62744 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.

 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.   

386. William Few served as Judge of Montgomery County Superior Court, which had jurisdiction over the lower two-thirds of the current day eastern Laurens County was a signer of the United States Constitution in 1787. Few also served a term as one of Georgia’s first two United States Senators. (389)

390. Col. James Fannin, an early West Point graduate,  who spent one year living in Laurens County, before his home was moved into Twiggs County, became a martyred hero of the War for Texas Independence when his entire command was massacred at Goliad, Texas. 

391.  R.J. Dennard, born in Dublin and a Treutlen County High baseball star, played college baseball for Armstrong Atlantic State University.  He was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 39th round of the 2015 MLB draft.   Played for the State

College Spikes and the Peoria Chiefs in 2015 and 2016 (392.)

393. Willie Brantley was chosen as the Most Outstanding Member of the Colored 4-H Clubs of Georgia in the early 1950s. 

 

394. Mamie Stubbs Lander, a former Dexter School teacher, was elected as the world leader of the Order of the Eastern Star.

395. Dr. Franklin Gowdy, a U.S. Navy Hospital physician in Dublin, was an All American Tackle at the University of Chicago in 1924 under the coaching of the iconic Amos Alonzo Stagg.

396. Nolan Daniel, a West Laurens pitching star, played for the Purdue University baseball team, 2021. 

397. Cherry Waldrep, of Laurens County, was the first woman to obtain a Master’s of Sciene Degree in Math Education from the University of Georgia.

398. Dublin High star running back, Breezy Wynn was an All American running back in the early 1930s at the University of Tennessee.  Wynn struck it rich in World War II when he converted his laundry business into a company which supplied the most duffle bags to the Army in World War II.  (399) 

400. Dublin’s Sarah Orr Williams served as the secretary to three consecutive Georgia United States Senators, Thomas E. Watson, Rebecca Felton, and Walter F. Georgia, a record which still stands.  Senator Felton was appointed by future Dubliner Governor Thomas Hardwick as the first female United States Senator in American history.   Mrs. Williams was also the youngest Capitol Hill secretary. (401) 

402. Sharon “Nyota” Tucker, of Dublin,  was the first female African-American to obtain a law degree from the University of Georgia.   She was the 2016 Recipient of the Justice Leah Ward Sears Award for Distinguished Legal Service. In 2015, an annual award was named in her honor by the University of Georgia Black Law Student Association.

403. David and Pat Graham, of Laurens County, were selected as the National Farm Bureau Young Farm Couple of the year 1976.

404. Lucian A. Whipple, Sr., a native of Laurens County and a long term resident of Cochran, Ga., retired at the age of 98 in 1976 as the oldest practicing attorney in the country.   At his death, he was the oldest living alumnus of the University of Georgia (404A.)

405. Willie Hall, a native of Montrose, Ga., was  Captain of the University of Southern California football. Chosen the team’s Most Valuable Player. (406) Selected to the All Pac-10 Conference team.   (407) First Team NCAA All American. (408)  Played in the 1971 Shrine East West Game (409) and the 1972 College All Star Game. (410)  Drafted in  the 2nd round of the 1972 NFL draft. (411)  Played linebacker for two seasons for the Saints (1972-3) and four seasons with the Oakland Raiders (1975-78.)  (412) Led the stalwart Raider defense in their victory in Super Bowl XI.  (413) 

414. Azzie Kellam, a Dublin High and Crowder College basketball star, was named to the NCAA Junior College All American Team in 1976.  Kellam, after serving four years in the military,  was her team’s Most Valuable Player in 1975 and 1976. (415) 

415. Marilu Crafton Smith, of Laurens County, was the first Republican in the history of the Georgia State Board of Education.  Member of the Board of Regents 1963-1977 (415A.) 

416. Curry Insurance Agency and its president Michael Maffett were awarded the Chairman’s Award for its great and important restoration of the Corker Building in Dublin in 2020 by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.  The building project was cited for excellence in historic rehabilitation. 

417. Laura Jean Snider Parrott Gibson Griffin, of Dublin, married former Georgia governor Marvin Griffin in 1971.  Mrs. Griffin was widowed twice.  Her first husband, Lt. Blakely Parrott, was killed in action in World War II.

418. Dublin’s Sherwin Glass, opened his first furniture store in Soperton in 1949. Moved the corporate headquarters of Farmer’s Furniture to Dublin to become one of the nation’s largest retail furniture chains and the largest in terms of the number of stores.   Glass was known nationwide as a generous philanthropist to Jewish organizations. He was elected to the Furniture Hall of Fame in 2003.  (419) 

420. W.H. Champion, long time editor of the Dublin Courier Herald, served as President of the Georgia Press Association in 1975.