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William Gannaway "Parson" Brownlow (August 29, 1805April 29, 1877) was an American newspaper publisher, Methodist minister, book author, prisoner of war, lecturer, and politician who served as the 17th
Governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The governor is the only official in Tennessee state government who is directly elected by the voters of the entire state. The current governor is Bill Lee, a ...
from 1865 to 1869 and as a
United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...
from Tennessee from 1869 to 1875. Brownlow rose to prominence in the late 1830s and early 1840s as editor of the '' Whig'', a polemical newspaper in
East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 count ...
that promoted Whig Party ideals and opposed secession in the years leading up to the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
. Brownlow's uncompromising and radical viewpoints made him one of the most divisive figures in Tennessee political history and one of the most controversial
Reconstruction Era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...
politicians of the United States. Beginning his career as a
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
circuit rider in the 1820s, Brownlow was both censured and praised by his superiors for his vicious verbal debates with rival missionaries of other sectarian Christian beliefs. Later, as a newspaper publisher and editor, he was notorious for his relentless personal attacks against his religious and political opponents, sometimes to the point of being physically assaulted. At the same time, William was successfully building a large base of fiercely loyal subscribers. Brownlow returned to Tennessee in 1863 and in 1865 became the war governor with the U.S. Army behind him. He joined the
Radical Republican The Radical Republicans (later also known as "Stalwarts") were a faction within the Republican Party, originating from the party's founding in 1854, some 6 years before the Civil War, until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Recon ...
s and spent much of his term opposing the policies of his longtime political foe
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a De ...
. His gubernatorial policies, which were both autocratic and progressive, helped Tennessee become the first former Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union in 1866, "exempting it from the lengthy federal military reconstruction inflicted on most of the South".Forrest Conklin
William Gannaway "Parson" Brownlow
''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2009. Retrieved on October 18, 2012.
Brownlow utilized the Tennessee state government to enfranchise
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
former male slaves with the right to vote and to qualify as candidates for public offices in Tennessee elections soon after the Civil War. Soon after, ex-Confederate political leaders and military officers using the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cat ...
and likeminded vigilante groups, worked to disenfranchise African-Americans.


Early life

Brownlow was born in
Wythe County, Virginia Wythe County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,290. Its county seat is Wytheville. History Wythe County was formed from Montgomery County in 1790. It wa ...
, in 1805, the eldest son of Joseph A. Brownlow and Catherine Gannaway. Joseph Brownlow, an itinerant farmer, died during 1816 in Blountville, Tennessee and Catherine Gannaway followed three months later, leaving William orphaned at the age of 10. Brownlow and his four siblings were split up among relatives, with Brownlow spending the remainder of his childhood on his uncle John Gannaway's farm. At age 18, Brownlow went to Abingdon where he learned the trade of
carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters t ...
from another uncle, George Winniford.
E. Merton Coulter Ellis Merton Coulter (1890–1981) was an American historian of the South, author, and a founding member of the Southern Historical Association. For four decades, he was a professor at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, where he was ...
,
William G. Brownlow: Fighting Parson of the Southern Highlands
' (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 1999).
In 1825, Brownlow attended a
camp meeting The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in England and Scotland as an evangelical event in association with the communion season. It was held for worship, preaching and communion on the American frontier ...
near Sulphur Springs, Virginia, where he experienced a dramatic spiritual rebirth. He later recalled that, suddenly, "all my anxieties were at an end, all my hopes were realized, my happiness was complete." He immediately abandoned the carpentry trade and began studying to become a Methodist minister. In Fall 1826, he attended the annual meeting of the Holston Conference of the Methodist Church in Abingdon. He applied to join the travelling ministry (commonly called "circuit riders"), and was admitted that year by Bishop Joshua Soule. The competition in Southern Appalachia for both converts and their tithes among the Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians was fierce, and diatribes in both speech and print against rival sectarian Christian beliefs and leaders were commonplace among missionaries. In defending his Methodist Church and its early leaders, Brownlow, took such debates to a whole new level, attacking not only Baptist and Presbyterian theology but also the character of his rival missionaries. In 1826, Soule gave Brownlow his first assignment as a circuit rider—the Black Mountain circuit in North Carolina. It was here that Brownlow first ran afoul of the Baptists—who were spreading quickly throughout the Southern Appalachian region—and developed an immediate dislike of them, considering them narrow-minded bigots who engaged in "dirty" rituals such as foot washing. During the following year in 1827, Brownlow was assigned as a circuit rider in
Maryville, Tennessee Maryville is a city in and the county seat of Blount County, Tennessee, and is a suburb of Knoxville. Its population was 31,907 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area and a short distance from popular tourist de ...
area, where there was a strong Presbyterian presence, and he later recalled being constantly harassed by a young Presbyterian missionary who taunted him with
Calvinistic Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...
criticisms of Methodism. In 1828, Brownlow was sued for
slander Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
, but the suit was dismissed. In 1831, Brownlow was sued for
libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defi ...
by a Baptist preacher, and ordered to pay his accuser $5. In 1832, Brownlow was assigned as a circuit rider to the Pickens District in South Carolina, which he claimed was "overrun with Baptists" and " nullifiers." Unable to make headway in the district, Brownlow circulated his venomous 70-page pamphlet blasting the district's Baptists, and narrowly galloped safely back into the mountains as the district's enraged residents demanded he be hanged. Brownlow's run-in with the South Carolina nullifiers would influence his later views on secession. Brownlow soon afterward had his 1834 tome ''Helps To The Study of Presbyterianism'' (addressing, in part, Brownlow's advancement of the separation of church and state in the United States and the Presbyterian Church domination of the
American Sunday School Union InFaith has its roots in the First Day Society (founded 1790). InFaith officially formed in 1817 as the “Sunday and Adult School Union.” In 1824, the organization changed its name to American Sunday School Union (ASSU). Then, in 1974, the ASSU ...
) published in Knoxville, Tennessee by newspaper and book publisher Frederick S. Heiskell.


