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.

 

79. William Austin Avery was born in Laurens County in 1917. He graduated from the University of Georgia in Agricultural Education. He began teaching agriculture at Effingham Academy in 1938, but was called to active military duty while serving in the National Guard. He attained the rank of Captain in the US Army. He graduated from the University of Georgia in Agricultural Education. He began teaching agriculture at Effingham Academy in 1938, but was called to active military duty while serving in the National Guard. He attained the rank of Captain in the US Army.

Mr. Avery taught Agriculture for thirty-nine years. After his retirement in 1976, Mr. Avery worked as a soil consultant. Mr. Avery's FFA teams won the District Soil Judging Contest 16 times in 17 years and won the state event 5 times. His teams were always among the top five in forestry competitions. He maintained 72 species of trees in his yard for study by FFA and 4-H members.  Mr. Avery received the Teacher of Teachers Award (1969), an Award for Distinguished Service in Agriculture, (79) and the Georgia Honorary State FFA Degree. Mr. Avery was Star Teacher in 1976 and was named the Man of the Year in Soil and Water Conservation for Emanuel County.

80. Dr. Andrew J. Lamb, a former resident of Laurens County and a long time resident of Bleckley County, served aboard the C.S.S. Virginia, aka, “The Merrimac” during its battle with the U.S. S. Monitor during the Civil War, an encounter cited by many as one of the most famous battles in the naval history of the world. 

81. J. Marion Kendrick, a native of Dublin and writer for the Dublin Tribune in the 1920s, served as the Executive Editor of the Associated Press in the 1930s.  Kendrick’s night job was serving as the press agent for the iconic movie actress, Gloria Swanson. (82) 

83. Dr. B. Judson Simmons, a native of Laurens County, served as Milledgeville, Geogia’s first African-American physician.  Dr. Simmons is also known as the first Laurens County African American person to practice medicine. 

84. In 1911, E.D. White, of Laurens County, and Herschel White, of Screven County, became the first brothers to concurrently serve in the Georgia Legislature. 

85. Gladstone Williams, a Dublin resident and leading journalist for the Atlanta Constitution in the 1920s and 1930s, was a co-hort and close friend of another journalist at the paper.  When his friend “Peggy” wrote her first novel, she incorporated his character and demeanor in the lead male character.  The novel became a mega work, and Margaret “Peggy” Mitchell’s Rhett Butler and Gone With The Wind became the world’s greatest movie.

86. Henry C. Fuqua moved to what would become Laurens County in the early 1800s.  While the land across the river was officially the property of the Creek Indians, Fuqua was known to have ventured across the Oconee River to farm the rich bottom lands on the other side.  During his successful career as a planter, Fuqua is given credit for being the first farmer to  use cotton seed as fertilizer. 

87. Dublin High’s Heather Hancock was named AAA Georgia High School Fast Pitch Softball Player of the Year in 2002 as well as a member of the South All Star Team.

88. Barbara Sanders Thomas, a graduate of Oconee High School in Dublin, completed a successful career at CBS radio, as the network’s Director of Finance and Administration, the first African-American woman to attend the network’s management school and the network’s first African-American woman to serve as a senior vice-president. 89. 

90. Barbara Greene, a daughter of Dublin golf pro Herb Greene, and sister of PGA golfer, Bert Greene, was a graduate of Dublin High School.  She played for a short time on the Women’s PGA tour.