Brownlow was from a
Southern Unionist family of
East Tennesseeans. Her father was the
Whig, and later
Radical Republican, politician and newspaper editor
Parson Brownlow, and her two brothers were notable Union cavalry officers:
John Bell Brownlow, who commanded the
9th Tennessee during the war, and
James Patton Brownlow, a colonel of the
1st Tennessee. Susan was married in October 1856 to James Houston Sawyers, a 24-year-old doctor. She moved back into her parents'
Knoxville home, the one she became famous for defending. Susan's four little sisters would likely have also been present in the home: 12-year-old Mary, nine-year-old Fanny, and the six-year-old twins Caledonia and Ann. Her story was retold in quasi-fictionalized form in the 1864 book
Miss Martha Brownlow, or the Heroine of Tennessee. She was remarried in 1865 to Dr. Daniel Boynton, a Knoxville physician with whom she had three daughters, Lucile, Ednee, and Ilia, and a son, who also became a doctor. At some point Susan had a sixth child who died young. Boynton died January 7, 1888. Susan's chief characteristics were said to be "unfailing cheerfulness and generosity." ==Gallery==