2744 and more Fantastic, Fascinating, Freaky, Famed, Favorite, Foremost, Fateful, Fabulous, Forgotten, Funny, & Phenomenal FEATS & FACTS ABOUT THE FINE FOLKS OF DUBLIN AND LAURENS COUNTY, GEORGIA By: Scott B. Thompson, Sr. @ 2021 THIS IS A COMPILATION OF THE OUTSTANDING ACTS OF NATIVE, SHORT TERM, AND LONG TERM RESIDENTS OF DUBLIN AND LAURENS COUNTY, GEORGIA. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS COMPENDIUM, ONLY ACTS OF STATEWIDE, SOUTHEASTERN, NATIONAL, AND WORLD ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE LISTED. VOLUME 2 WILL CONTAIN MORE FEATS ON A LOCAL LEVEL. THERE ARE HUNDREDS, PERHAPS THOUSANDS MORE ACTS WHILE NOTEWORTHY, DO NOT MEET THE CRITERIA SET OUT ABOVE. IF YOU HAVE MORE EXAMPLES OF FANTASTIC FEATS, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT SCOTTBTHOMPSONSR@YAHOO.COM THE LIST WILL BE POSTED ON THE INTERNET AND WILL BE UPDATED ON A REGULAR BASIS.

 360. One of the first African-American scientists to work at NASA,  Dr. Robert E. Shurney, a native of Dublin,  was one of the agency’s top physicists, (361)  receiving honors for his designs of the tires for the lunar rover on the Apollo 15 mission, (362) as well as his training in weightless environments (363) and his innovative designs of the toilet for the Skylab space station (364)  in addition to his designs of eating utensils and solar panels for the Skylab.  (365)  This widely heralded scientist accomplished all of these feats without the benefit of a high school diploma.  (366)

367. Dublin native, Charles Adams,  was elected Senior Vice President of the Coca Cola Company in 1966.  Adams served in the position until 1974, when he became the assistant to the chairman of the Coca Cola Company.   (368)

369. Bill Robinson, who played for the 1962 Dublin Braves, played in major league baseball from 1966  to 1983 with the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets.  Robinson started in 1979 with the World Champion “We Are Family” Pittsburgh Pirates.  Robinson coached the World Champion Mets in 1986 and the World Champion Florida Marlins in 1998. (370) He was a a minor league coach and hitting instructor with several teams.  Robinson worked for several years as an ESPN analyst. (371)

372. Peter Early, the first Judge of Laurens County Superior Court, served as Governor of Georgia from 1813 to 1816 and in the United States Congress from 1803 to 1807. (373)

374. Thomas Linder, a Laurens County native, served 17 years as Georgia’s Commissioner of Agriculture making Linder the second longest serving Agricultural Commissioner in Georgia history.   Commissioner Linder is the only Georgia ever to be re-elected after losing a bid in a state-wide reelection campaign. (375)

376. Corliss Palmer, a resident of Dublin, was chosen as the Most Beautiful Girl in America in a nation wide contest.  Palmer starred in at a dozen silent movies of the 1920s. (377)

378. Millard “Bill” McGowan, of Laurens County, Georgia, was the Middleweight Champion of  Canada and Cuba.  McGowan worked as he main sparring partner for Young Stribling, an American Champion Boxer. (379)  In the 1930s following his

              boxing career, McGowan worked as movie stuntman in  Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939), Undersea Kingdom (1936) and Dick Tracy Returns (1938) and with the such iconic actors as Mae West, Pat O’Brien, and Errol Flynn. (380)

381. W. Doyle Knight and Julian Rachels established Riverside Poultry Farm in the early 1920s in Dublin, known as the largest poultry farm in Georgia. 

382. Dr. J.L. Smalley was chosen as the Veterinarian of the Year in Georgia in 1965.

 

383. Laurens County Superior Court Judge Harold E. Ward, of Dublin, swore in controversial Georgia Governor Lester Maddox, just moments after his election was decided by the Georgia legislature in 1967.  Ward served as a glider pilot in World War II. 

384. Kelly Ward, of Laurens County, caught a still Georgia record striped bass in the Oconee River in 1967.

385. Louis Greenhaus, a long term resident of the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center, was a  Russian-born naturalized citizen who served in both the Spanish-American War and World War I. Between the wars, Greenhaus was a member of John Phillip Sousa's band.