PIECES OF OUR PAST

The Pritchett/Orr/Clark House, 702 Bellevue Avenue, Dublin, GA. Open Tue. through Sat. 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (478) 272-9242, dublinhistory@yahoo.com

FRED ROBERTS HOTEL

THE MARTIN THEATER / THEATRE DUBLIN

CARNAGIE LIBRARY

FIRST NATIONAL BANK - GEORGIA MILITARY COLLEGE

First African Baptist Church

In this church, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., made his first political speech in 1944.

Martin Luther King, April, 1944

PIECES OF OUR PAST

PIECES OF OUR PAST is a blog which features my columns on the history of Laurens County, Georgia and East Central Georgia as well as my photographs which document little seen pieces of our present.

I hope you enjoy them and I encourage you to write about your own history and heritage. No one's heritage is any less important than any one else's. You can find history wherever, you look, in your family, your church, your profession, your hobbies, your neighborhood, your community, etc. As you read pieces of our past remember that our most important history is in our future and not in the past.

Col. John Laurens, of South Carolina

Namesake of Laurens County, Georgia

CSA Monument

Laurens County

WRITING

It does no harm just once in a while to acknowledge that the whole country isn't in flames, that there are people in the country besides politicians, entertainers, and criminals.There are a lot of people who are doing wonderful things, quietly, with no motive of greed, or hostility toward other people, or delusions of superiority. The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines. "I believe writing is derivative. Good writing comes from good reading. I can't tell you which writer's rhythms that I am imitating. It's not exactly plagiarism, it's falling in love with good language and trying to imitate it" CHARLES KURALT

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Dublin City Hall, 1904-1959

OCONEE RIVER BRIDGE, 1914

MRS. FRANCES FORDHAM POWELL

Mrs. Powell was one of the best teachers ever to teach in the Dublin City School System. She taught English to me in the 11th grade (1972-1973,) Although I admit my writing style comes from television and documentary programs and life in general, Mrs. Powell laid the basic foundation of the way I write along with thousands of us who were lucky enough to have had her.

THE ALL TIME BRAVES TEAM WHO YOU MAY NOT REMEMBER WERE MEMBERS OF THE BRAVES:

THE ALL TIME BRAVES TEAM WHO YOU MAY NOT REMEMBER WERE MEMBERS OF THE BRAVES: Starting Pitchers: Cy Young, Satchel Paige, Gaylord Perry, Rube Marquard, and Burleigh Grimes. CY YOUNG SATCHEL PAIGE GAYLORD PERRY Relief Pitchers: Hoyt Wilhem, Bruce Sutter, Ed Walsh. HOYT WILHEM BRUCE SUTTER ED WALSH RUBE MARQUARD BURLIEGH GRIMES 1st Baseman: Enos Slaughter ENOS SLAUGHTER 2nd Baseman: Johnny Evers JOHNNY EVERS SS - Rabbit Maranville RABITT MARANVILLE 3rd Baseman - Rogers Hornsby ROGERS HORNSBY OF - Babe Ruth, Loyd Waner, Paul Waner, Al Simons, Earl Averill BABE RUTH PAUL WANER LOYD WANER AL SIMMONS EARL AVERILL DH - George Sisler GEORGE SISLER Manager: Casey Stengel CASEY STENGEL Coaches: Al Lopez (1st,) Billy Herman (3rd,) Tony Larussa (Bench,) Bob Gibson (Pitching) AL LOPEZ TONY LARUSSA BILLY HERMAN BOB GIBSON

IMAGES OF OUR PAST - ADRIAN GA., CA. 1983

OHOOPEE KINFOLKS ********* Sketches of the Pioneer Settlers of the Big Ohoopee and Little Ohoopee Rivers in Emanuel, Johnson, Laurens and Treutlen Counties of Georgia 1784-1865

OHOOPEE KINFOLKS ********* Sketches of the Pioneer Settlers of the Big Ohoopee and Little Ohoopee Rivers in Emanuel, Johnson, Laurens and Treutlen Counties of Georgia 1784-1865 ********** Edited and Compiled by Scott B. Thompson, Sr. ****** @ The Emerald City History Company 2009 PREFACE This compilation represents a brief overview of the pioneer settlers of the Big Ohoopee and Little Ohoopee river regions of Emanuel, Johnson, Laurens and Treutlen Counties. While it is not intended as a complete guide to all information known on the settlers, the work is designed primarily to aid beginning and frustrated genealogists with documented information. As with all historical information, some of the facts stated herein may not be true or completely accurate and the reader should note the information is based on published sources and not upon a thorough research of the individual named herein. This book is dedic...

RHINE, GEORGIA

WHY THE GERMANS NEVER TOOK RHINE There is a story, said to be true, about an Army officer traveling from Jacksonville, Florida to Macon, Georgia in the late afternoon of a day in the middle years of World War II. Parts of it I have to explain to those of you who have not lived in or near Dodge County for a long time. For those who have, you will know exactly what I am talking about. It was getting dark and the officer decided it would be a good idea to stop in Hawkinsville to get something to eat, fearing that there would no place open by the time he got to his destination in Macon. So, he pulled in at a roadside eating joint. Beside the front door were two older gentlemen sitting on a bench. As he approached the men, the officer saw one of them reading a newspaper with a big headline on the front page. The man read out loud, "Germans take Milan." Here's the explaining part. The man pronounced the word "Mi-lun," a reference to a small town in southeastern ...

