WASHINGTON COUNTY, TN - OBITUARIES - Dr. William Robertson Sevier, August 22, 1882 ----¤¤¤---- WILLIAM ROBERTSON SEVIER, son of Valentine and Nancy Sevier, was born in Greeneville, Tenn., September 7th, 1822. Died in Jonesboro' Tenn., August 22nd, 1882. Aged fifty-nine years, eleven months and fifteen days. His ancestors came from Paris, France, near the close of the 17th century and settled in London, England. His great-grandfather came from London to Rockingham County, Virginia, in the year 1740. His grandfather, Robert Sevier, commanded a company in the battle of King's Mountain, October 7th, 1780, where he was killed. Gen. John Sevier, the first Governor of Tennessee, was the Doctor's granduncle. His father, Valentine Sevier, lived in Greene county, Tennessee, where he nurtured a large family and where the Doctor was born. In 1841 he came to Jonesboro', Tenn. to read medicine. In 1844 he graduated in the Medical College of New York. He soon after settled in Jonesboro' to engage in the practice of his profession. In 1844 he was married to Martha E. Cunningham, daughter of the late Dr. Samuel B. Cunningham, of Jonesboro. Of this marriage one daughter survives- Mrs. Guy E.Sabin. About the year 1846 he became a member of the Presbyterian church at Jonesboro', joining by letter from the Greeneville church. Mrs. Sevier dying in 1862, in 1864 he was married to Miss Lucy Evans. He leaves her a widow and a little orphan boy, bearing his father's name, to mourn his loss. In 1863 Dr. Sevier removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, and though he there soon secured a very large practice, owing to strong attachments for his old Tennessee home, he returned to Jonesboro in 1865. The Doctor was an enthusiastic mineralogist and he spent the year 1865 largely in mining interests. Since that time he has been occupied entirely in the line of professional duties. He was a man of literary tastes with a fine command of language, and for a little while, merely for pastime, he was editor of the "Jonesboro JOURNAL," and his chaste articles were full of excellent sentiments and were often quoted by other periodicals. He also occasionally contributed to the permanent literature of his profession by a learned article on some intricate medical problem. Dr. Sevier was always alive to great public interests. Was one of the earliest and best friends of the E.T.V. & G. Railroad, being one of those who came to its rescue when it was in danger of losing its Charter from lack of funds. He had some experience as a legislator, being a member of the State Senate from this district in 1870. In 1873 Dr. Sevier was among those who remained in Jonesboro during the dreadful cholera scourge, and by his medical skill rendered invaluable aid to the distressed and the poor. He discovered a cholera cure which is said to be most excellent and which has been the subject of correspondence throughout the various States of Europe. Dr. Sevier ranked among the very first physicians of the State, and his reputation in medicine as well as the reputation of others, living and dead, in jurisprudence and in statesmanship, may well serve to rebuke the false notion that who would be successful must leave the villages of East Tennessee and go elsewhere. Dr. Sevier will be sadly missed by the medical fraternity wherever he was known. And to the people of this community his death was a great shock. A successful physician may well be called a cosmopolitan, a citizen of the world. He goes everywhere among all classes of people, and when he is taken away he is universally lamented. But most of all will his loss be felt in his home. He provided well for his household. He was a good husband and a tender father. Leaving his spirit in the hands of Him who gave it, let us all most faithfully and fervently pray, that God may be the "Husband of the widow and the Father of the fatherless," and that this providence, now seen "through a glass darkly," may work out for all the kindred and this whole community a far more exceding and eternal weight of glory. D. Jonesboro, August 24, 1882 Note: Dr. William R. Sevier is buried in the Old Jonesboro Cemetery. ___________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Patricia Sabin genealogy@patsabin.com ___________________________________________________________________