DUDLEY, GEORGIA

THE EARLY HISTORY OF DUDLEY, GEORGIA

Dudley, Georgia, is located in the northwest portion of Laurens County.  Tomorrow, December 17, 1997, it celebrates its 95th birthday as a city. The history of the community goes back beyond its founding as a depot station on the Macon, Dublin, and Savannah Railroad in 1891. It was located on the Vallambrosa plantation of Gov. George M. Troup. Troup's granddaughter, Georgia Bryan Conrad, sold a portion of the plantation to Joshua Walker in 1888. Walker worked with Col. John M. Stubbs and Dudley Hughes in the acquisition of the railroad through the area. He had hoped to run the railroad closer to his home at Laurens Hill. Some
area residents wanted to establish a depot at Whipple's Crossing about a mile east of present day Dudley. Walker donated lots to the railroad to entice it to locate the depot on the lands acquired from Mrs. Conrad.

The station was named Elsie in honor of Mrs. Joshua Walker. An application was made to establish a post office at the depot. The application was denied since there was another Georgia post office by that name. The Walkers decided to change the name to Dudley in honor of their friend Dudley M. Hughes, who was Vice President of the Railroad. The post office was established on October 9, 1891. Mrs. Elsie Walker was appointed as the first postmaster by President Benjamin Harrison. She was succeeded by T.H. Hooks. The town's name was originally spelled "Dudly."  The name was officially corrected on February 12, 1907.

The early families of Dudley included the Bobbitts, Cooks, Chappells, Duggans, Fordhams, Gilberts, Guests, Haskins, Hogans, Hooks, Johnsons, Lords, Methvins, Millers, O'Neals, Walkers, Weavers, and Whipples.

The town of Dudley was incorporated by the Georgia Legislature on December 17, 1902. The incorporating act named T.H. Hooks as Mayor, with I.J. Duggan, W.J. Gilbert, W.R. Cook, Felix Bobbitt, and R.J. Chappell as the initial town officials until an election on the first Wednesday in July, 1903. In that election, E.C. O'Neal was elected Mayor. W.J. Gilbert, Felix Bobbitt, W.R. Cook, I.J. Duggan, and R.J.
Chappell were chosen as councilmen. The corporate limits extended a distance of one mile in each direction from the intersection of Field and Second Streets.

The mayor was charged with being the chief executive officer of the town. He supervised the police force and acted as an ex-officio Justice of the Peace. The Mayor was authorized to hold court to determine the guilt or innocence of anyone charged with violating any state law within the town limits. The council was
authorized to specifically tax all shows, auctioneers, sleight of hand performances, wheels of fortune, and billiard tables as they deemed to be in the best interest of the town. Property taxes were limited to one half of one percent of the value of all property.

The first school was established in the early 1890s on the site of the R.J. Chappell home. Grand Jury reports show that Paul F. Duggan taught 31 students in 1894; Leila Smith, 30 students in 1898; and Cora Gilbert, 25 students in 1899. At the annual meeting of the Ebenezer Baptist Association in 1900, I.J. Duggan, on
behalf of the people of Dudley, offered land and a building for the association's first and only sponsored school. The wooden school and the dormitory were built with private donations. I.J. Duggan gave an entire block of land bounded by Pecan Street on the north, Second Street on the east, Field Street on the south, and Third Street on the west - the same grounds where later schools in Dudley were located. O.A. Thaxton was selected as the first principal of the school. He was succeeded by W.F.Brown, R.J. Mincy, and Garrett L. Allen. The wooden school burned in 1907 and within a 100 days, a two-story brick school was built in its place. When the Laurens County Baptist Association was formed in 1912, member churches chose not to continue the operation of the school. The old building was then used as a county school until it was destroyed by fire in 1936.

The oldest bank in Laurens County in continuous operation is the Bank of Dudley. A charter was granted to T.J. Walker, I.J. Duggan, W.J. Gilbert, R.J. Chappell, and B.S. Russell on October 2, 1905. J. A. Hogan was elected president.  T.A. Suttle was hired as cashier. The initial board of directors was composed of J. Alva Hogan, R.J. Chappell, W.J. Gilbert, W.T. Haskins, I.J. Duggan, J.A. Wolfe, and T.A. Walker. The bank moved into its new building on November 1, 1905. The bank building was a modest structure with a stone facade. The original building still stands, but has been remodeled several times.

Businesses were booming in Dudley at the turn of the 20th Century. Within 5 years of its incorporation, Dudley's population had swelled from several dozen to five hundred people. E.W. Smith and Charley Johnson had the first stores. T.H. Hooks, W.J. Gilbert, T.J. Gilbert, Allen P. Whipple, I.J. Duggan, and C.J. Johnson operated General Merchandise stores in Dudley. Messers Howard and Graham were busy turning out shingles in their mill. W.Y. Keen was the blacksmith. F.C. Bobbitt sold the best in fancy and family groceries. Dr. R.J. Chappell and Dr. Colgan Carroll were the town doctors. T.C. Bobbitt sold groceries in Dudley for seventy four years. After 13 years of working with T.J. Gilbert, Bobbitt opened his own store in 1927.  Bobbitt closed Laurens County's oldest proprietorship in 1986.

The Dudley Baptist Church, the town's first church, was organized in 1893.  It was orginally located on Third Street. In 1952, the Church moved to its present location on Second Street. The first pastor was the Rev. J.Z. Bush. The Methodist Church was organized in 1898 with Rev. Charles A. Moore as pastor. The church was originally located on the H.D. Joiner place on the Cochran Road before moving to its present location on Second Street.

Dudley continued to thrive as a town. The establishment of Oconee E.M.C. in 1938 and the location of U.S. Highway 80 through the town kept the town going when so many others didn't survive.