Laura Tyler was the twin sister of Hugh Claverly Tyler (the artist, BS 1905) and the daughter of Emma and Joel Tyler. Her mother was a graduate of the University of Michigan and a descendant of Walt Whitman. Her father, who invested in land and timberland in Tennessee, was co-owner of Tysaman (Tyler, Savage, and Manning) machinery works in Knoxville, which manufactured marble columns.
Laura Tyler attended the university from 1901 to 1903. At UT she was active in the drama group Rouge and Powder Club. With her twin brother’s assistance, she eloped to marry Hugh James Agee, a US Postal Service employee, in Panama in 1908. She had met Agee at a dancing class before he had been sent by the Postal Service to Panama. Laura Tyler Agee was the mother of Rufus James Agee and Emily Agee. In 1916 following the death of her husband, she moved to Sewanee, Tennessee, and subsequently married Father Erskine Wright, the bursar at St. Andrews School. In 1922 she published a volume of poetry, Songs of the Way, reflecting a mix of literary and religious themes. The Wrights moved to Rockland, Maine.