Member of Tennessee House, 20th and 21st General Assemblies, 1833-37; representing Greene County; SENATE, 30th General Assembly, 1853-55; representing Hancock, Hawkins, and Jefferson counties; Whig. Born in Washington County on February 7, 1795; names of parents not given. Limited education, but described as a man of native ability and known for his unusual memory. Occupation: farmer and politican. He lived in Greene County until after the death of his first wife; then removed to Jefferson County. When Hamblen County was established in 1870, his lands fell within that county. Served in the War of 1812 and in the Mexican War. He was married (1st) to Sarah G. Maroney on August 5, 1817; children — Phillip, Sam, John Murphy, Will, and Martha, and five others whose names are not known.

About 1840 he was married (2nd) to Mrs. Malinda (Moore) Lyle; children — Robert Lyle, Jesse, Luther B., and Isaac Bewley. Magistrate and chairman of Greene County Court. Political mentor of Andrew Johnson, later President of the United States. In his later life he lived at Springvale, Near Morristown, then Jefferson, now Hamblen County. Died at Morristown on February 16, 1867; buried in Bewley Chapel Graveyard, near Greeneville, Greene County.

Sources: Goodspeed, History of Hamblen Countym 1201; Temple, Notable Men of Tennessee 370-71; History of Morristown, Tennessee; Census, 1850-1860, 1870, Jefferson County.

Transcribed by Mildred Collins from published biographies of Tennessee Legislators, compiled and printed by the TN State Library & Archives.