Marriage

Brownlow married a younger Eliza Ann O'Brien during 1836 in
Carter County, Tennessee Carter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 57,424. Its county seat is Elizabethton. The county is named in honor of Landon Carter (1760-1800), an early settler active in the "L ...
, where the two resided in her hometown of
Elizabethton Elizabethton is a city in, and the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is the historical site of the first independent American government (known as the Watauga Association, created in 1772) located west of both t ...
. Brownlow began working as a clerk managing her family's O'Brien Furnace (iron foundry), which was located along the banks of the Doe River at Valley Forge about four miles southeast of Elizabethton."Early History of Carter County 1760-1861", p. 55. Frank Merritt, 1950. East Tennessee Historical Society, Knoxville, Tennessee. Brownlow would often travel by
flatboat A flatboat (or broadhorn) was a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways in the United States. The flatboat could be any size, but essentially it was a large, sturdy tub with a ...
on both the
Watauga River The Watauga River () is a large stream of western North Carolina and East Tennessee. It is long with its headwaters in Linville Gap to the South Fork Holston River at Boone Lake. Course The Watauga River rises from a spring near the base ...
and the
Holston River The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee, ...
in East Tennessee, bringing shipments of iron castings from the O'Brien Furnance to Knoxville. Although Brownlow left the circuit shortly after his marriage during 1836, he would continue his staunch defense of Methodism and Methodist leaders against the published attacks by religious leaders and writers of other sectarian Christian beliefs within his later newspaper columns, books, and speeches. For the remainder of his life and beyond, Brownlow was to become known to friend and foe alike as the "Fighting Parson".


Early newspaper owner

Brownlow cut his teeth in the newspaper business during 1838 writing for the short-lived ''Elizabethton Republican and Manufacturer's Advocate'', initially under its editor William Gott. This weekly Elizabethton newspaper advanced Whig politics, and by the time that Brownlow had later been promoted as its editor, the ''Elizabethton Republican and Manufacturer's Advocate'' had some three hundred subscribers and was closely associated with Mason R. Lyon. Historian Stephen Ash says:
What made the Parson stand out was, more than anything else, his vitriolic tongue and pen. Over the course of his long career, he took up many causes. These included not only Methodism, Whiggery, and the Union, but also temperance, Know-Nothingism, and slavery. His favorite method of promoting those causes was to chastise and ridicule his opponents, and few men could do so with as much venomous wit as he. Baptists, Presbyterians, Catholics, Mormons, Democrats, Republicans, secessionists, drunks, immigrants, and abolitionists—all were at one time or another on the receiving end of Brownlow's merciless broadsides. Not surprisingly, he made many enemies. A number of them replied in kind; some tried to kill him.
The rising Elizabethton attorney T.A.R. Nelson suggested that Brownlow should launch a newspaper to support Whig Party candidates in the upcoming elections. Brownlow partnered with the Elizabethton newspaper publisher, Mason R. Lyon, and as the editor within their partnership, with the agreement that Brownlow would receive one-third of the new profits from the ''Tennessee Whig''. Brownlow and Lyon launched their weekly ''Tennessee Whig'' on Thursday, May 16, 1839, and within several weeks, Brownlow and Lyon would rebrand their new weekly newspaper as the ''Elizabethton Whig'' starting with the June 13, 1839 edition of the newspaper.Paul Fink, ''Jonesborough: The First Century of Tennessee's First Town'' (Johnson City, Tenn.: Overmountain Press, 2002), pp. 140-145. As Brownlow's vituperative editorial style quickly brought bitter division to Elizabethton, and he began quarreling with local Whig-turned-Democrat
Landon Carter Haynes Landon Carter Haynes (December 2, 1816 – February 17, 1875) was an American politician who served as a Confederate States senator from Tennessee from 1862 to 1865. He also served several terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives, incl ...
. Haynes had read law under Elizabethton attorney T.A.R. Nelson, and Haynes would later follow Nelson to Jonesborough during 1840, where Haynes would eventually edit a Jonesborough newspaper. Brownlow and the ''Elizabethton Whig'' also relocated from Elizabethton and to Jonesborough during the same year, where the weekly Brownlow newspaper was again rebranded as the ''Jonesboro Whig'' (the Tennessee town has spelled municipal name two different ways through its history), publishing the first edition of the second volume on May 7, 1840. Brownlow had also brought along Valentine Garland along as a new business partner within his ''Jonesboro Whig'' enterprise. Garland had previously worked as a journeyman printer with the ''Elizabethton Whig'' and had purchased Lyon's interest in the ''Elizabethton Whig'' for $550.00, but their business partnership in the ''Jonesboro Whig'' was short-lived as an announcement published on August 12, 1840 notified the ''Whig'' readers that the Brownlow and Garland business partnership was dissolved. Brownlow would later accost Haynes in a Jonesborough street and then proceeded to beat Haynes with a sword cane, prompting Haynes to draw out his pistol and shoot Brownlow in the thigh. Haynes was later hired as editor of the competing Democratic ''Tennessee Sentinel'' the following year, and the editors Brownlow and Haynes would publish polemics targeting each other within their respective newspapers over the next several years. In 1845, Brownlow ran against
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a De ...
for the state's 1st District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Using the ''Whig'' to support his campaign, he accused Johnson of being illegitimate, suggested Johnson's relatives were murderers and thieves and stated that Johnson was an atheist. Johnson won the election by 1,300 votes, out of just over 10,000 votes cast. Brownlow supported Whig policies such as a
national bank In banking, the term national bank carries several meanings: * a bank owned by the state * an ordinary private bank which operates nationally (as opposed to regionally or locally or even internationally) * in the United States, an ordinary p ...
, federal funding for
internal improvements Internal improvements is the term used historically in the United States for public works from the end of the American Revolution through much of the 19th century, mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure: roads, turnpikes, canal ...
(more specifically, public improvements to the Moccasin Bend area of the
Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other name ...
near
Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...
allowing for better steamboat transportation of goods to
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
), developing industries within northeast Tennessee, and a weakened presidency. He called
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
the "greatest curse that ever yet befell this nation,"''Jonesborough Whig and Independent Journal'', 18 June 1845. and attacked Jackson's supporters, the
Locofocos The Locofocos (also Loco Focos or Loco-focos) were a faction of the Democratic Party in American politics that existed from 1835 until the mid-1840s. History The faction, originally named the Equal Rights Party, was created in New York City as a p ...
, in his 1844 book, ''A Political Register''. While Brownlow steadfastly supported Whig candidates such as John Bell and
James C. Jones James ChamberlainJones's middle name is sometimes spelled "Chamberlayne." Jones (April 20, 1809 – October 29, 1859) was an American politician who served as the tenth governor of Tennessee from 1841 to 1845, and as a United States Senator from ...
, his true political idol was Kentucky senator
Henry Clay Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seven ...
. Clay was consistently Brownlow's first choice for the party's presidential candidate throughout the 1840s. Brownlow's son John recalled that one of the few times he ever saw his father cry was after he had received the news of Clay's defeat in the
1844 presidential election The 1844 United States presidential election was the 15th quadrennial presidential election, held from Friday, November 1 to Wednesday, December 4, 1844. Democrat James K. Polk defeated Whig Henry Clay in a close contest turning on the controv ...
. In May 1849, Brownlow relocated the ''Whig'' to
Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the stat ...
, where he was already well known for his clashes with the Democratic ''Standard'', which he had dubbed a "filthy lying sheet." Prior to the departure of Brownlow and his newspaper from Jonesboro, an unknown assailant clubbed Brownlow in the head, leaving him bedridden for two weeks. He blamed this act on Knoxville's newspaper interests, who feared his competition. Upon his arrival, he became embroiled in an editorial war with ''
Knoxville Register The ''Knoxville Register'' was an American newspaper published primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, during the 19th century. Founded in 1816, the paper was East Tennessee's dominant newspaper until 1863, when its pro-secession editor, Jacob Austin Sp ...
'' editor John Miller McKee that lasted until McKee's departure in 1855. Brownlow joined the
Sons of Temperance The Sons of Temperance was and is a brotherhood of men who promoted the temperance movement and mutual support. The group was founded in 1842 in New York City. It began spreading rapidly during the 1840s throughout the United States and parts o ...
in 1850,Forrest Conklin and John Wittig, "Religious Warfare in the Southern Highlands: Brownlow versus Ross," ''Journal of East Tennessee History'', Vol. 63 (1991), pp. 33-50. and promoted temperance policies in the ''Whig'' (one of his more common personal attacks was to accuse his opponents of being "drunkards"). Following the collapse of the Whig Party in the mid-1850s, he aligned himself with the
Know Nothing The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...
movement, as he had long shared this movement's anti-Catholic and nativist sentiments. In 1856, he published a book, ''Americanism Contrasted with Foreignism, Romanism and Bogus Democracy'', which attacked Catholicism, foreigners and Democratic politicians. In the late 1850s, Brownlow turned his attention to Knoxville's Democratic Party leaders and their associates. He quarreled with the radical ''Southern Citizen'', a pro-secession newspaper published by businessman William G. Swan and Irish patriot
John Mitchel John Mitchel ( ga, Seán Mistéal; 3 November 1815 – 20 March 1875) was an Irish nationalist activist, author, and political journalist. In the Famine years of the 1840s he was a leading writer for ''The Nation'' newspaper produced by the ...
(who spent time in Knoxville while in exile), and on at least one occasion, threatened Swan with a revolver. Following the failure of the Bank of East Tennessee in 1858, Brownlow ruthlessly assailed its directors. His attacks forced A.R. Crozier and
William Churchwell William Montgomery Churchwell (February 20, 1826August 18, 1862) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives. He also served as Confederate States Army officer during the American Civil War. Biography ...
to flee the state, and drove
John H. Crozier John Hervey Crozier (February 10, 1812 – October 25, 1889) was an American attorney and politician active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, during the mid-nineteenth century. Described as "an orator of uncommon brilliancy" and "one of ...
from public life. Brownlow sued another director,
J. G. M. Ramsey James Gettys McGready Ramsey (March 25, 1797 – April 11, 1884) was an American historian, physician, planter, slave owner, and businessman, active primarily in East Tennessee during the nineteenth century. Ramsey is perhaps best known for hi ...
, winning a civil judgement on behalf of the bank's depositors.William Gannaway Brownlow, ''Sketches of the Rise, Progress, and Decline of Secession'' (Philadelphia: G.W. Childs, 1862). Partially a result of Brownlow's persistent opposition to secession within the pages of his newspapers (and partially due to his long-time feud with Confederate sympathizer, banker, and Tennessee historian
J. G. M. Ramsey James Gettys McGready Ramsey (March 25, 1797 – April 11, 1884) was an American historian, physician, planter, slave owner, and businessman, active primarily in East Tennessee during the nineteenth century. Ramsey is perhaps best known for hi ...
), he was later jailed by Confederate States military authorities (the CSA district attorney in Knoxville, Tennessee being related to J. G. M. Ramsey) in December 1861, pardoned, and subsequently forced into exile in the northern United States.


