The former Lera Margaret Ussery, born in post-Victorian Tennessee, began her colorful adventures in 1896. That early portion of her life is described in Goodness Gracious, Miss Agnes: Patchwork of Country Living, the first book to be published by the University of Tennessee digital press, the Newfound Press.

She described her family background from pioneer days in Middle Tennessee. From her phenomenal memory she recalled the life of a shy, bookish child in a small town, on her grandparents’ little farm, through her experiences as a student, then as a teacher. She told of the continuation of her education as she moved from being “a city girl” to being “Mrs. Alex Knox,” a farmer’s wife and the mother of two.

She described the early years of hers and Alex’s life, from the arrival of the newlyweds in the hundred-year-old manor house of a former plantation, to life with their two children, Margaret and Jack. (She said later that was the happiest time of her life when the children were small.)

Little did Lera know at that time that she had many more adventures ahead, many of which she was to describe in newspaper articles in the Nashville (TN) Banner, the Columbia (TN) Daily Herald, and the Maury (TN)Democrat. Described in her own words, the accounts have been collected and put together lovingly here by us, the daughter Margaret, and son Jack’s daughter Carol.

Travels of a Country Woman, begins with the family’s emergence from the Depression, initially by way of a trip from Columbia, Tennessee, to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933. They traveled by “Elizabeth T,” the family Model T Ford and Lera wrote articles about the “Flivver” trip for the Nashville Banner. ...

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By Lera Knox
Edited by Margaret Knox Morgan and Carol Knox Ball

Newfound Press
University of Tennessee Libraries
1015 Volunteer Boulevard
Knoxville, TN 37996-1000
www.newfoundpress.utk.edu
ISBN-13: 978-0-9797292-1-8
ISBN-10: 0-9797292-1-1

CONTENTS
Preface . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ix
A Note from the Newfound Press . .. xiii
part I: The Chicago World’s Fair.. .. . .. . .. . 1
part II: Westward, Ho! . .. 89
part III: Country Woman Goes to Europe . .. 205
part IV: Country Woman at the Coronation . .. . .. . 337

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