Louise Clarke Pyrnelle


Louise Clarke Pyrnelle was an Alabama writer. Her works drew heavily from her childhood experiences growing up on an antebellum plantation.

Life

Pyrnelle was born Elizabeth Louise Clarke on a cotton plantation in Perry County, Alabama. After the Civil War, the family moved to Dallas County, where her father opened a medical practice. She was educated in lecturing, and worked as a governess and public speaker.
In 1880 she married John Parnell. Her novel Diddie, Dumps & Tot; or plantation child-life was published in 1882 under the pseudonym "Pyrnelle" – a slight variation on her husband's name. She would publish only one other work during her lifetime: a story called "Aunt Flora's Courtship and Marriage". She died in 1907.

Works

Diddie, Dumps & Tot; or plantation child-life, 1882
Miss Li'l' Tweetty, 1917