relatives of Jesse M. Avery, the first Harnett soldier to lose his life in the World War, were special guests of the Citizen Military Training Camp at Fort Bragg (Harnett County News August 10, 1933).
Cotton was to be picked; fodder was to be pulled; corn was to be housed; tobacco was to be graded and jury duty had to be served. Those might have been the thoughts of those Grove Township men who were summoned to jury duty in Lillington. A.L Johnson, N.I. Whittington, Will T. Avery, Preston Ennis, Eddie R. Grady, L. L. Carpenter, K.S. Rambeaut, and D.H. Denning were to be at the September session of court (Harnett County News August 17, 1933). Fred Byrd of Coats was one of the fourteen jurors picked to serve on the federal court in Raleigh. Nine month school at Buies Creek would be the first one in Harnett County. Previously the school had only six months of school (Harnett County News August 24, 1933).
The beautiful bookcases have been installed in the museum’s Research Library. The Coats School yearbooks are shelved along with some school trophies and plaques. Hopefully, we can place all our family and area history notebooks on shelves this week. Ted Penny has framed and continues to shadow box some of the old Coats School sports uniforms and jackets and a FFA jacket. A big thank you goes to David Barnes for installing our security cameras at the museum. It was a sweaty job and those who know David know how faithful he is to a task. Again we wish to thank the South River Electric Membership Corporation for the grant that helped fund the bookcases for the Research Library.
Please be mindful that this article was published in the Daily Record on September 28, 2012.
The question was asked if Coats ever had a jail or guard house as mentioned in the town meeting minutes. The question was answered by the same gentleman who answers many of my questions in the Coats Museum News-Kenneth Keene, son of the late town leader and businessman Oker (O.K.) and Billie Black Keene. Kenneth stopped by the museum last week sharing old photographs of the inside and outside of several of the old stores on Main Street in Coats, a picture of his dad who served in WWI and was the recipient of a purple heart, and some pictures of the 1958 Tractor Rodeo Parade in Coats. After reading the column on Friday, he stopped by on Saturday morning to share that not only did we have a jail but he knew exactly where it had been and what it looked like on the inside.
The jail was located in the back part of the former Malcolm Stewart business on the Main Street and next to what was the W.E. Nichols Mercantile Store beside the Johnson and Norris business. An alley was beside the Stewart store and today one can see the door to the jail which was about one third of the building. Kenneth jokingly said that it mainly housed drunks who got out of control. The jail was divided in two parts. On the right side of the jail were two cells (rooms) with a door to each that were barred with an iron rod. The solid wall to the cells did not reach the ceiling but had about two feet of a thick wire mesh for ventilation of the area. In fact, Kenneth laughed as he recalled that he heard that a prisoner escaped by somehow managing to get to the top of the wall and pulling the wire mesh apart to escape. Also in the other half of the room was a desk, a coal burning stove and a box made of something akin to iron slats to contain the meanest prisoners. Did you say “WOW’? Questions- Where were the women kept and were the black and white kept in the same jail? Recall at this time, the races did not eat together or use the same bathrooms.
I do know that cars were coming back into vogue. In June 1933, 2,376 cars were sold as compared to 1,429 in 1932.Some names of cars sold were Chevrolets, Pontiacs, Lincolns, Pierre Arrows, Franklins, La Salles, Cadillacs, Packards, Auburns, and Little Austins (Harnett County News July 13, 1933).
The Harnett County News July 27, 1933 edition printed that Misses Thelma Turlington of Erwin and Elizabeth Jones of Norfolk were guests of Misses Inez and Wynona Fowler. Also it reported that “Federal Relief Needs Decline 41 percent”. In March 1933, 164,000 had received aid in N.C. However, in June of 1933, only 92,272 received aid. Harnett County had a total of 945 in March and 400 in May. The business conditions had improved and the support given to families by young men who had been employed by the CCC accounted for the decrease in numbers. Also reported in this same July 27, 1933 edition of the paper wrote the Harnett County Board of Education faced a dilemma when they met. The board had appointed five committeemen to serve in the school districts. No district could have more than three. Basic math tells you that two must go. The board also announced that Coats would have five teachers in high school and 22 in elementary. That was one less than last year.
Teachers were paid $543 a year or $45 per month for 12 months in 1933. There were about 23,000 teachers in N.C. in 1933.The same edition of the News stated that tobacco was selling from 3 cents to 25 cents per pound. Harnett farmers were naturally concerned. Some of the best tobacco ever grown was being cured in the county then. The Harnett County Board of Commissioners levied a 3-cent tax to be placed in the budget for the current fiscal year for the Emergency Relief Fund since the Federal Relief Fund would soon be exhausted.
Beginning in August, a series of group meetings on instruction of midwives were being held throughout Harnett County. Doctors assisted by giving talks. Coats High School was the site for training on Monday, August 12, 1933. Do you know what a midwife is? During this era of our history, most babies were born in the home. The doctor were not always called or sent for when the mother went into labor. There was usually a lady in the neighborhood who knew exactly what to do to help the baby have a healthy delivery. The midwife received small pay for being called out in good and bad weather. Some midwives charged ten dollars in earlier days; later it went to fifteen dollars and finally continued to climb to thirty dollars. Was there a law that required these midwives to be licensed?
I do know that “Avery Day is Observed at Fort Bragg.” Twenty-four relatives of Jesse M. Avery, the first Harnett soldier to lose his life in the World War, were special guests of the Citizen Military Training Camp at Fort Bragg (Harnett County News August 10, 1933).
Cotton was to be picked; fodder was to be pulled; corn was to be housed; tobacco was to be graded and jury duty had to be served. Those might have been the thoughts of those Grove Township men who were summoned to jury duty in Lillington. A.L Johnson, N.I. Whittington, Will T. Avery, Preston Ennis, Eddie R. Grady, L. L. Carpenter, K.S. Rambeaut, and D.H. Denning were to be at the September session of court (Harnett County News August 17, 1933). Fred Byrd of Coats was one of the fourteen jurors picked to serve on the federal court in Raleigh. Nine month school at Buies Creek would be the first one in Harnett County. Previously the school had only six months of school (Harnett County News August 24, 1933).
The beautiful bookcases have been installed in the museum’s Research Library. The Coats School yearbooks are shelved along with some school trophies and plaques. Hopefully, we can place all our family and area history notebooks on shelves this week. Ted Penny has framed and continues to shadow box some of the old Coats School sports uniforms and jackets and a FFA jacket. A big thank you goes to David Barnes for installing our security cameras at the museum. It was a sweaty job and those who know David know how faithful he is to a task. Again we wish to thank the South River Electric Membership Corporation for the grant that helped fund the bookcases for the Research Library.
Please be mindful that this article was published in the Daily Record on September 28, 2012.
