Campbellsville Coterie Club, a women’s social club, organized in Campbellsville, 1920.
Pledge: In becoming a member of the Coterie, I pledge myself to use to my utmost efforts to promote the best interest of the Club and Community of which it forms a part. One had to be “invited” to join and the group kept their numbers to twenty. This limited number made it possible to entertain the group in their homes. Often the members were wives of businessmen or professionals in the town. At first, members were responsible for presenting a program; in later years, members often asked someone else to present a program so that they could more easily entertain the group. In the 1920s through the 1940s, members dressed in hats and gloves. Silver, crystal, and fine china were part of the presentation and hired African-Americans help served lunch.
In 1920, the officers were: President, Mrs. E.C. Coppock; Vice-President, Mrs. O.H. Shively; Sec-Treas, Mrs. T.W. Buchanan. Its members in 1920 were the following: Mrs. T.W. Buchanan, Mrs. Robert Caskey, Mrs. Mary Chandler, Mrs. C.I. Coakley, Mrs. E. C. Coppock, Mrs. J.R. Davis, Mrs. J. E. Durham, Mrs. O.L. Goode, Mrs. E. L. Gowdy, Mrs. Norman Hobson, Mrs. T. E. Hoskins, Mrs. W. R. Lyon, Mrs. W. G. MacNab, Mrs. Frances Miller, Mrs. G.V. Murray, Mrs. G. W. Peterson, Mrs. O.H. Shively, Mrs. U.P. Walling, Mrs. R. B. Wood.
In 1930, the members were: Mrs. W.B. Atkinson, Mrs. James Buchanan, Mrs. W. Graves Burdette, Mrs. C.I. Coakley, Mrs. W.C. Cloyd, Mrs. E.C. Coppock, Mrs. E .N. Cross, Mrs. J.R. Davis, Mrs. James E. Durrett, Mrs. S.L. Dunbar, Mrs. O.L. Goode, Mrs. E.L. Gowdy, Mrs. Lee Hobson, Mrs. T.E. Hoskins, Mrs. J.A. Hubbard, Mrs. W.R. Lyon, Mrs. G.W. Peterson, Mrs. Marvin Rice, Mrs. R.A. Sanders, Sr., Mrs. Ralph Wood.
By 1940, Mrs. Joe Chandler, Mrs. Mark Chandler, Mrs. R.L. Kerr, Mrs. Oscar Patton, Mrs. E.S. Secrest, Mrs. Earl Vancleve were added due to deaths of charter members. Mrs. S.F. White was an honorary member.
By 1950, Mrs. George Barbee, Mrs. Harry Edwards, Mrs. Richard Sanders, Jr., Mrs. Sheldon Willock were added.
By 1960, Mrs. Robert Ingram, Mrs. Jodie Godzer, Mrs. Mike Hall, and Mrs. Chester Blakeman were added.
By 1970, Mrs. William Callison, Mrs. Wood Coppock, Mrs. Edward Crabtree, Mrs. Sidney Dunbar, Mrs. William Larkey, Mrs. Marshall Lyon, Mrs. T.O. Purcell, Mrs. Albert Ross, Mrs. Kenneth White were added members. `
By 1980, Mrs. Eugene Shively, Mrs. Howard Rice, Mrs. Dwight Elliott, Mrs. Linney Coppock, Mrs. L.E. Blevins, Mrs. Forrest Hogue, Miss Elizabeth Sanders, Mrs. Kenneth White were added. Note that even in the 1980s, the club handbook was still listing their members by their spouse’s name.
In 1990, Mrs. Alva McKinley, Mrs. Bob Henry Cowherd, Mrs. Wiliam J. Allen, Mrs. James F. Graves, Mrs. Paul Johnson, Jr., Mrs. George Willson, Mrs. Kenneth Winters, and Mrs. Richard (Ruth) Mardis were members. By 2000, Mrs. Doug Johnson, Mrs. Ralph Tesseneer, Mrs. Paul Osborne were added to the list. This club continued until 2008 when it disbanded and its yearbooks were brought to Betty Gorin by Mary Osborne for preservation purposes.
Note from Betty Gorin: The above list of members is not all inclusive. The membership list was only observed every decade. In the beginning, it is interesting to see how many members were born in Marion County. Evidently, several of the businessmen dated ladies in Marion County and brought them as wives back to Campbellsville. Many of the members of this club lived in houses that lined Lebanon Avenue and Jackson Street.
Aileen McKinley wrote a history of the founding members which gives a window of the social life of the town in the 1920s. Betty Gorin edited it in 2015 to bring the geographical references up to date.
History of the Coterie Club by Aileen McKinley
In 1920, Mrs. T. E. Hoskins and Mrs. G. W. Peterson decided to organize a club. They invited Mrs. J. R. Davis and Mrs. T. W. Buchanan for the purpose of forming a social club. Others were asked to join with them. Records show that there were 19 present for the first meeting, which was held in the home of Mrs. T. W. Buchanan.
The charter members were the following:
Mrs. T. W. Buchanan—She was the mother of James and Fred Buchanan, and one the other charter members of Coterie, Mrs. Elvira Caskey. The Buchanans lived on the south side of Main Street on what is now Court Street. It was known at that time as College Street, due to its access to Buchanan Collegiate Institute.
Mrs. Robert Caskey—the former Elvira Buchanan, who was a young married lady at the time of the formation of Coterie. She later moved to Colorado.
Mrs. Mary Chandler—“Miss Mary Willette.” She was the wife of J. H. Chandler, a stepmother of Mr. Hugh Chandler, father of Shelby Chandler and Mrs. Katherine Durrett. She was originally a Gaddie and was a sister of Mrs. Mattie Hill. The Chandlers lived on Broadway and North Columbia, diagonally across from the Campbellsville Civic Center. The house was a large frame building which fronted on Second North Street, now Broadway. In 2015, it is the CVS Drug Store location.
