Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/494

466 took a warm interest in religious matters, ami dur- ing the forty-right years in which lie held the office of Sunday-school superintendent was absent from his post only twelve times.

SETTLE, Thomas, jurist, b. in Kockingham county, N. C., in 1791 ; d. there. 5 Aug., 1857. He received a common-school education, was admitted to the bar, and practised at Wentworth, N. C. He entered public life in 1816 as a member of the house of commons, and was in congress in 1817-'21, hav- ing been elected as a Democrat. He was again in the legislature in 1826-'8, the last year was speaker of the house, and in 1832-'54 was a judge of the su- preme court of North Carolina, and eminent for his virtues and legal ability. His son. Thomas, jurist, b. in Rockingham county. N. ('.. 23 Jan., 1K!1 ; d. in Raleigh, N. C., 1 Dec., 1888. He was gradual ed at the University of North Carolina in 1850, read law, served in the legislature in 1854 '9, was speaker of the house the latter year, and a presidential elector in 1856, casting his vote for James Buchanan. He supported Stephen A. Douglas for the presidency in 1860, and used his influence to prevent secession, but, when the civil war began, entered the Confed- erate army as captain in the 3d North Carolina regiment. After a service of twelve months he returned to civil life and became solicitor of the 4th judicial district. He united with the Repub- lican party in 1865, was elected to the state senate in that year, became its speaker, and took an ac- tive part in reconstruction measures. He was a judge of the state supreme court in 1868-'71. and resigned to become U. S. minister to Peru, but held office for only a few months on account of the fail- ure of his health, was an unsuccessful candidate for congress in 1872, and in June of that year was president of the National Republican con- vention, held in Philadelphia. He was reappoint- ed a justice of the state supreme court in 1873, and was defeated for governor in 1876. In 1877 he became United States district judge of the northern district of Florida.

SEUSEMAN, Joachim, missionary, b. in Hesse- Cassel ; d. in Jamaica, W. I., in 1772. lie came to Pennsylvania with the first Moravian colony in 1742, and between 1743 and 1755 served in the In- dian mission. In the attack on Gnadenhuetten, Pa., 24 Nov., 1755, his wife was munlm-d by Indians in the French service. Subsequently he was sent to labor among the negro slaves in Jamaica. V, I., where he died. His son, fiottlob, missionary, b. in 1742 : d. in Fairfield, Canada, 4 Jan., 1808. for about forty years was employed in the Moravian mission among the Indians in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Canada. He was an eloquent preacher, well conversant with the Delaware lan- guage, and a man of great energy.

SEVER, Anne Elizabeth Parsons, benefactor, b. in Boston, Mass., 29 May, 1810 ; d. there, 15 Dec., 1879. She was educated in Boston, and married James Warren Sever, who at his death left a note or memorandum requesting his wife to give ciM-lain sums to Harvard university after her de- cease. Accordingly, she bequeathed $100,000 to Harvard t<> build a hall for undergraduates, which should be called by her name, $20,000 for the pur- chase of books for its library, and $20,0(10 for the general use of the corporation without restriction as to its use. She also willed $10.000 to the Bos- ton children's hospital, and $5,000 earh t<> live benevolent institutions in that city, $5.000 to the New England historic-genealogical society, mid an equal sum to the General theological library, to the Boston training-schools for nurses, and the Con- necticut retreat for the insane.

SEVERANCE, Luther, editor, b. in Montague, Mass., 28 Oct., 1797: d. in Augusta. Me., 25 Jan., 1855. After learning the printer's trade in Pe- terboro, N. Y., he worked in Washington. Phila- delphia, and several other cities, and in 1825 set- tled in Augusta, Me., and established the " Ken- nebec Journal." He served in the legislature in 1830-'!, in the state senate in 1835, and again in the legislature in 1839-'42. He was in congress in 1843-'7, having been elected as a Whig, and in 1850 was appointed United States minister to the Sandwich islands, which post he held four years. See a "Memoir" of him by James G. Elaine (Au- gusta, Me., 1856).

SEVIER, John, pioneer, b. in Rockingham county, Va.. 23 Sept., 1745 ; d. near Fort Decatur, Ga., 24 Sept., 1815. He was descended from an ancient French family who spelled their name Xavier. His father, Valentine, emigrated to this country from London about 1740, and, set- tling in Roek- ingham county, John was edu- cated, until he was sixteen years of age, at the academy in Fredericks- burg, Va., mar- f. ried the next year, and found- ed the village of Newmarket in the valley of the Shenan- doah. He there became cele- brated as an In- dian fighter, was a victor in many battles with the neighboring tribes, and in 1772 was appointed captain in the Virginia line. In the spring of that year he removed to Watauga, a settlement on the western slope of the Alleghanies, and, by his courage, address, and military ability, became one of the principal men in the colony. When Lord Dunmore's war began in 1773 against the Shawnee and other Indian tribes, he resumed his rank in the Virginia line, served throughout the campaign, and on 10 Oct., 1774, took part in the battle of Point Pleasant. At the beginning of the Revolution he drew up the memorial of the citizens of Watauga to the North Carolina legislature asking to lie annexed to that colony, that " they might aid in the unhappy contest, and bear their full proportion of the expenses of the war." Their petition was granted and the whole of what is now Tennessee was organized into a county of North Carolina, then known as Washington district. Sevier was chosen a delegate to the State convention, and in the ' declaration of rights " introduced a clause thus defining the limits of the state : " That it shall not be so construed as to prevent the establishment of one or more governments westward of this state, by consent of the legislature." showing that he had already in mind the establishment of a separate commonwealth beyond the AllnJu nies. In the spring of 1777 the legislature of North Carolina met, and Sevicr was again a representative from Watauga, and procured for the settlement the establishment of courts and the extension of state laws. On his return lie was appointeil clerk of the county and district judge,