Erskine Preston Caldwell was born December 17, 1903, in White Oak, Georgia, the only child of Reverend Ira Sylvester Caldwell and Carrie Preston Caldwell. Ira Caldwell was an itinerant preacher in the Associated Reformed Presbyterian (ARP) Church, and the family moved to Prosperity, South Carolina, before young Erskine’s third birthday, where they remained until 1911. Ira’s job then took the family to numerous towns for varying lengths of time, places including Timber Ridge, Virginia; Ybor City, Florida; Charlotte, North Carolina; Bradley, South Carolina; and Atoka, Tennessee. At the insistence of his mother, Caldwell was schooled at home by her until he was twelve years old.
In 1918, the family settled in Wrens, Georgia, a small town of about 1,000 people located about fifty miles
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Citation: Rieger, Christopher. "Erskine Caldwell". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 February 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=696, accessed 26 November 2024.]