Sectarian debates

While Brownlow left the preaching circuit in the 1830s, he continued responding to the critics attacking the Methodist faith until the Civil War. In 1843, his feud with Haynes led to Haynes being barred from the Methodist clergy.James Bellamy, "The Political Career of Landon Carter Haynes," East Tennessee Historical Society ''Publications'', Vol. 28 (1956), pp. 105-107. That same year, J.M. Smith, editor of the ''Abingdon Virginian'', accused Brownlow of having stolen jewelry at a
camp meeting The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in England and Scotland as an evangelical event in association with the communion season. It was held for worship, preaching and communion on the American frontier ...
. Brownlow denied the charge, and accused Smith of being an adulterer. At a meeting of the Methodists' Holston Conference that year, Smith tried unsuccessfully to have Brownlow expelled from the church. In the late 1840s, Brownlow quarreled with Presbyterian minister Frederick Augustus Ross (1796–1883), who, from 1826 till 1852, was pastor of Old Kingsport Presbyterian Church in
Kingsport, Tennessee Kingsport is a city in Sullivan County, Tennessee, Sullivan and Hawkins County, Tennessee, Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 55,442. Lying along the Holston Ri ...
, where Ross had taken up in 1818. Ross had earlier "declared war" on Methodism as a co-editor in his ''Calvinist Magazine'', published from 1827 to 1832. Although distracted by internecine conflict within the Presbyterian Church for nearly a decade, he relaunched the ''Calvinist Magazine'' in 1845. Ross argued that the Methodist Church was despotic, comparing it to a "great iron wheel" that would crush American liberty. He stated that most Methodists were descended from Revolutionary War loyalists, and accused the Methodist Church founder,
John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies he founded became the dominant form of the independent Meth ...
, of believing in ghosts and witches. Brownlow initially responded to Ross with a running column, "F.A. Ross' Corner," in the ''Jonesborough Whig''. In 1847, he launched a separate paper, the ''Jonesborough Quarterly Review'', which was dedicated to refuting Ross's attacks, and embarked on a speaking tour that summer. Brownlow argued that while it was common in Wesley's time for people to believe in ghosts, he provided evidence that many Presbyterian ministers ''still'' believed in such things. He derided Ross as a "habitual adulterer" and the son of a slave, and accused his relatives of stealing and committing indecent acts (Ross's son responded to the latter charge with a death threat). This quarrel continued until Brownlow moved to Knoxville in 1849. In 1856,
James Robinson Graves James Robinson Graves (April 10, 1820 – June 26, 1893) was an American Baptist preacher, publisher, evangelist, debater, author, and editor. He is most noted as the original founder of what is now the Southwestern family of companies. Graves was ...
, the Landmark Baptist minister of Nashville's Second Baptist Church, ripped Methodists in his book, ''The Great Iron Wheel'', which used terminology and attacks similar to the ones Ross had used in the previous decade. Brownlow quickly fired back with ''The Great Iron Wheel Examined; Or, Its False Spokes Extracted'', published that same year. He accused Graves of slandering an ex-Congressman, argued that Baptist ministers were mostly illiterate and opposed to learning, and charged that the Baptist religion was wrought with "selfishness, bigotry, intolerance, and shameful want of Christian liberality." Brownlow also mocked the Baptist sectarian method of baptism, immersion.


