OL’ TOM WATSON - Future U.S. Senator and former Georgia Congressman Thomas E. Watson, Georgia's fiery populist leader, was the first presidential candidate to come to Dublin to speak during a presidential campaign. He came in October of 1908 during the last few weeks of the campaign. He returned in 1910 to speak at the Opera House, urging a renewed campaign against immorality in our country. Tom Watson, a quadrennial presidential and gubernatorial candidate, was a faithful supporter of the Industrial School of Poplar Springs and a close friend of Dr. C.H. Kittrell, at whose home he stayed during his visits to Dublin. At that time, Dr. Kittrell lived in a two story home at the southeast corner of Academy Avenue and Palmer Street.
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