PIECES OF OUR PAST - THE ET CETERA CHRONICLES - VOL. 81

 THE ET CETERA CHRONICLES - VOL. 81

NO MORE MUDDY SHOES - It is hard to imagine today that just a little more than a century ago, Dublin’s streets were not paved.  Depending on the abundance of rain, crossing the streets would have been an arduous and dirty task.  In the winter of 1906, the City of Dublin ordered four granite, three-foot-wide crosswalks to be laid.  The first to be laid was between the C.W. Brantley Building (The Exchange 2020) and the First National Bank (Miller & Co. 2020).  Afterward, crosswalks were laid from the Henry Building to the Courthouse Square, then from the east side of the Courthouse Square across Franklin Street. Dublin Courier Dispatch, February 23, 1906. 

THE ANDREW CARNEGIE ORGAN - Many people in Dublin and Laurens County know that philanthropist Andrew Carnegie donated the funds to build Dublin’s first public library.  After all, we named it after him.  What many don’t know is that Carnegie made another smaller, yet long-lasting contribution to the city.  Based on correspondence between First Methodist Church organist, Mrs. J.A. Peacock, with Andrew Carnegie, the church moved forward and purchased a grand pipe organ from Pilcher & Sons in Louisville, Kentucky through the Atlantic Music House of Dublin.  Once the organ was installed, Carnagie, as he promised, sent a check for half of the $1500.00 cost.  The new organ and all of its pipes were originally placed in the left rear corner of the church before they were covered by dark wooden paneling.   Mrs. Peacock’s dream came true on Sunday morning, April 22, 1906, when she played the most beautiful church music ever heard in Dublin.  Dublin Courier Dispatch, April 20, 27, 1906. 

MR. HARDWARE! - W.W. Robinson knew how to sell hardware.  His hardware business skills were second to none in Laurens County at the turn of the 20th Century.  In 1906, Robinson’s fellow hardware dealers around the state elected Robinson as President of the Retail Hardware Dealer’s Association of Georgia.  Dublin Courier Dispatch, July 20, 1906. 

A SENSELESS AND VIOLENT ACT - Murder never makes sense.  Marty Wilkins was working as a manager of the Flash Foods store on Glenwood Road.  Marty was a graduate of Dublin High School.  According to his store manager Sheila Hall, “he loved his job and was real friendly.”  Mrs. Hall had talked with Wilkins as he was counting the money in the register drawer just before 7:00 a.m. on the morning of October 20, 1979.  Within the next hour, Wilkins was found shot to death with a high-powered rifle in the cooler of the store.  The cash was missing.  Marty Wilkins was only 24 years old and a father of one boy.  The identity of Wilkins’ killer remained a mystery for about six years.  In the spring of 1985, Henry Lee Lucas, one of America’s most infamous serial killers, was being transported from South Carolina back to prison in Texas.  As the car approached the Glenwood Road, Lucas told the driver to exit from the interstate highway.  He directed the officers to the Flash Food Store.  He told the officers that on October 20, 1979, he murdered a store clerk and put his body in the cooler.  Lucas divulged other information which was never given to the public.   Dublin Police Chief Wayne Fuqua was informed of Lucas’ statement.  Chief Fuqua sought and was granted a warrant by Deputy Magistrate Scott Thompson.  The mystery of the murder of Marty Wilkins was solved.  Dublin Courier Herald, 10.20, 1979.

THE LARGEST LANDOWNER - Peter J. Williams was born in Petersburg, Virginia in 1793.  Williams came to Georgia before the age of twenty.  Williams represented Baldwin County in the legislature for many years.  Williams had a pension for acquiring land.    Williams began buying an enormous amount of lapsed land grants and other granted lands that were unwanted by disappointed landowners.   Williams accumulated nearly 80,000 acres of land in southern Laurens County - an era which equals 125 square miles.  Williams’ land holdings represented fifteen percent of the area of Laurens County.  Williams sold the lands and other lands to the south in Telfair and Pulaski Counties to Stephen Chase, Abram Colby, and Samuel Crocker on February 28, 1834.  The lands sold for less than a quarter an acre.  At the time they were considered worthless.  A series of northern investors owned the lands for decades.  Eventually, the lands were acquired by the Dodge family which harvested the virgin pine trees, shipping the lumber to ports throughout the northeast and Europe.  History of Baldwin County, p. 483, Deed Book J, page 174, Laurens County Records.