Harnett County News (Lillington, North Carolina 27 March 1919, Thursday Page 1 THE CALL OF THE HOMELAND Tallahassee, Fla., March 18, 1919 Dear Sir:--I hope you will not think I am presumptive in writing you this letter, but as I was born and raised in Harnett County and all my ancestors are buried in the good old county, I know you will excuse me. The cause of my writing this is, as I was looking over your last week's issue I noticed where you said, "You would not hazard a guess on where Coats got its name." Well, I will tell you. It is named for one of Harnett County's oldest and most substantial citizens, Rev. Tom Coats. I knew him when I was a boy. The reason I know so much about this county around Coats is My Grandfather Daniel Shaw lived right where the town of Coats is now located. My father, the late Maj. B.F. Shaw, was born there. Some of the most substantial citizens of Harnett county lived in that country. Among the old-timers that I knew personally was Capt. Daniel Stewart, who represented Harnett in the Legislature, and his brother, Col. Eldridge Stewart. These brothers have many descendants in Harnett county and all of them have reflected credit upon their parents. Andrew Wash Denning, *Kirk Stewart, the Baileys, Turlingtons, and many others lived in that country when I was a boy. I have been to the old New Hope Church to their early associations, when there was several thousand people there. It may not be generally known, but when Mr. A. F. Page was first married he boarded with my grandfather, where Coats is now located, and if I am not mistaken, the late minister to England, Walter H. Page, was born on the old stage road between Coats and Barclaysville. Mr. Page was closely related to the Barbee's, who afterwards moved to Raleigh. If you ever meet Mr. Claude Barbee in Raleigh you will be struck with the family favor of him and Walter Page. I had an uncle Billie Marsh, in Lillington. He and I were talking once, and he said he sometimes when he got to thinking about all the people he had known in his day and the places he had been, he believed he was 1,000 years old, and often I think of what he said to me, and sometime when I get to thinking of the days that are past and the friends I had in Harnett County, I am almost persuaded to believe I am 1,000 years old myself. I have been away from Harnett County 27 years, but it seems but as yesterday when I was a boy and young man and knew nearly every man in the county by name. I have associated with some of the best that were ever born in my country and I must say I have never met with any class of people that would measure up to any higher standard than the old-timers of Harnett County, and I know the blood and stock of the later generation have sprung from, and I know they are the same kind of people. Hoping you will excuse this long letter, with best wishes for every man, woman and child in Harnett County. I am, Yours truly, B. Frank Shaw. *The Central Times (Dunn, North Carolina) 02 Jul 1891, Thu Page 3 Mr. Kirk Stewart handed us the first cotton bloom from Grove Township on the 25th instant. Mr. Stewart is one of our county's most successful farmers. *The Smithfield Herald (Smithfield, North Carolina) 12 Sep 1895, Thu Page 3 An Excellent young Man Dead On Thursday, Sept. 5, at 2:15 p.m. the sad whisper of death entered the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kirk Stewart at Troyville, Harnett County, and took away their youngest child, Johnnie Almond. He was 18 years old and leaves a father (John Kirk Stewart-1845-1913) and mother (Elizabeth Mary Partin 1843-1916), two brothers and two sisters to grieve their loss. (John Almon Stewart b. 24 July 1877 Harnett County, died 5 Sep. 1895 (brain fever)Harnett County. Bur. Stewart Family Cemetery, Coats, NCContact: Myrtle Bridges.