Slavery and secession

Brownlow's views on slavery changed over time. While his pre-Civil War writings reveal a strong pro-slavery slant, his name appears on an 1834
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...
petition.Stephen Ash, Introduction to E. Merton Coulter's ''William G. Brownlow: Fighting Parson of the Southern Highlands'' (Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1999). In the early 1840s, Brownlow supported the
American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...
, which sought to recolonize freed slaves in
Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast� ...
. In subsequent years, however, he shifted to a staunchly pro-slavery stance. Indeed he owned slaves himself. Brownlow's friend and colleague,
Oliver Perry Temple Oliver Perry Temple (January 27, 1820 – November 2, 1907) was an American attorney, author, judge, and economic promoter active primarily in East Tennessee in the latter half of the 19th century.Mary Rothrock, ''The French Broad-Holston Country: ...
, stated that social pressure in the 1830s pushed most abolitionist Southerners to adopt pro-slavery views. Historian Robert McKenzie, however, suggests that Brownlow's pro-slavery shift might have been rooted in the rivalry between Northern and
Southern Methodists Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...
over the issue in the 1840s.Robert McKenzie, ''Lincolnites and Rebels: A Divided Town in the American Civil War'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006). By the 1850s, Brownlow was radically pro-slavery, arguing that the institution was "ordained by God." He gave a Scriptural defense of slavery in a speech delivered in Knoxville in 1857, and in the following year, he issued a challenge to Northern abolitionists to debate the issue. The challenge was initially accepted by
Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...
, but Brownlow refused to debate him because of his race. The challenge was then taken up by Abram Pryne of McGrawville, New York, a clergyman with the Congregational Church, and editor of an abolitionist newspaper. At the debate, which took place in Philadelphia in September 1858, Brownlow stated in his opening argument:
Not only will I throughout this discussion openly and boldly take the ground that ''Slavery as it exists in America ought to be perpetuated'', but that slavery is an established and inevitable condition to human society. I will maintain the ground that God always intended the relation of master and slave to exist; that Christ and the early teachers of Christianity, found slavery differing in no material respect from American slavery, ''incorporated into every department of society'' ... that slavery having existed ever since the first organization of society, it will exist to the end of time.
During the course of the Civil War, Brownlow would return to an anti-slavery stance, calling for emancipation. Brownlow was staunchly opposed to Southern secession. He argued that secessionists wanted to form a country governed by "purse-proud aristocrats" of the Southern
planter class The planter class, known alternatively in the United States as the Southern aristocracy, was a racial and socioeconomic caste of pan-American society that dominated 17th and 18th century agricultural markets. The Atlantic slave trade permitted ...
. Brownlow endorsed his friend, pro-Union candidate John Bell, for president in 1860, and in September of that year, interrupted a pro- Breckinridge rally in Knoxville to spar with the rally's keynote speaker,
William Lowndes Yancey William Lowndes Yancey (August 10, 1814July 27, 1863) was an American journalist, politician, orator, diplomat and an American leader of the Southern secession movement. A member of the group known as the Fire-Eaters, Yancey was one of the m ...
of Alabama. When South Carolina seceded following Lincoln's election in November 1860, Brownlow derided the state and its "miserable cabbage-leaf of a Palmetto flag" as being descended from British loyalists, thus giving it an affinity for the aristocratic types that would govern the proposed Southern Confederacy. By 1861, the ''Knoxville Whig'' had 14,000 subscribers, and was considered by secessionists the root of the stubborn pro-Union sentiment in East Tennessee (the region had resoundingly rejected a referendum on secession in February of that year). Knoxville's Democrats tried to counter Brownlow by installing radical secessionist J. Austin Sperry as editor of the ''Knoxville Register'', touching off an editorial war that lasted throughout much of the year. Brownlow called Sperry a "scoundrel" and a "debauchee," and mocked the relatively small circulation of the ''Register''. Throughout the Spring of 1861, Brownlow and his colleagues, Oliver Perry Temple, T.A.R. Nelson, and
Horace Maynard Horace Maynard (August 30, 1814 – May 3, 1882) was an American educator, attorney, politician and diplomat active primarily in the second half of the 19th century. Initially elected to the House of Representatives from Tennessee's 2nd Con ...
, canvassed East Tennessee, giving dozens of pro-Union speeches. In May and June 1861, Brownlow represented Knox County at the
East Tennessee Convention The East Tennessee Convention was an assembly of Southern Unionist delegates primarily from East Tennessee that met on three occasions during the Civil War. The Convention most notably declared the secessionist actions taken by the Tennessee st ...
, which unsuccessfully petitioned the state legislature to allow East Tennessee to form a separate, Union-aligned state. In the weeks following Tennessee's secession in June 1861, Brownlow used the ''Whig'' to defend Unionists accused of treasonous acts by Confederate authorities. By the Fall of 1861, the ''Whig'' was the last pro-Union newspaper in the South. He was quoted as saying "I will fight secessionists until hell freezes over and then fight them on the ice."


