William Crary Brownell was born to Isaac and Lucia Brown Brownell on August 30, 1851 in New York City. He prepared for college at Charles Institute, Newport, Rhode Island and was graduated from Amherst College in 1871. After graduation he joined the staff of the New York World, 1871-1879, first as a reporter and then as city editor. After that, he worked for The Nation in New York City from 1879 to 1881.

Brownell traveled to Europe in 1881 and spent most of his time there in Paris. Returning to America in 1884, he worked for the Philadelphia Press until 1888, and for Charles Scribner's Sons between 1888 and 1926.

In January of 1878, Brownell married Virginia S. Swinburne, who died in 1911. He married his second wife, Gertrude Hall, in 1921. Brownell died on July 23, 1928 in Williamstown, Massachusetts.