 Epes was born in Prince William County, Virginia.He was educated in public schools in Nottoway and at Hoge Military Academy in Blackstone before he entered Hampden-Sydney College in 1898.After graduating in 1901, he taught at Homer Military Academy in Oxford, North Carolina (1901-1903); West Kentucky College, Mayfield, Kentucky (1903-1904), and conducted a private collegiate preparatory school in Helena, Arkansas (1904-1906).