American Civil War

On October 24, 1861, Brownlow suspended publication of the ''Whig'' after announcing Confederate authorities were preparing to arrest him. On November 4, he left Knoxville and went into hiding in the
Great Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge ...
to the south, where there was a strong pro-Union presence, and would spend several weeks staying with friends in Wears Valley and
Tuckaleechee Cove Townsend is a city in Blount County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The city was chartered in 1921 by persons who were involved with the Little River Railroad and Lumber Company. The population was 244 at the 2000 census and 448 ...
. On November 8, pro-Union guerillas burned several railroad bridges in East Tennessee, and attacked several others. Confederate leaders immediately suspected Brownlow of complicity, but he denied any involvement in the attacks. Brownlow asked for permission to leave the state, which was granted by Confederate Secretary of War
Judah P. Benjamin Judah Philip Benjamin, QC (August 6, 1811 – May 6, 1884) was a United States senator from Louisiana, a Cabinet officer of the Confederate States and, after his escape to the United Kingdom at the end of the American Civil War, an English ba ...
. On December 6, as he was in Knoxville preparing to leave, however, Knox County Commissioner Robert B. Reynolds and Confederate States District Attorney John Crozier Ramsey (a son of Confederate States treasury agent
J. G. M. Ramsey James Gettys McGready Ramsey (March 25, 1797 – April 11, 1884) was an American historian, physician, planter, slave owner, and businessman, active primarily in East Tennessee during the nineteenth century. Ramsey is perhaps best known for hi ...
, the elder who Brownlow earlier in that year referred to as "the vain old historian of Tennessee") arrested and jailed Brownlow on charges of treason. While jailed, Brownlow witnessed the trials and last moments of many of the condemned bridge-burners, which he recorded in a diary. He sent a letter to Benjamin protesting his incarceration, writing, "which is your highest authority, the Secretary of War, a Major General, or a dirty little drunken attorney such as J.C. Ramsey is!" After Benjamin threatened to pardon Brownlow, he was released in late December 1861. Brownlow was escorted to Nashville (which the Union Army had captured), and crossed over into Union-controlled territory on March 3, 1862. His struggle against secession had made him a celebrity in northern states, and he embarked upon a speaking tour, starting with speeches in Cincinnati and
Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...
in early April. He spoke alongside Indiana governor
Oliver P. Morton Oliver Hazard Perry Throck Morton (August 4, 1823 – November 1, 1877), commonly known as Oliver P. Morton, was a U.S. Republican Party politician from Indiana. He served as the 14th governor (the first native-born) of Indiana during the Amer ...
at Metropolitan Hall in Indianapolis on April 8, and spoke at the Merchants' Exchange in Chicago a few days later. On April 14, he addressed the
Ohio state legislature The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. ...
in
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...
. He hosted a banquet at the Monongahela House in Pittsburgh on April 17, and spoke at
Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers. The structure forms the centerpi ...
in Philadelphia two days later. In Philadelphia, publisher
George W. Childs George William Childs (1829–1894) was an American publisher who co-owned the '' Public Ledger'' newspaper in Philadelphia with financier Anthony Joseph Drexel. Early life Childs was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 12, 1829, the illegitim ...
convinced Brownlow to write a book, ''Sketches of the Rise, Progress, and Decline of Secession'', which was completed in May 1862. By September, the book had sold over 100,000 copies. Brownlow then headed to the northeast, where he addressed the New York City Chamber of Commerce on May 14, and spoke at the Academy of Music on May 15. In subsequent weeks, he spoke in Boston and various cities in New England, and later toured western New York and Illinois. In late June, he testified at the impeachment trial of
West Hughes Humphreys West Hughes Humphreys (August 26, 1806 – October 16, 1882) was the 3rd Attorney General of Tennessee and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the United States District Cou ...
, a Confederate judge who had denied Brownlow bail following his arrest in December. In June 1862, workers at the Colt Armory in Hartford presented a revolver to Brownlow's daughter, Susan, who had threatened to shoot two Confederate soldiers attempting to remove the American flag from the Brownlows' home in Knoxville in December of the previous year. Later that year, author
Erastus Beadle Erastus Flavel Beadle (September 9, 1821 – December 18, 1894) was an American printer and pioneer in publishing pulp fiction. Biography Erastus was born in Otsego County, New York, United States, in 1821, and had a brother, Irwin Pedro Be ...
published a
dime novel The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century U.S. popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related forms, r ...
, ''Parson Brownlow and the Unionists of East Tennessee''. In 1863, Philadelphia-based music publisher Lee and Walker issued a musical score, ''Parson Brownlow's Quick Step''. Brownlow returned to Nashville in early 1863, and followed Ambrose Burnsides's forces back to Knoxville in September. In November 1863, using proceeds from his speaking tour, he relaunched the ''Whig'' under the title, ''Knoxville Whig and Rebel Ventilator'', and began vengefully pursuing ex-Confederates. He spent a portion of 1864 attempting to reorganize his church's Holston Conference and realign it with the northern Methodists.


Reconstruction-era as Governor of Tennessee

Brownlow was nominated for governor by a convention of Tennessee Unionists in January 1865. He was the only nominee. This convention also submitted state constitutional amendments outlawing slavery and repealing the Ordinance of Secession,Wilson D. Miscamble, "Andrew Johnson and the Election of William G. ('Parson') Brownlow as Governor of Tennessee," ''Tennessee Historical Quarterly'', Vol. 37 (1978), pp. 308-320. thus making his state the first of the Southern states to leave the Confederacy. The military governor, Andrew Johnson, had enacted a series of measures that essentially prevented ex-Confederates from voting, and on March 4, Brownlow was elected by a 23,352 to 35 vote, and the amendments passed by a similarly lopsided margin. The vote met President Lincoln's "1/10th test," which recognized elections in Southern states if the total vote was at least 1/10th the total vote in the 1860 presidential election. In early April 1865, Brownlow arrived in Nashville, a city which he despised, having called it a "dunghill," and stating it had a "deadly, treasonable exhalation." He was sworn in on April 5, and submitted the 13th Amendment for ratification the following day. After this amendment was ratified, Brownlow submitted a series of bills to punish former Confederates. He disfranchised for at least five years anyone who had supported the Confederacy, and, in cases of Confederate leaders, fifteen years. He later strengthened this law to require prospective voters to ''prove'' they had supported the Union. He tried to impose fines for wearing a Confederate uniform, and attempted to bar Confederate ministers from performing marriages. After a few months in office Brownlow decided Johnson, who had by then become
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
, was too lenient toward former Confederate leaders, and aligned himself with the
Radical Republicans The Radical Republicans (later also known as "Stalwarts") were a faction within the Republican Party, originating from the party's founding in 1854, some 6 years before the Civil War, until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Recons ...
, a group which dominated Congress and vehemently opposed Johnson. In the elections for the state's congressional seats held in August 1865, Brownlow rejected nearly one-third of the total vote to allow Radical candidate Samuel Arnell to win in the 6th District. A small group of state legislators, led by state Speaker of the House
William Heiskell William Heiskell (1788 – September 9, 1871) was an American politician, active primarily in Tennessee, in the mid-19th century. He served a tumultuous term as Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives in the months following the Civ ...
, turned against Brownlow, alleging his actions were too despotic, and aligned themselves with Johnson. By 1866, Brownlow had come to believe that some Southerners were plotting another rebellion, and that Andrew Johnson would be its leader.


