Who was Captain Hardy Smith

Capt. Hardy Smith, C.S.A., one of Laurens County’s noted veterans, served in the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee. A wound at Mechanicsville resulted in the amputation of his right arm, yet he served for two more years. He then returned home and became enrolling officer for the Fifth Congressional District until the war was over. He later served as Commander of "Smith Camp" a division of the United Confederate Veterans named in his honor. Active in this organization, he rose to Brigadier General and Commander of the Eastern Division.

Captain Smith was a war hero in the eyes of his fellow citizens, but he also had a very distinguished career as a public servant, farmer, and businessman. After the war, he was elected Clerk and Treasurer of the Superior Court. He held that office from 1866 until 1893, when he was elected Ordinary. He was one of the original stockholders of the Macon and Dublin Railroad, serving for years as Secretary and Treasurer of the Board of Directors. Captain Smith married Ella Few Douglas in 1867. That same year, Mrs. Smith, her mother, her sister, and four other women founded the First Methodist Church. Captain Smith was also an active member, donating land next to his house to build a church in 1887.

Miss Ella Few Douglas was a native of Burke County, Georgia. She came to Laurens, County soon after the war with her mother and sisters to make her home with a brother, Dr. Payton W. Douglas, who was a well-known physician and surgeon of the county. He was Dublin’s first mayor. Mrs. Douglas and her daughters became very active in the life of Dublin at this time. On November 21, 1867, Ella married Capt. Hardy B. Smith. In 1873 the moved into their new house on Gaines Street in which they raised 10 children.
Both Captain and Mrs. Smith were descended from patriots in the Revolution. Ella Few Douglas Smith was first cousin twice removed to Francis Scott Key who wrote the "Star-Spangled Banner". The Smith’s have many descendants and kin still living in the area. Captain Hardy Smith died in 1912, having lived a life of service to his fellow man.