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. 

30. While his father, Chief William McIntosh, visited his cousin, Gov. George M. Troup in Laurens County, his son, Chili McIntosh, attended schools in Laurens County.  When the Creeks removed to the Oklahoma Territory, McIntosh became prominent in state affairs in the territory and is often given credit for establishing the first school system in Oklahoma.  During the Civil War when the Creeks allied with the Confederate government, Chilli McIntosh served as a colonel in the Confederate cavalry.   

31. Gail “E.G.” Kight, a singer and musician from Laurens County, has entertained local audiences for nearly a half century.  Originally a country music singer, E. G. Kight has been nominated three times for W.C. Handy Blues Award, awarded annually to the country’s best Blues artists. In 2004, Kight was a nominee for Best New Artist, writer of the Song of the Year, and the Best Female Artist. 

32. In November 2004, Lt. Soffie Thigpen, a neighbor of E.G. Kight,  became the highest ranking female officer in the Georgia State Patrol.

33. Barney Hester, a former East Laurens High School athlete,  ranks  6th on the  all time list of coaching victories in Georgia with 340.  Hester is first in Georgia in private school wins with  (322) (34.)  He was second among all coaches in Georgia between 1990 and 2009 with 216 (35.)   Hester’s teams at Tattnall Square Academy in Macon won state nine state championships in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2006, 2007, and 2011 (36.)   They finished second eight times in  1991, 1992, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2010, 2003, and 2010 (37,) setting a Georgia record of most championship games played with 17 (38)  Hester was the first football for Josey Christian Academy in East Dublin.  Hester stands second all time in seasons coached  for coaches with more than 200 with forty three (39.) 

40. Col. Richard Epting, a recent resident of Dublin, was inducted into the U.S. Army’s Officer Candidate School of Fame in 1993. His first duty assignment was as Platoon Leader, Company G, 75th Infantry, Republic of Vietnam.

41. Col. Addison Hogan, of Laurens County, was awarded the Gallantry Cross with a Silver Star by the Vietnamese Government for his service in Vietnam in 1963 and 1964. 

42. Kimala Ann, a niece of Howard Cordell, Sr. and Clayton Cordell, Sr. often visited her uncles and cousins in Dublin.  While on one of those visits Kimala, a skinny aspiring fashion model,  was introduced to Macky McAfee, a dark, handsome quarterback of the Dublin High School football team.   McAfee, according to Kimala’s cousin, Renee Cordell, turned a blind eye to her attraction.  Kimala, or Kim Basinger, a daughter, of Ann Cordell Basinger, later became a superstar, sex-symbol actress and model in the 1980s and 1990s.  She once owned the entire town of Braselton, Georgia or so they say.

44. The Rev. George Matthews, minister of the First Methodist Church in Dublin, Ga., was the founder of the Indian Springs Holiness Association in 1890.

45. Pvt. William Little, who spent is latter years in Dublin, was a Buffalo Soldier in the 9th U.S. Cavalry during the Spanish American War.  After the fighting was over in Cuba, Little was transferred to the Phillipines, where he served as Chief Orderly of Governor General Arthur McArthur, whose son was the iconic general, General Douglas McArthur. (46)

47. Kara Coates, who hailed from the Coates community on the Old Macon Road, was an all City of Detroit basketball player in the late 1930s. Coates, a 5'9" former guard at Clark College in Atlanta,  played with the Whiz Kids and the Kansas City Stars, before briefly becoming a member of the Harlem Globetrotters