Dear Relatives,
Once while visiting Thurla in Enfield, Mattie Batts and her husband Rudolph (Rudy) Gereg, Thurla, and I had been to town and were returning to Thurla's country house. As we passed the old Enfield school, Mattie pointed out the building to Rudy and told him that there was where she received her education. Rudy jokingly scoffed and told Mattie that she may have been schooled there, but she received her education from him! We all chuckled at Rudy's wit, but none of us knew that our education was largely the result of the efforts of a another relative.
Recently Lorene and I visited Lincolnton, NC, county seat of Lincoln County. At the courthouse we obtained copies of the wills of William Coon 1842, George Coon 1843, George Coon Jr 1883, Adolphus Sidney Coon 1914, and Sarah Susan Elizabeth (Miss Betty) Coon 1961. The Lincoln County Historical Association and the Lincoln County Museum of History have, in conjunction with the Lincoln County Heritage Committee, published in 1997 a compendium of articles (Library of Congress No. 97-61493) on local citizens and it contains a lot of information on several members of the Coon family. I'd like to share with you some of what we learned about our Coon relatives from this information.
During the early 1800s there was a large immigration of German speaking people to the western and central piedmont section of NC. One of these immigrants was George Coon. Coon is the anglicization of the German surname Kuhn which means cook or peasant. Many of the surnames were anglicized and some were so Americanized as to be changed altogether. Wolfensbarger became Sparger, etc.
George Coon lived between 1773-1844. He married Elizabeth Ashenbrenner and they had five children, George Jr., Barbara, Elizabeth, Frances, and Jacob. They were Lutherans and George helped organize the "Church House School" which served both purposes in the Daniels community which is located a few miles northwest of Lincolnton. This church and school later became known as the Daniels Lutheran Church.
George Coon Jr. married Elizabeth Seagle and they had nine children, Mary Ann, David Anderson, Sarah Rosannah, Henry Jacob, Adolphus Sidney, Barbara Elizabeth, Frances Catherine, Marcus Franklin, and Andrew Polycarp Coon. George Jr. lived on the land that he inherited from his father George Sr as recorded in WB2-223. George Jr. was a farmer and a brickmason and he served as Justice of the Peace in Daniels. He also served as treasurer of the church for as long as he would. {Note: Junius William Coon was the treasurer of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Fayetteville for many years.}
David Anderson Coon, son of George and Elizabeth, was born in 1834. He served as a Lieutenant in the Confederate Army and fought in the first battle of the war at Bethel and later he was in the battle of Gettysburg. It was pouring rain on day three of that battle. That day he received such extensive wounds that he was left on the field to die in the muck and blood. His cries for help were answered by a Union soldier who covered him with his own coat and gave him coffee. He was taken prisoner and moved to Fort Delaware and later to Morris Island SC. After the war, the Union soldier who rescued him visited his home in Lincoln County.
After the war, David Anderson Coon married Frances (Fanny) Elizabeth Hovis and they had nine children, John Alvin, Katie Pearl, Henry Jacob, {Note: It was customary in those days for parents to name their children in honor of their brothers and sisters.}, Mary Ellen, George Franklin, Charles Lee, Robert, Lucy Belle, and Sarah Susan Elizabeth.
Charles Lee Coon was born Dec. 25, 1868. He grew up in the Daniels community of Lincoln County and attended the one and two room church schools there. Later he attended Concordia College which was organized by the Lutheran church in Conover, NC and now is known as Lenoir Rhyne College at Hickory, NC where he also served on the faculty. He was elected mayor of Conover, NC, was editor of the Lincoln Democrat newspaper, and also wrote for the Charlotte Observer. In 1899 he became Superintendent of Salisbury Public Schools and in 1902 he wrote the educational manifesto "Declaration Against Illiteracy" which was proclaimed to be "one of the most important documents in the history of education in the south". In 1903 he became the chief propagandist, statistician, campaign organizer and editor for the Southern Board of Education. He received an LL.D. degree from UNC, was appointed Superintendent of Normal Schools for blacks in NC and he also served as the clerk to the NC Superintendent of Schools. In 1907 he was appointed Superintendent of Wilson County Schools where he served until his death on Dec. 23, 1927. In 1913 he was nominated to serve as Superintendent of NC Schools, but he declined to accept the position. The Charles Lee Coon High School in Wilson was named in his honor and in 1960 he was elected to the NC Education Hall of Fame.
During his tenure with Wilson County schools, he developed and implemented a consolidated system of schools which became a model for all NC schools and other state supported school systems across the nation. He developed the first school busing system in NC, and his committment to children and their education led to his appointment as the first secretary of the NC Child Labor Committee and as such he formulated legislation on child labor. The Wilson Library at UNC-Chapel Hill is the repository for many NC family manuscripts. You can see a synopsis of the inventory of Dr. Coon's correspondences on file there at www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/c/Coon,Charles_L.html .
Charles Lee Coon had a sister named Sarah Susan Elizabeth Coon who was born Feb. 23, 1877. She died Jan. 25, 1962 and was the last surviving member of her immediate family. She too attended Concordia College, later she attended the NC College for Women in Greensboro which became WCUNC then UNC-Greensboro, and she attended UCal at Berkley. She was a teacher and principal at several Lincoln County schools and was the first woman high school principal in Lincoln County. For a while she served on the faculty at Lenoir Rhyne College, but eventually returned to the Lincoln County school system where she retired as principal.
Adolphus Sidney Coon, son of George Coon Jr., and his wife Jane had seven children, Robert Clarence, L. Frank, W. Lester, J. W. (Junius William?), R. A., Ernest L., and Nannie A. Coon.
Robert Clarence Coon married Hattie Yoder and they had four children, Mary Lois., Junius William, Ruth J., and Maud E. Coon. {Note: Robert Clarence Coon was the census taker for the 1920 census of Lincoln County NC Howard's Creek Township and his beautifully scripted handwriting is a joy to read. Thurla took the 1950 census of Halifax County Enfield Township East of the Railroad and that too is in her easily legible handwriting.}
Junius William (J.W.) Coon attended Lenoir Rhyne College and married Annie Laverna Batts who attended East Carolina Teachers College now UNC-Greenville. J.W. served for many years as Superintendent of Cumberland County Schools and Annie taught many years at Seventy First Street school in Fayetteville. Last summer I wrote to you about Junius William Coon and the school in Fayetteville that is named for him, J.W.Coon Elementary School. Their son, first cousin to Fay, Willard, and me, Junius William (Billy) Coon Jr also attended Lenoir Rhyne College before serving a six year tour in the Navy as a fighter pilot. Since then he has been a pilot for Federal Express and has circumnavigated the globe. Billy and his wife Judy Lenderman have two children, Ashley and Jessica Coon and they reside in Germantown, TN. Lorene and I attended their wedding in West Memphis, AR and there met J.W.'s sisters Ruth and Maud and their husbands.
From George Coon Sr., to George Jr., to Adolphus Sidney, to Robert Clarence, to Junius William, to Junius William Jr., and to Ashley Coon we know seven generations of the Coon family. When George Coon Sr built the first Lutheran church school in the Daniels community of Lincoln county, he didn't just lay the groundwork for a building, he laid the groundwork for education in NC. So if you received your schooling in NC, the quality and scope of your primary and secondary education was largely influenced by Dr. Charles Lee Coon, uncle of Junius William Coon.
There are many similar stories and photographs of other Coon family members printed in the Lincoln County Heritage Book. If your local library can get you a copy I'm sure you will enjoy reading it.
Billy, please let me know if I've made any mistakes here. Thanks.
Regards to all,
Walter Henry and Lorene
