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. 

48. Moody Brown, of Dublin, was a 1947 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, a class known to many historians as the greatest class in the history of Annapolis, which also included President Jimmy Carter, CIA Director Stansfield Turner, Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral William Crowe, and  Medal of Honor Winner-Prisoner of War-Vice Presidential Candidate James Stockdale.

49. John M. Outler, Jr., son of the Rev. John M. Outler, Sr., who helped to build the nucleus of the current First United Methodist Church building in Dublin, was the General Manager of WSB Radio, the south’s greatest radio station and the general manager of WSB TV, the first television station in the South. (50)   Outler also served a term as Chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters. (51)

52. Jonathan Sawyer, the founder, first merchant, and first postmaster of Dublin, Georgia, was named in 1818 as a director of the Bank of Darien, the largest bank in the United States south of Philadelphia. 

53. Justice Eugene Cook, a native of Wrightsville, Georgia, moved to Dublin to assume the duties of Solicitor General of the Dublin Judicial Circuit during the early years of World War II.  After serving as Georgia’s Revenue Commission from 1943 to 1944. He served as Attorney General of Georgia from 1945 to 1965, the longest term of any Attorney General in Georgia.  (54) After leaving the bench, Cook served as Justice of the Supreme  Court of Georgia from 1965 until his death in 1967. (55) 

56. When he retired as the police chief of Clermont, Florida, in 1996, Prentice Tyndal, a native of Dublin, Georgia, was the longest serving Chief of Police in the United States. 

57. Alfred Pearson, senior member of the staff of Dudley Funeral Home in Dublin in 2020, was the first African-American to serve on a local school board.  Professor Pearson, a long time resident of Dublin,  was honored as a charter inductee into Georgia Agriculture Education Hall of Fame for his tenure at Fort Valley State University in 2000.  Mr. Pearson, a native of Wheeler County, received his B.S. in Agriculture Education from Fort Valley State then proceeded to serve in the US Army for a year. Later, Mr. Pearson attended Graduate school at Pennsylvania State University to obtain his M.Ed. in Agricultural Education. Mr. Pearson served Agriculture Education for thirty-three years before his retirement in 1988. He taught science at Telfair County and was an instructor at Fort Valley State College (now Fort Valley State University) before beginning his career in Agriculture Education. Mr. Pearson's duties included teaching Agriculture at Lyons Industrial High School, Adult Area Teacher of Agriculture in Southeast Georgia, as well as Itinerant Teacher Trainer for the State Department of Education. Mr. Pearson has received numerous honors throughout his career. Along with earning his Honorary American Farmer Degree, Pearson was a member of the Georgia State Committee- Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service, member of the Board of Governors Health System Agency, and member of the Dublin City Board of Education. Pearson is also a member of the Georgia FFA Alumni Association and served as Area IV Director. In addition, he is a steward of St. Paul A.M.E. Church, Glenwood, and lifetime member of the Beta Kappa Chi Honorary Scientific Society and the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. Mr. A.O. Pearson devoted many years to instruction in Vocational Agriculture studies. He continues to serve youth and adults in agriculture through his dedicated service in the Georgia FFA Alumni Association.

58. As a captain, Joseph B. Logue, was the first officer in the U.S. Navy to oversee the use of DDT to control mosquitos in combat zones in World War II.    After being captured by the Japanese, Logue was named to command the prisoners held in Bilbub Prisoner of War Camp.  (59)   After he commanded the U.S. Naval Hospital in Dublin, Logue was promoted to Vice-Admiral. (60)

61. Dr. C.P. Johnson, who became Laurens County’s first African American physician, was once a slave of Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Georgia Congressman, Governor, and most notably Vice President of the Confederate States of America. 

62. An outstanding athlete for Georgia Tech in the mid 1920s, John J. McDonough is a member of the university’s Football Hall of Fame.  After the city of Dublin sold it’s municipal power plant to Georgia Power Company, John McDonough became one of its first Dublin plant managers. McDonough enjoyed a highly successful career which reached it’s zenith when he was named the 7th President of Georgia Power Company.  (63)

64. Lt. Charles P. Ragan, of Laurens County, was the of the first naval advisors sent to Vietnam in 1963. Lt. Ragan served in Vietnam from April 12, 1963 to April 9, 1964 as an adviser to the Vietnamese Navy's 22nd River Assault Group.  President Lyndon Johnson awarded the Bronze Star to Ragan for outstanding courage, leadership, and professional skill in the face of hostile fire during 13 combat operations against the Viet Cong.