Opposition to the Ku Klux Klan

Brownlow began calling for civil rights to be extended to freed slaves, stating that "a loyal Negro was more deserving than a disloyal white man." In May 1866, he submitted the 14th Amendment for ratification, which the Radicals in Congress supported, but Johnson and his allies opposed. The pro-Johnson minority in the statehouse attempted to flee Nashville to prevent a
quorum A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to '' Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...
, and the House sergeant-at-arms was dispatched to arrest them. Two were captured—
Pleasant Williams Pleasure refers to experience that feels good, that involves the enjoyment of something. It contrasts with pain or suffering, which are forms of feeling bad. It is closely related to value, desire and action: humans and other conscious animal ...
and A. J. Martin—and confined to the House committee room, giving the House the necessary number of members present to establish a quorum. After the amendment passed by a 43-11 vote, Heiskell refused to sign it and resigned in protest. His successor signed it, however, and the amendment was ratified. In transmitting the news to Congress, Brownlow taunted Johnson, stating, "My compliments to the dead dog in the White House." Tennessee was readmitted to the Union shortly afterward. The Radicals nominated Brownlow for a second term for governor in February 1867. His opponent was
Emerson Etheridge Henry Emerson Etheridge (September 28, 1819 – October 21, 1902) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for Tennessee's 9th congressional district from 1853 to 1857, and again from 1859 to 186 ...
, a frequent critic of the Brownlow administration. That same month, the legislature passed a bill giving the state's black residents the right to vote, and
Union League The Union Leagues were quasi-secretive men’s clubs established separately, starting in 1862, and continuing throughout the Civil War (1861–1865). The oldest Union League of America council member, an organization originally called "The Leag ...
s were organized to help freed slaves in this process. Members of these leagues frequently clashed with disfranchised ex-Confederates, including members of the burgeoning
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cat ...
, and Brownlow organized a state guard, led by General
Joseph Alexander Cooper Joseph Alexander Cooper (November 25, 1823 – May 20, 1910) was an American farmer, soldier, and civil servant. A Southern Unionist, he fought for the Union Army during the American Civil War, commanding units at Mill Springs, Stones River, ...
, to protect voters (and harass the opposition). With the state's ex-Confederates disfranchised, Brownlow easily defeated Etheridge, 74,848 to 22,548. By 1868, Klan violence had increased significantly. The organization had sent Brownlow a death threat, and had come close to assassinating Congressman Samuel Arnell. General
Nathan B. Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was a prominent Confederate Army general during the American Civil War and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from 1867 to 1869. Before the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealth ...
joined the Klan, becoming its first Grand Wizard, partially in response to the disfranchisement policies of Brownlow.Phillip Langsdon, ''Tennessee: A Political History'' (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 169, 178, 190, 239. The ''William G. Brownlow Family Papers, 1836-1900'', archived by the Tennessee Secretary of State, contains one letter dated July 4, 1868, from the Great-Grand Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan Stella Morton, in which Morton threatens Governor Brownlow's life. In an interview with the ''Cincinnati Commercial'', Forrest stated, "I have never recognized the present government in Tennessee as having any legal existence." He objected to Governor Brownlow calling out the militia and warned if they "committed outrages" that "they and Mr. Brownloe's government will be swept out of existence not a Radical will be left alive." Forrest claimed the Klan had more than 40,000 members in Tennessee and 550,000 in the southern states. He said the Klan supported the Democratic Party. Forrest suggested that a proclamation of Brownlow called for shooting members of the Klan. Forrest denied being a member of the Klan himself. Forrest and twelve other Klan members submitted a petition to Brownlow, stating they would cease their activities if Confederates were given the right to vote. Brownlow rejected this, however, and set about reorganizing the state guard and pressing the legislature for still greater enforcement powers. Brownlow endorsed
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...
for president in 1868, and asked for federal troops to be stationed in 21 Tennessee counties to counter rising Klan activity. The state legislature granted him the power to throw out entire counties' voter registrations if he thought they included disfranchised voters. In October 1868, prior to the election, Brownlow discarded all registered voters in Lincoln County. Following the election, two of the Radicals' congressional candidates,
Lewis Tillman Lewis Tillman (August 18, 1816 – May 3, 1886) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for the 4th congressional district of Tennessee. Biography Tillman was born near Shelbyville, Tennesse ...
in the
4th District Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
and William J. Smith in the 8th District, were initially defeated. Brownlow, believing Klan intimidation to be the reason for their defeat, rejected the votes from
Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...
and
Coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...
counties, allowing Tillman to win, and rejected the votes from Fayette and
Tipton Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham. Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...
counties, allowing Smith to win. In February 1869, as Brownlow's final term was near its end, he placed nine counties under
martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Martia ...
, arguing this was necessary to quell rising Klan violence. He also dispatched five state guard companies to occupy Pulaski, where the Klan had been founded. After Brownlow left office in March, Forrest ordered the Klan to destroy its costumes and cease all activities.


U.S. Senate and his later life

Following his reelection as Governor of Tennessee in 1867, Brownlow decided he would not seek a third term, and instead sought election to the U.S. Senate seat that would be vacated by
David T. Patterson David Trotter Patterson (February 28, 1818November 3, 1891) was a United States Senator from Tennessee at the beginning of the Reconstruction period. A staunch Union supporter (as were most of his fellow East Tennesseans), he was elected by th ...
, Andrew Johnson's son-in-law, in 1869. In October 1867, the state legislature elected Brownlow over William B. Stokes by a 63 to 39 vote. By the time he was sworn in on March 4, 1869, a persistent nervous disease had weakened him considerably, and the Senate clerk had to read his speeches. One of his speeches was a defense of
Ambrose Burnside Ambrose Everett Burnside (May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881) was an American army officer and politician who became a senior Union general in the Civil War and three times Governor of Rhode Island, as well as being a successful inventor ...
, the Union general who had liberated Knoxville from Confederate forces in 1863. Brownlow was a member of the U.S. Senate when the final version of the bill S. 810 was introduced onto the Senate floor on April 19, 1870, enacted the next month by the U.S. Congress, and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on May 31, 1870 as the
Enforcement Act of 1870 The Enforcement Act of 1870, also known as the Civil Rights Act of 1870 or First Ku Klux Klan Act, or Force Act (41st Congress, Sess. 2, ch. 114, , enacted May 31, 1870, effective 1871) was a United States federal law that empowered the President ...
(also known under the popular titles as the Civil Rights Act of 1870 or the First Ku Klux Klan Act) and the later
Second Enforcement Act of 1871 The Enforcement Act of 1871 (), also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, Third Enforcement Act, Third Ku Klux Klan Act, Civil Rights Act of 1871, or Force Act of 1871, is an Act of the United States Congress which empowered the President to suspend ...
(also known under the popular titles as the Civil Rights Act of 1871 or the Third Ku Klux Klan Act) of the United States Congress which empowered the President to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in order to combat the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacy organizations. After his Senate term ended in 1875, Brownlow returned to Knoxville. His successor as governor,
DeWitt Clinton Senter Dewitt Clinton Senter (March 26, 1830June 14, 1898) was an American politician who served as the 18th Governor of Tennessee from 1869 to 1871. He had previously served in the Tennessee House of Representatives (1855–1861), where he opposed ...
, had undone most of his Radical initiatives, allowing Democrats to regain control of the state government. Having sold the ''Whig'' in 1869, Brownlow purchased an interest in the ''Knoxville Chronicle'', a Republican newspaper published by his old protégé, William Rule. The paper's name was changed to the ''Knoxville Whig and Chronicle''. In 1876, Brownlow endorsed
Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governo ...
for president. In December of the same year, he spoke at the opening of
Knoxville College Knoxville College is a historically black liberal arts college in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, which was founded in 1875 by the United Presbyterian Church of North America. It is a United Negro College Fund member school. A slow peri ...
, which had been established for the city's African-American residents. On the night of April 28, 1877, Brownlow collapsed at his home, and died the following afternoon. The cause of death was given as "paralysis of the bowels." He was interred in Knoxville's
Old Gray Cemetery Old Gray Cemetery is the second-oldest cemetery in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Established in 1850, the cemetery contains the graves of some of Knoxville's most influential citizens, ranging from politicians and soldiers, to artists an ...
following a funeral procession described by his colleague, Oliver Perry Temple, as the largest in the city's history up to that time.


