Biographical History of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton,
Warren and Pulaski Counties, Indiana, Illustrated, Volume 1, pp. 350-351
Lewis Publishing Company, 1899
WILBUR F. SEVERSON
A worthy representative of two pioneer families of Indiana, the subject
of this review was born in Lafayette, February 4, 1860, a son of PAGE B.
and MARY J. (JONES) SEVERSON. The parents were both natives of
Tippecanoe County, and for many years the father was numbered among the
leading business men of Lafayette. He was the proprietor and manager of
a music store, which since his death, March 2, 1897, has been carried on
by his son, FREDERICK J. FREDERICK J. and WILBUR F., of the sketch,
are his only children. The widowed mother is still living.
The paternal grandfather of our subject, JAMES SEVERSON, was a native of
Pennsylvania and was possibly, of Scotch ancestry. He went to Ohio when
a young man, there married PATIENCE J. PIERCE, and subsequently removed
to this state, taking up his abode at a point seven miles west of
Lafayette. He was one of the pioneers of this section and was actively
associated with the early development of the county.
On the maternal side of our subjects family we find that his
grandfather, MARK JONES, was born in Kanawha County, West Virginia,
January 14, 1814. When he was a child he removed with his father,
WILLIAM JONES, by flat-boat down the Ohio River to Cincinnati and thence
proceeded to Wayne County, Indiana. In 1824 he came to Tippecanoe
County, where he became one of the most valued citizens. He served for
twelve years as clerk of the court, and also acted in the capacity of
constable. For several years he was judge of the Court of Common Pleas
and during the remainder of his life he was actively engaged in the
practice of law. His long and useful life was closed March 4, 1897, and
his loss has been deeply felt by his large circle of admirers and
friends.
WILBUR F. SEVERSON received a good education in the public schools of
Lafayette and later was a student of Purdue University for four years.
The next two years he attended the Cincinnati Law School, graduating
there May 25, 1881. He was at once admitted to the bar of this state
and entered upon a practice which has been successful from the start and
has been constantly widening in importance. Since February 1885, he has
held the position of United States commissioner, and upon the 14th of
October 1880, he was granted a license to practice before the supreme
court of the United States.
He has always been a great lover of music, and while living in
Cincinnati he was a pupil in the Conservatory, taking special
instruction on the piano and organ. He uses his right of franchise in
favor of the Republican party, in the success of which he is earnestly
interested. A Mason of the thirty-second degree, he belongs to
Tippecanoe Lodge, No. 492, F. & A. M.; Lafayette Chapter, No. 3, R.A.M.;
Lafayette Commandery, No. 3, K.T. and is, moreover, a noble of the
Mystic Shrine.
The marriage of MR. SEVERSON and MISS MINNIE E. GWIN, of Battle Ground,
Indiana, was celebrated November 29, 1892. They are members of Saint
Johns Episcopal Church of this place, and are interested in all worthy
religious and philanthropic enterprises.