Clara Cox Epperson was born in 1869 in Gainesboro, Tennessee. She was the daughter of Robert Alexander Cox and Nancy Joseph Draper. Clara Cox received a B.A. degree from Nashville College for Young Ladies in 1887, and an M.A. in 1891. Prior to her marriage to Mr. John Ananius Epperson, she taught school at Dixon Springs and at Gainesboro.
She was a poet and author, and an active member of many local civic and literary organizations, and the Church of Christ. The first Putnam County Library was named in her honor, and she was Poet Laureate of the State of Tennessee for a short time. Her writings and papers are preserved in the Tennessee State Library and Archives. Lottie Farr from the Department of English at Tennessee Technological University collected several of her poems and prose in 1973. Her collection is called Scraps of Verse and Prose from Heartsease in reference to her name for the house she and Mr. Epperson lived in.
Selected Bibliography
Scraps of Verse and Prose from Heartsease (poetry), 1973
Selected Links
“Scraps of Verse and Prose from Heartsease by Clara Cox Epperson, 1869-1937” from Tennessee Technological University’s English Department: http://ajlambert.com/poempics/poem_cce.pdf