Legacy

In 1870, William Rule, who had been a journalist for the ''Whig'', launched the ''Knoxville Chronicle'', which he considered the ''Whig'''s pro-Republican successor. Rule continued editing this paper, which was eventually renamed ''
The Knoxville Journal ''The Knoxville Journal'' was a daily newspaper published in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, between 1886 and 1991. It operated first as a morning and then as an afternoon publication. On December 31, 1991, its last owner, the Persis Corp ...
'', until his death in 1928. The ''Knoxville Journal'' remained one of Knoxville's daily newspapers until it folded in 1991.
Adolph Ochs Adolph Simon Ochs (March 12, 1858 – April 8, 1935) was an American newspaper publisher and former owner of ''The New York Times'' and ''The Chattanooga Times'' (now the '' Chattanooga Times Free Press''). Early life and career Ochs was born ...
, who later became publisher of the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', began his career at the ''Chronicle'' in the early 1870s. William Rule wrote that Brownlow was "a master of invective and burning sarcasm, and he flourished in an age when such things were expected of a public journalist." J. Austin Sperry, Brownlow's rival editor in pre-Civil War Knoxville, admitted that Brownlow was a remarkable judge of human nature. Brownlow's long-time colleague, Oliver Perry Temple, wrote of him:
It was easy for friends to persuade Mr. Brownlow to do anything that did not violate his sense of right; to force him was impossible. A child could lead him; a giant could not drive him. When his mind was once made up, it was as immovable as the mountains.
Brownlow remained a divisive figure for decades after his death. In 1999, historian Stephen Ash wrote, "more than 120 years after his death, merely mentioning his name in the Volunteer State can evoke raucous laughter or bitter curses." Brownlow has been described as "Tennessee's worst governor," and the "most hated man in Tennessee History."Jack Neely,
Requiem for Parson Brownlow
" ''Metro Pulse'', 6 April 2011. Accessed at the Internet Archive, 2 October 2015.
A 1981 poll of fifty-two Tennessee historians that ranked the state's governors on ability, accomplishments, and statesmanship, placed Brownlow dead last. Journalist Steve Humphrey argued that Brownlow was a talented newspaper editor and reporter, as evidenced by his reporting on events such as the opening of the Gayoso Hotel in Memphis and Knoxville's 1854
cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...
epidemic.Stephen Humphrey, "The Man Brownlow from a Newspaper Man's Point of View," East Tennessee Historical Society ''Publications'', Vol. 43 (1971), pp. 59-70. The Capitol Committee of the Tennessee General Assembly removed the official portrait of Governor William G. Brownlow that had only been briefly installed during April 1987 within the Legislative Library of state capitol building, upon the recommendation of Democratic Tennessee state Senator Douglas Henry.Jack Neely,
Gov. Brownlow's Bad Reputation
" ''Metro Pulse'', 6 April 2011. Accessed at the Internet Archive, 2 October 2015.


Family

Brownlow married Eliza O'Brien (1819–1914) during 1836 in Elizabethton, Tennessee. They had seven children: Susan, John Bell, James Patton, Mary, Fannie, Annie, and Caledonia Temple.Zella Armstrong
''Notable Southern families, Volume 1''
(Chattanooga, Tenn.: The Lookout Publishing Co., 1918), pp. 39-45. . Retrieved: 29 October 2012.
Eliza O'Brien Brownlow lived at the family's home formerly on East Cumberland Avenue (at the present day James White Parkway) in Knoxville until her death in 1914 at the age of 94. In the 1890s and early 1900s, numerous visitors, including three presidents (
William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in t ...
,
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
, and
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
), called on Eliza Brownlow when visiting Knoxville. The Brownlows' older son, John Bell Brownlow (1839–1922), was a colonel in the Union Army during the Civil War. In the decades following his father's death, he helped finance the development of a Knoxville neighborhood (just north of modern
Fourth and Gill Fourth and Gill is a neighborhood in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, located north of the city's downtown area. Initially developed in the late nineteenth century as a residential area for Knoxville's growing middle and professional classes ...
) which for years was known as "Brownlow." Brownlow Elementary School, which served this neighborhood from 1913 to 1995, still stands, and has been converted into urban lofts. The Brownlows' younger son, James Patton Brownlow (1842–1879), was also a colonel in the Union Army during the Civil War, though he was later brevetted to brigadier general by President
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a De ...
. He served as an adjutant general in the state guard during his father's term as governor.Roger D. Hunt and Jack R. Brown, ''Brevet Brigadier Generals in Blue'' (Gaithersburg, Maryland: Olde Soldier Books, Inc., 1990), p. 86. .
Walter P. Brownlow Walter Preston Brownlow (March 27, 1851 – July 8, 1910) was an American politician who represented Tennessee's 1st district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1897 until his death in 1910. He is remembered for obtaining large federa ...
(1851–1910), a nephew of Parson Brownlow, served as a U.S. congressman from Tennessee's 1st district from 1897 until his death. James Stewart Martin (1826–1907), another nephew of Parson Brownlow (the son of his sister, Nancy), served as a U.S. congressman from
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...
in the mid-1870s.
Louis Brownlow Louis Brownlow (August 29, 1879 – September 27, 1963) was an American author, political scientist, and consultant in the area of public administration. As chairman of the Committee on Administrative Management (better known as the Brownlow Comm ...
(1879–1963), a prominent 20th-century political scientist and city planner, was a grandson of one of Parson Brownlow's first cousins. He served a tumultuous 3-year term as Knoxville's city manager in the 1920s.


