EBENEZER HIGH SCHOOL

The Ebenezer Baptist Association was founded in March of 1814. At the annual meeting of the Ebenezer Baptist Association, I.J. Duggan on behalf of the people of Dudley offered land and 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 as later schools in Dudley. O.A. Thaxton, a graduate of Mercer University, was selected as the first principal of the school. Professor Thaxton served two years and resigned to take courses at Columbia University in New York. After graduation he took a position as an instructor at the State Normal School of Pennsylvania. He later served as President of Norman College and as a professor Georgia State College for Women in Milledgeville.

W.F. Brown succeeded Prof. Thaxton in 1903. His staff was composed of Rev. Frank Loyd, the grammar school teacher; Miss Bessie Ivey, primary school teacher; and Miss Fannie Solomon, the music teacher. Professor Brown resigned at the end of the 1903-4 school year. Professor I.B. Marsh served as principal during the 1904-5 school year. The board voted to rehire Prof. Thaxton if he would take the position.

Graduation exercises for the 1905 class were held in the school chapel on May 23rd. There were several tableaux, pantomimes, and recitations with musical interludes. Among the recitations were: "If I Were Ten Years Old," by Ruby Holland; "Jimmie's Pocketbook" by Manning Stanley; "Mamma's Helper" by Bertha Stubbs; "A Tiny Boy" by Pew Whipple; "Learning to Sew" by Mattie Fordham; "Turning of the Tables" by Linnie Guest; "My Dearest Friend" by Glover Melton; " An Old Fashioned Grandma" by Betsy O'Neal; "When I'm a Man" by Eugene Stubbs; "Mattie's Wants and Wishes" by Lizzie Fordham; "When Papa Was a Little Boy" by Bennett Whipple; "Don't" by Vera Melton; "Mrs. Bobbitt's School" by Clarence Bobbitt; "How Grandma Danced" by Meta Guest; "My Neighbor's Baby" by Georgia Cook; "Why He Didn't Die" by J.J. Holland; "The Blue and Gray" by Willie Melton; "The Old Woman That Lived in a Shoe" by Florence Holland; "Oh I Wish I Were a Grown-Up Man" by Warthen Chappell; "When Papa's Sick" by Maroy Chappell; "I'm Going Back to Grandma" by Willie Southerland; Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder" by Berna Guest; and "Papa's Letter" by Eva May Holland. Gussie Gilbert and Jerry Duggan were the class of '05. Miss Gilbert recited her essay and Master Duggan gave the valedictory address.

The 1905-6 term was opened with 50 students and 2 teachers. The opening was delayed because no principal could be secured. By the end of the year a third teacher was added to the staff along with fifteen additional students in the class.

The school year of 1907 opened with great promise. Rev. J.R. Mincey was elected Principal. Miss Clara Davis and Miss Nelle G. Averet were chosen as assistant teachers. Professor Thomas Mincey was hired as the new music director.

On Monday night September 30th, only a few days after the school session had opened, a fire broke out in the school. The fire was discovered about ten thirty that night. The wooden building burned out of control of the stunned citizens. The cause of the fire was unknown although some thought it to be result of some sort of incendiary. The loss amounted to three thousand dollars.

Talk of rebuilding the school spread throughout the onlookers. Dudley's residents wasted no time. Classes were moved to Dudley Baptist Church. Three thousand dollars was pledged in a few days by subscriptions among local residents.

The Ebenezer Association met with the Citizens of Dublin on October 4th. After much deliberation the executive committee voted to approve the rebuilding and contributed slightly over half of the necessary funds. The Trustees took advantage of their loss. A modern brick school would be built at a cost of six thousand dollars.

By the end of the school year the school grounds contained only a pile of bricks. Within three months the new school was completed and ready for the 1908-9 term. The main floor contained four large classrooms separated by one long hall running from front to back. The second floor consisted of one large room which served as an auditorium. With no ceiling in the auditorium and other necessary interior improvements needed school officials went back to the community for help.

Materials and an additional $1,500.00 were raised and the building was completed, free of any debt. Earlier in the year school officials applied to have the school become part of the Mercer University system. Mercer's Trustees declined the offer mainly because the school was then only a pile of bricks.

Rev. Garrett Allen was appointed as Principal in 1909. Rev. Allen immediately began a campaign to increase the enrollment at Ebenezer High School.

Baptists were urged to not to send their children to private schools, but support their association's school by their children's attendance. M.M. Hobbs, T. Bright, and Otto Daniel petitioned the Superior Court of Laurens County to have the school incorporated in the fall of 1909. The directors of the school that year were Wm. J. Gilbert, Felix Bobbitt, John W. Guest, Wm. T. Haskins, A.J. Weaver, and I.J. Duggan.

Graduation exercises for the 1909-10 year were held in the school auditorium on May 26, 1910. The graduating class was composed of Misses Mettie Guest, Myrtle Paul, Maroy Chappell, Genie Denson, Agnes Stanley, and Rev. Wade Grant. Myrtle Paul gave the valedictory address. Mettie Guest was the class prophet and Maroy Chappell was the salutatorian. Agnes Stanley and Genie Denson read essays. Rev. Grant delivered an oration to the attendees. U.C. Barrett, of Dublin, gave the commencement address.

That year of 1910 signaled the end of the school. W.T. Haskins, a trustee and avid supporter of the school died. W.J. Gilbert of Dudley resigned as a trustee. In 1912 the Baptist Churches of Laurens County resigned from the association to form their own association. The majority of the support for the school was now in the hands of the Laurens County Baptist Association. The Association voted not to assume the operation of Ebenezer. The Ebenzer Association turned to the state to take over the operation of the school. This final desperate attempt failed. I.J. Duggan, who had been so instrumental in the founding of the school and who had donated the land, was given title to the land and the building. The conveyance was conditioned upon Duggan's sale of the property to reimburse those who had contributed to the rebuilding. So ended the brief life of the Ebenezer Association's only sponsored school.