While his father worked as a distiller and miner, his employment was unstable and the family often relied on income earned by Brantley and his siblings as hired hands.

He was ordained as a deacon in 1838, but was not made a member of the North Carolina conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church due to an administrative error.

He appreciated the success that he had accomplished, but had to devote considerable time to raising money and worked late nights preparing to teach subjects with which he was unfamiliar.

He published multiple English grammars and a The Man of Business and Railroad Calculator, a text that taught arithmetic and basic legal principles.

He also served as a President of the Randolph County Temperance Society in 1853 and spoke publicly in support of North Carolina's prohibition campaign in 1881.