THE ET CETERA CHRONICLES - VOL. 87
PREMIER PREMIERES - Even John Wayne fans can’t tell you which of the Duke’s 140 movies was first shown in Dublin. The first Wayne movie, “The Range Feud” premiered on March 11, 1932, at the Rose Theater, which was located at the western end of the Bank of Dudley Building and previously known as the Stephens or the Thompson & Thompson law office. Some still-living fans might remember the first time they saw Elvis Presley on the big screen in Dublin. The movie, “Love Me Tender,” was first exhibited on December 9, 1956. Courier Herald, March 11, 1932, December 9, 1956.
WRONG WAY BUD - Bud S. Branch could never learn to run in the right direction. All of his life, Bud ran North when every other Branch in town ran toward the South. As the seasons have come and gone by the hundreds and yet, Bud Branch still prefers a northerly tract. Now, you may ask why. I must tell you that Bud S. Branch is not a person but a thing. Bud S. Branch is actually Bud’s Branch, a name that few people know but that tens of thousands cross over almost every week.
You see, Bud’s Branch is a creek, the only named creek in Dublin which flows north. Bud begins his journey just north of Frank and Debbie Seaton’s house in Moore Station. Many will know its greatest view. It is the large, beautiful pond at Fairview Park where the ducks, Canada geese, and egrets hang out. After crossing under Industrial Boulevard, the branch widens out again to form Lake Leisure at the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center, turning slightly more to the north to form the western boundary of the VA campus. Turning again, Bud’s branch runs west of Westgate shopping center until once again it crosses under another road, Hillcrest Parkway before emptying into Hunger and Hardship Creek along the northeastern end of the Dublin High School campus. Q Public, Dublin Laurens County, Georgia
I TOLD YOU THAT YOUR BRAIN WAS NOTHING BUT A ROCK - Tom Jordan and Charlie Morgan weren’t the best of friends. That fractured relationship was never more apparent than that winter day in 1914 when the two got into a heated argument while the disagreeing duo was working at the Consolidated Phosphate Company in the southeastern section of Dublin’s business district. Jordan grabbed a five-foot-long oak bar and swung it like Babe Ruth’s bat striking Jordan directly on his left ear. The strong blow knocked Jordan ten feet from where he was standing and the concussion was so loud that it could be heard inside the plant. The following day, Jordan, a little sore, was grateful that indeed his head was like a rock. Cherokee Advance, March 13, 1914.
THE ONLY VOTES THAT TRULY COUNT - In the 21st Century, the process of electing the President of the United States has come under new and intense scrutiny, especially after the close votes in the Electoral College in 2000 and 2016. Over the last 230 years, five Laurens County men have served in that esteemed body. First, General David Blackshear served as a presidential elector in support of Andrew Jackson in 1828 and 1832. Former mayor Thomas F. Felder cast his vote in support of Democrat Judge Alton B. Parker in his landslide loss to Theodore Roosevelt in 1904. Former Dublin newspaper editor, Ernest Camp supported Governor Al Smith’s unprecedented drubbing by Hervert Hoover in 1928 and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s second election victory in 1936. Laurens County Superior Court Judge Earl Camp cast an exclamation vote for President Roosevelt in his historic third election to the presidency in 1940. In this century, Atlanta attorney and Republican party counselor Randy Evans has taken his seat in the electoral college three times, in 2008 committed to John McCain, in 2012 in support of Mitt Romney, and in 2016 in support of Donald Trump. Only David Blackshear, Ernest Camp, Earl Camp, and Randy Evans have voted for the eventual winner.
UNCLE REMUS LIVES - James Turner Manry, who visited his son William of Dublin several times had a most interesting childhood. As a young boy, the elder Manry took a job as a printers’ devil in the newspaper office of Joel Chandler Harris in Eatonton, Ga. As Harris gained confidence in Manry, he began to listen to some of Manry’s tales about the animals of the countryside. Harris went on to write and publish his legendary Uncle Remus stories. He also enjoyed a prolific career as an author, newspaper editor, and writer. Manry, whose story-telling ability was said to have equaled that of Harris, spent the rest of his life emulating Harris’s stories of the old South. Brunswick News, July 11, 1952.
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