Editing Percy Priest (section)

== Background ==
Priest was born in [[Carters Creek]], [[Maury County, Tennessee]], the son of George and Harriet (née Hastings) Priest. He attended [[Columbia Central High School (Columbia, Tennessee)|Central High School]] in [[Columbia, Tennessee|Columbia]], and afterward continued his education at State Teachers' College in [[Murfreesboro, Tennessee|Murfreesboro]] (now [[Middle Tennessee State University]]), [[Peabody College]] in [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], and the [[University of Tennessee]]. He taught school in [[Culleoka, Tennessee|Culleoka]], in his native Maury County, from 1920 until 1926, when he joined the editorial staff of the ''[[The Tennessean|Nashville Tennessean]]''. In 1937, he began courting Mildred Webster Noland, whom he would marry in 1947. They had one daughter, Harriet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tsla.tnsosfiles.com.s3.amazonaws.com/history/manuscripts/findingaids/J_PERCY_PRIEST_PAPERS_approximately_1920-1974.pdf|title=J. Percy Priest Papers|work=Tennessee State Library and Archives|access-date=2021-12-31}}</ref>