news-record.com

When she dug up the tale of the three Hockett brothers who refused to fight during the Civil War, Kay Davis Coltrane knew that the story of Centre Friends Meeting in southern Guilford County would be a page-turner.

History shows the three conscientious objectors were shot at and refused food, and one was hung up by his thumbs.

“All three of them did have to go. They spent most of their time as prisoners, but remarkably, they did all return home,” Coltrane said of the story she uncovered during seven years of research.

Despite little experience as an author, the former school teacher recently won the prestigious Ethel W. Twiford Religious History Book Award for “Centre Friends: The Legacy of the Meeting on the Hill.” The award is given by the N.C. Society of Historians .

The congregation she writes about in the 407-page book is 19 years older than the founding document of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, and has graves dating to at least 1770 . Founded in 1757 , the meeting was the place where in 1816 Quakers organized the North Carolina Manumission Society , an anti-slavery movement before and during the Civil War.

“In these pages, you will meet some ordinary people who have done extraordinary things as they have endeavored to obediently apply their faith to the challenges of the day,” wrote Jack Kirk , the former editor of Quaker Life, the global magazine for Friends meeting houses, in the book’s foreword.

The book’s cover, the detailed historical maps and other drawings, and the binding and printing also were accomplished by Centre members.
Coltrane, who grew up in another meeting, had no budget to research the book, although she did secure $500 for the project through a bank contest by picking one of two winning keys to open a safe that contained the money.

Coltrane used the $500 to drive her two sisters and a cousin, who also had an interest in history, to the Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania to pore over documents. She had already made a list of all the people, events and dates that she had heard the smallest detail about.

“As they found something, they would bring it to me,” Coltrane said. “I don’t think there were many things about Centre that we didn’t put our hands on.”

In her research, she also found that one of her ancestors, Jesse Davis , was an early member at Centre and in fact created the hinges for one of the meeting houses . They are still in use today.

Coltrane, the church treasurer who also oversees a busy 4-H Club and is the office manager at the family business Coltrane Dairy , never complained along the way , said Pastor Rusty Parsons of Centre Friends Meeting.

Coltrane also enlisted the help of Deanna Thompson of Thompson Communications to edit the book.

“Her dream for this book exceeded other people’s expectations,” Parsons said.

By the time Coltrane got her hands on the project, the church’s historical committee had gathered a lot of information and made an outline.

“I tried to fit into their mold, but I couldn’t do that,” Coltrane said of the method, which they had borrowed. “I began by reading their notes, and I finally convinced myself that if I was going to do it, it was going to be the way I would do it. I needed to see those original notes myself.”

A former pastor, a more logical choice to write the book, got sick and died suddenly.

“All these people who knew all the good stories were not able to write the story, and I knew that if I didn’t do it, a lot of the history would be lost,” Coltrane said of the available but scattered information.

Some things she found offered few details. Aside from the minutes of the manumission meeting, for example, those involved with the Underground Railroad didn’t talk because they could get in trouble.

She was luckier with other stories. The Hockett brothers, for example, refused to do anything in the war — even carry a gun.

“They were religious people, and one of them was very instrumental in telling other people about his faith and helping people find spiritual solace while they were in those conditions,” Coltrane said. “Sort of like a missionary, I guess, against his will.”

Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com