THE ET CETERA CHRONICLES - JAKE FROMM'S MOM FROM LAURENS

Georgia Bulldog fans around the country should give a great deal of thanks to several Laurens Countians for Jake Fromm and the Bulldog's phenomenal season and an appearance in the National Championship game on Monday. Jake Fromm, who has led the Bulldogs to within one victory and a NCAA National Championship, is a son of James E. Fromm and Julie Lee Haskins. James Fromm,was once associated with Mid State Pools in Dublin and now operates a store in Warner Robins. James is a son of Randall Fromm and Jennifer Cooper Fromm. Jennifer is the daughter of Virgil and Saralyn Cooper, a contractor and banking secretary here in Dublin. Jennifer Fromm is the niece of retired pharmacist, Mark Cooper at Oatt's Drugs. Lee Fromm, Jake's mom and best cheerleader, is a daughter of Bill and Julianne Haskins, of Dudley. Bill is the son of Blanton Haskins and Julianne Haskins of Dudley. Julianne is the daughter of Ralph and Caroline Raines of Wright...

THE ET CETERA CHRONICLES - MAJOR DAVID BRACK, GEORGIA STATE PATROL

David Brack, a tough, hard nosed yet loving former Georgia State Patrol officer, died this weekend. David grew up in Dublin and lived here in the last years of his life. Major Brack died this weekend. David was a retired Major with the Georgia State Patrol, serving 34 years with the GSP. Oficer Brack rose to the rank of major, the third highest rank on the Georgia State Patrol. Brack, was also one of highest ranked native Laurens Countians to serve on the State Patrol. While with the State Patrol, David served as the Head of Security for Governor Sonny Perdue, Head of Security for the World Wide G-8 Summit, He led the SWAT Team for the State of Georgia, Supervisor in Governor's Task Force on Marijuana. He was a member of the Fraternal Order of Police, member of Laurens Masonic Lodge #75. David Coached Football at Trinity Christian School for Eight Years. He was a member of Dudley Baptist Church.

TY COBB, JR.

No Chip Off the Old Block He was never a baseball player, although his name was Tyrus Raymond Cobb, Jr. He loved the sport of baseball, but he never played it on a professional level or even in high school. He loved other sports, especially tennis and hunting. His was one of the most famous families in Georgia history, though he never reveled in their fame. He would talk to others about his famous father. However, he had his own successful, but all too short career. He was a healer, and he took pride in doing his job and doing it well. Tyrus Raymond Cobb, Jr. was born on January 30, 1910 in the home of his maternal grandfather, Roswell Lombard. Lombard, a well-known Augusta, Georgia businessman, lived on Dean’s Bridge Road, which later became known as U.S. Highway No. 1, just this side of Augusta. Ty Cobb, Sr. married Charlie Lombard on August 8, 1908. Ty, their second child was a bid red-headed baby, tipping the scales at nine pounds. Newspaper writers knew that he was going ...

IMAGES OF OUR PAST - DUBLIN'S RONNIE GAY IN "SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT"

Ronnie Gay, Lamar Jackson and Quinnon Sheffield were actual troopers of the Georgia State Patrol when the movie was filmed in 1977. The troopers basically played themselves in this popular movie of the 1970s.

THE WOOLEN MILL

A New Beginning Out of a desolate grove of once bountiful pecan trees on the banks of the Oconee River grew a complex of buildings which changed the face of life in Laurens County forever. On a cool St. Patrick's Day morning in 1947, bulldozers began clearing the site for the location of one of the most modern woolen mills in America. For six decades, the men and women of J.P. Stevens and Company and later Forstmann and Company went to work. With a pride unrivaled anywhere else in the community, these folks, our folks, produced the finest textile materials in the world. This is the story of the beginning of the "Woolen Mill," and its impact not only on the styles of our garments, but the styles of our lives. ( The construction of the Stevens mill in East Dublin was supervised by Colonel John Baum. In the year after the end of World War II, John Baum (LEFT) was sent to survey cities in the South for the company's first mill outside of New England. Ba...

A HISTORY OF RENTZ, GEORGIA

Rentz, Georgia is located in central Laurens County, Georgia, about thirteen miles from the county seat of Dublin. It is named for Edward Pierce Rentz, a banker, a sawmill operator, and president of the Dublin and Southwestern Railroad. E.P. Rentz was born in 1862. He was a son of Rev. Joseph Rentz and Martha McGeehee. Joseph was a minister in the Methodist Church. His family, originally called “Von Rentz,” settled the German Salzburger community at Ebenezer, Georgia. Martha McGeehee’s family’s roots were deep in Methodism. Her brother, Rev. John McGeehee, the founding minister of the First Methodist Church in Dublin, still holds the distinction of being the longest serving active minister or presiding elder in the history of the Methodist Church in Georgia with 65 years of service. E.P. Rentz married Katherine Gaston, whose fami...

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