Works


Newspapers

*The '' Whig'', Brownlow's primary mouthpiece, was published under the following masthead titles: **''Tennessee Whig'' (May 16, 1839 in Elizabethton – June 13, 1839) **''Elizabethton Whig'' (June 13, 1839 in Elizabethton –
nameplate A nameplate identifies and displays a person or product's name. Nameplates are usually shaped as rectangles but are also seen in other shapes, sometimes taking on the shape of someone's written name. Nameplates primarily serve an informat ...
change) **''The Whig'' (May 6, 1840 in Jonesborough – November 3, 1841) **''Jonesborough Whig'' (November 10, 1841 – May 11, 1842) **''Jonesborough Whig and Independent Journal'' (May 18, 1842 – April 19, 1849) **''Brownlow's Knoxville Whig and Independent Journal'' (May 19, 1849 in Knoxville – April 7, 1855) **''Brownlow's Knoxville Whig'' (April 14, 1855 – July 27, 1861) **''Brownlow's Weekly Whig'' (August 3, 1861 – October 26, 1861) **''Brownlow's Knoxville Whig, and Rebel Ventilator'' (November 11, 1863 – February 21, 1866) **''Brownlow's Knoxville Whig'' (February 28, 1866 – January 27, 1869) **''Knoxville Weekly Whig'' (February 3, 1869 – March 1870) **''Weekly Whig and Register'' (c. 1870 – 1871) *The ''Knoxville Whig and Chronicle'' (1875–1877), co-owner with William Rule


Books

*
Helps to the Study of Presbyterianism: Or, An Unsophisticated Exposition of Calvinism, with Hopkinsian Modifications and Policy, with a View to a More Easy Interpretation of the Same
' (1834) *''A Narrative of the Life, Travels, and Circumstances Incident Thereto, of William G. Brownlow'' (1834, a book supplement bound within ''Helps to the Study of Presbyterianism:'') *''Baptism Examined: Or, the True State of the Case'' (1842) *
A Political Register, Setting Forth the Principles of the Whig and Locofoco Parties in the United States, With the Life and Public Services of Henry Clay
' (1844) *
Americanism Contrasted with Foreignism, Romanism and Bogus Democracy, In the Light of Reason, History, and Scripture; In Which Certain Demagogues in Tennessee, and Elsewhere, are Shown Up in Their True Colors
' (1856) *
The Great Iron Wheel Examined; Or, Its False Spokes Extracted, and an Exhibition of Elder Graves, Its Builder
' (1856) *
Sketches of the Rise, Progress, and Decline of Secession; With a Narrative of Personal Adventures Among the Rebels
' (1862)


Speeches and debates

*"Speech, Being a Reply to Thomas Dog Arnold, Ass, Who Appeared Before the Invitation, On Saturday Night, the 18th of September, 1852, in the Hearing of a Large Audience, and Assailed Said Brownlow" (Knoxville, Tennessee, September 19, 1852) *"A Sermon on Slavery: A Vindication of the Methodist Church, South: Her Position Stated" (Knoxville, Tennessee, August 9, 1857)
Ought American Slavery to be Perpetuated? A Debate Between Rev. W.G. Brownlow and Rev. A. Pryne Held At Philadelphia, September, 1858
(1858) *"Speech of Parson Brownlow, of Tennessee, Against the Great Rebellion" (New York, May 15, 1862) *"Address to the Loyal People of Tennessee" (Knoxville, Tennessee, March 18, 1868)


References


Further reading

* Alexander, Thomas B. ''Political Reconstruction in Tennessee'' (Vanderbilt UP, 1950). * Alexander, Thomas B. "Strange Bedfellows: The Interlocking Careers of TAR Nelson, Andrew Johnson, and WG (Parson) Brownlow." ''East Tennessee Historical Society Publications'' 24 (1952): 68+. * Alexander, Thomas B. "Whiggery and Reconstruction in Tennessee." ''Journal of Southern History'' 16.3 (1950): 291-305
online
* Alexander, Thomas B. "Kukluxism in Tennessee, 1865-1869." ''Tennessee Historical Quarterly'' (1949): 195-219
online
* Ash, Stephen (1999), ''Secessionists and Scoundrels'', Louisiana State University Press, * Robert Booker,
Brownlow Roared Pro-Union Message
''Knoxville News Sentinel'', 28 June 2011. * Coulter, E. Merton, ''William G. Brownlow: Fighting Parson of the Southern Highlands'' (1937; reprinted 999).
Full text online free of 1999 edition, with important new introduction by Stephen V. Ash pp xi to xvii.
* Downing, David C. (2007), ''A South Divided: Portraits of Dissent in the Confederacy''. Nashville: Cumberland House, * Kelly, James C. "William Gannaway Brownlow" ''Tennessee Historical Quarterly'' 43.1, 2 (1984): 25-43 and 155-72
part 1 online
an
part 2 online
* Haskins, Ralph W. "Internecine Strife in Tennessee: Andrew Johnson Versus Parson Brownlow" ''Tennessee Historical Quarterly'' 24#4 (1965), pp. 321–34
online
* Miscamble, William G. "Andrew Johnson and the Election of William G. ("Parson") Brownlow as Governor of Tennessee." ''Tennessee Historical Quarterly'' 37.3 (1978): 308. * Severance, Ben H. ''Tennessee's Radical Army: The State Guard and Its Role in Reconstruction, 1867-1869'' (Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2005).


External links

*
Brownlow's Knoxville Whig and Rebel Ventilator
' – from the Library of Congress "Chronicling America" database; includes issues published 1863–1866

at the
National Governors Association The National Governors Association (NGA) is an American political organization founded in 1908. The association's members are the governors of the 55 states, territories and commonwealths. Members come to the association from across the politica ...

Governor William G. Brownlow Papers
– Tennessee State Library and Archives
Brownlow-related photographs in the Calvin McClung Digital Collection
– includes newspaper clippings and family photos * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brownlow, William Gannaway 1805 births 1877 deaths People from Wythe County, Virginia Methodists from Virginia 19th-century American Methodist ministers Methodist circuit riders Tennessee Whigs Tennessee Know Nothings Republican Party United States senators from Tennessee Radical Republicans Republican Party governors of Tennessee Governors of Tennessee American male journalists American slave owners Journalists from Virginia Politicians from Knoxville, Tennessee 19th-century American newspaper editors 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American clergy 19th-century American journalists Southern Unionists in the American Civil War People of Tennessee in the American Civil War Burials in Tennessee Sons of Temperance United States senators who owned slaves