author
William Gannaway Brownlow
1805–1877
A fiery Methodist preacher turned newspaper editor and politician, he became one of the most outspoken Unionist voices in Tennessee before and during the Civil War. His turbulent career carried him from the pulpit and the press to the governor’s office and the U.S. Senate.
2 Audiobooks
Portrait and Biography of Parson Brownlow, The Tennessee Patriot
by William Gannaway Brownlow
About the author
Born in Wythe County, Virginia, in 1805, Brownlow was orphaned young and had little formal schooling. He joined the Methodist ministry in the 1820s and later built a reputation as a sharp, combative newspaper editor, especially through the Knoxville Whig, where his fierce opinions made him famous far beyond East Tennessee.
During the Civil War, he became known for his unwavering support of the Union in a deeply divided region. His arrests, exile, and public battles with political enemies helped turn him into one of the most recognizable Southern Unionists of his era.
After the war, he served as governor of Tennessee from 1865 to 1869 and then as a United States senator from 1869 to 1875. Remembered as "Parson" Brownlow, he remains a vivid and controversial figure in 19th-century American political history.