author
Thomas William Humes
1815–1892
A Knoxville minister, educator, and writer, he helped shape public life in East Tennessee during and after the Civil War. He is especially remembered for leading East Tennessee University and for writing about the region’s Unionist experience.
1 Audiobook
The loyal mountaineers of Tennessee
by Thomas William Humes
About the author
Born in Knoxville in 1815, Thomas William Humes grew up to become an Episcopal clergyman and one of the best-known educators in East Tennessee. He studied at East Tennessee College, graduating at the unusually young age of 15, and later continued his theological training before entering the ministry.
Humes served for many years at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Knoxville. During the Civil War, his support for the Union cost him his position there, but his public role only grew afterward. In 1865 he became president of East Tennessee University, later the University of Tennessee, and served until 1883, helping guide the school through a difficult rebuilding period.
He also wrote about the history of his region, most notably in The Loyal Mountaineers of Tennessee, a work centered on East Tennessee during the Civil War. Late in life he served as librarian of Knoxville’s Lawson McGhee Library. He died in 1892, leaving behind a legacy tied to faith, education, and the civic life of Tennessee.