(NOTE: The following appeared in the 1985 Odum Homecoming program and was written by Hazel Dean Overstreet. It is being reproduced here for the Odum, Georgia website….KH)
Another old family of Odum was the S.J. Hires family. “Mr. Seymour,” as everybody knew him, ran a general merchandise and grocery store on a credit basis as it was a popular trade method in this section since the earliest days. Hires began work in Odum for the Carter family when he was just a boy; later, he established his firm. Though at the age to retire, Hires didn’t give in to the whimsy and could be seen before day crossing the railroad tracks and opening his store for the early trade of the turpentine and pulpwood ‘hands’ and the seasonal early trade of cotton pickers and tobacco workers. Hires and his wife, Mrs. Cora Carter Hires, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary before Mr. Hires’ death.
With the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the beginning of World War II, Odum lost many of its young men. The Shuptrine family came to Odum at this time, being forced by building a sizeable antiaircraft training center to evacuate their land and home in Liberty County to make room for the large training center for World War II.
A man of prominence was Judge Douglas F. Thomas of Odum. Judge Thomas was a Judge of the Superior Court of the Brunswick Circuit and served on the bench in the courtrooms from Hazlehurst to Woodbine. ‘Mr. Doug,’ as t folks called him, was all-liked and made an outstanding judge for this section of South Georgia.
Mr. Jordan Thompson, another prominent Odum resident, operated a hardware store in Odum for years. Selling out, he ventured into Florida to grow vegetables; he maintained homes in Odum and Florida. During the growing seasons, he was back and forth between the two, tending to his many acres of timber, farm, and other operations.
Mr. Rufus Roberson, who eventually owned and operated Thompson’s Hardware Store, served Odum on the County School Board of Education and was active in many civic organizations.
In 1912, Odum was bonded to secure funds to erect a schoolhouse. At that time, the school was independent of the county system. By 1934, Odum had grown so much that building an annex to the original school building was necessary. At that time, the WPA assisted in erecting two new schools for Odum, making the Odum school system an asset to the county.
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