Mrs. Charles I. Coakley—the former Lula Barnes from Lebanon was married to Mr. Charlie Coakley. They built a beautiful brick home with stately white columns, diagonally across from Campbellsville Christian Church, located on the northwest corner of Lebanon Avenue and Maple Street at 401 Lebanon Avenue. Her husband was a partner with James E. “Jim” Durham in a dry goods store located on Main Street and known for many years to our older residents as Coakley & Durham.
Mrs. E. C. Coppock—“Miss Cannie” was the wife of Chad Coppock. They lived in a large two-story home on High Street. They were the parents of Linney Coppock.
Mrs. J. R. Davis—“Miss Liss” was the wife of J. R. “Hawk” Davis who was one of the owners of Davis Bros. Store. This store was located on the corner of Main and Court Street, at 125 East Main, occupied in 2015 by Merle Norman. The Davises lived for many years at 503 East Main, where Lyon-DeWitt-Berry Funeral Home is located in 2015. After Mr. Davis’ death, Miss Liss built the brick home at 400 North Central, which is now painted yellow. It is owned by Mr. and Mrs. David Jones in 2015.
Mrs. J. E. Durham—she was a sister of Mr. Charlie Coakley. Her husband was a partner with Mr. Coakley in the Coakley & Durham Store. They built a Queen Ann style brick house at 415 Lebanon Avenue. The house was later owned by George Bertram, George Monson, Rodger Monson, and in 2015, Alex Montgomery.
Mrs. O. L. Goode—“Miss Lena” was a Patteson before her marriage to Oma Goode. She was reared in a lovely ancestral home which was located at the east end of Main Street. It was replaced by Jackson Towers. She and her husband built the large frame house at 729 Lebanon Avenue, later owned by Lowell Caulk, then Alex Montgomery. Miss Lena was a legend in her own time. Those of us who knew and loved her remember many things about her. I remember her as my first Sunday School teacher in the Presbyterian Church. A story was told that she never paid much attention to detail of dress and that one time she went to the Coterie with her white gloves on, but had her dress on wrong-side out.
Mrs. E. L. Gowdy—“Miss Flora” also came from Lebanon and her maiden name was Finucan. She was the wife of Dr. E. L. Gowdy, a beloved and dedicated physician for many years in Campbellsvillle. Their home was located on the right side of 436 Jackson Street, a vacant lot in 2015. The house has been torn down. It was built for them by Dr. Gowdy’s father, Mr. John Gowdy, and given to them as a wedding present in 1910.
Mrs. Norman Hobson—“Miss Lee” lived at 321 Maple Street. Her home was torn down and John Minton Coakley’s new house was located on the site in the late 20th century. Miss Lee’ s father, G. S. King, was a Methodist minister.
Mrs. T. E. Hoskins—“Miss Lizzie” was a Molohon from Lebanon, moving here after her marriage to Mr. Tom Hoskins, who owned and operated the Hoskins Store, located at 223 East Main Street. Mr. and Mrs. Hoskins built the Richardsonian Victorian brick home at 515 Lebanon Avenue. Miss Lizzie always carried an umbrella under her arm. I never saw her with the umbrella raised, but it was part of her wearing apparel every time she went out. She was also an excellent cook and was noted for her delicious white buttermilk cake.
Mrs. W. R. Lyon—“Miss Ivy” was from Bradfordsville. Mr. Lyon was in the wholesale business. They lived in a large frame house on the northeast corner of Lebanon Avenue and Maple Street across from Campbellsville Christian Church, later moving to a house on North Central and Howell Street, where apartments are now located.
Mrs. W. G. McNab—She was the former Lena Wilkerson. She was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wilkerson, and was raised in their home at 513 North Jackson, later owned by Mr. and Mrs. R. B. Tincher.
Mrs. Frances Miller—“Miss Fannie” was, at the time of the organization of the Coterie, the widow of Rev. Samuel Miller, a Methodist minister. She later married Mr. Abb Hubbard. They lived in the Alexander House, which was located at 100 Main Street, Firestone in 2015. She was a daughter of Mr. G. W. Peterson, one of Coterie’s organizers.
Mrs. G. V. Murray—wife of Mr. Green Murray. He was involved with the telephone company which was here at that time. Her daughter, Inez, was married to Mr. Vance Gowdy.
Mrs. G. W. Peterson—“Miss Tommie Ann” and her family lived at Mannsville and later moved to Campbellsville. They lived at 505 Lebanon Avenue, which was later occupied by Dr. Richard and Winnie Sanders. She was the mother of Miss Fannie Hubbard and Miss Floy Wood, both charter members of Coterie.
Mrs. O. H. Shively—“Miss Mattie” was the wife of Dr. Omar Shively. They lived on the corner of North Central and Broadway, facing North Central, in a lovely two-story brick which was later owned by Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Davis. The house was torn down and the site is the location, in 2015, a strip shopping center.
Mrs. U. P. Walling—“Mis Min” was the stepmother of Miss Ona, Miss Olive, and Miss Cethrine Walling. They lived on Walling’s Hill. This large home property later became the site of government housing (Ray Street area) just off of South Jackson Street.
Mrs. R. B. Wood—“Miss Floy” was the wife of Ralph Wood, who was a partner in Campbellsville Lumber Company. They also lived on Lebanon Avenue.
By 1921 Mrs. W. C. Cloyd—“Miss Kate”—had joined. She was the wife of Will Cloyd and they lived at 508 Lebanon Avenue.
This club usually had a lavish lunch, a program, usually two separate subjects, and a review of current events.
