He was born in South-western Virginia in the wild and mountainous region adjacent to the borders of three other States.

In early life he was a Methodist preacher of peculiar earnestness and force, with special adaptations to the people among whom his ministry lay.

To his Church he always retained an intense attachment and devotion.

In his later years he published a work on Methodism, under the strange title of "The Iron Wheel examined, and its False Spokes extracted." He came into public and general notice as the editor of the Knoxville _Whig_, which, though printed in the mountains of Tennessee when facilities of communication were restricted, attained wide circulation and influence.

Its editor was known as "Parson" Brownlow, a _sobriquet_ which attached to him through life.