[1] Earle Brown was born on February 14, 1926, at Pleasant View, Amherst County, Virginia, to farmer Eddie Brown and his wife Alma Belle Foster.
During World War II, Brown served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Theater.
He then attended and graduated from the Washington and Lee University School of Law.
[2] Earle Brown married schoolteacher Mary Elizabeth Jamerson of Bedford County, Virginia, in 1952, and they lived in Madison Heights.
In 1955, he was elected as a Democrat to the Virginia General Assembly to represent Amherst County and Lynchburg (part-time) during Massive Resistance crisis.