Individual Details

Spelled name Severns, Seaverns. Came over on the Elizabeth in 1634. An original proprietor of Salisbury, MA in 1637. Moved to Boston in 1663. Early inhabitant of Ipswich, MA, removed to Salisbury in 1640, where he died? Ninth Great-grandfather John Severans was probably born in 1609. We know that he married Abigail Kimball in Ipswich, England in 1635 but thata scant two years later he was in Boston, a freeman. At the point that he came to America, he changed his name to Severance. The tracing of this name change takes us through much history. The root of the name is Se-ver from which came the various modifications,-Severin, Sev- erinus, Severns, Severans, Severens, Scvereans, Severance. The first man to bear the name, so far as we know, was the father of Lucius Septimus Severus, born 146 A. D. at Sepsis, an African coast town. He was a Roman citizen and spoke the Punic tongue. Many Roman families carried the name,-a poet under Augustus; an orator un- der Tiberius; the Emperor Septimus Severus, and others. The Gregorian calendar names a Saint Severin.A church founded in medieval Paris carries the name Saint Severin. The medieval outer walls of Cologne, Germany has some very fine gate towers one of which is the Severins gate which opens upon Severins Street,a main thor- oughfare at the head of which stands the Saint Severins Church, where Saint Severins, a learned and a prominent bishop officiated for many years. There was also a John Severans in Germany in 1580. Marcus Aurelius Severins born 1589 was a distinguished physician who at the age of twenty- five was elected to the Chair of Anatomy and Med- icine in the University of Medicine in Paris. He soon became Surgeon in Chief of La Hospitale Incurables. Pierre Severinus was a noted Danish physician who received the title of Doctor of Med- icine from the King on his return from the study of medicine in Paris. There are many Severin families in France. Rachel Severin, Foutet, France, wrote me that a noted agriculturist and beet sugar specialist lives in the Aisne department and that there were many 'landowners and landworkers in the valley of the Garonne near the Pyrenees Mountains by the name Severin and that several districts of France and many families carry the name Severac.' In England, we probably find our direct an- cestors. There is a record in Burke's Landed Gentry, page 1247, stating that 'there are ancient and broken records tracing the ancestry of the Severans of Shrawley to a remote period.' John Severans of Shrawley had a son, Thomas,.of: Broadway and Powick, who was succeeded by his son, John of Powick, who married, Mary, daugh- ter of Richard Langley. He begat three daughters and two sons, one of which died unmarried. The other, the youngest son, named John, was prob- ably the patriarch of the Severances in America, although there is no positive proof of it. Our record, therefore, begins with your ninth great- grandfather who we know was John Severans of Ipswich, England, who was in Boston in 1637, a freeman, and a member of the Ancient and Honor- able Artillery in 1640. He was one of the founders of Salisbury, Massachusetts. His name appears in the list of names of men to whom lots and acreages were assigned in 1639. He was a 'Prudential Man' (Selectman)' often put in charge of public trusts of various kinds, of which 'there can be no better evidence of faithful discharge of the duties so imposed upon him; all of which proves that he was a man of sterling integrity and especially fitted for the various trusts placed in his hands.' Burke's Landed Gentry gives us no further in- formation on this point The name here is spelled Severne, but the form of spelling is not important. However, the changes are interesting. John of Boston signed his name Severans, so also his eldest son, John, and his second son, Joseph,and it is probably true that his other sons, Ephraim and Benjamin did also, but the descendants of Joseph kept the variation- 'Severans first and second gen- - erations, Severens, third generation, then Seaverns for the fourth generation. On the other hand, the other branches of the family changed the form from Severans to Severance in the third generation, about 1700.

Birth	1608/09	England
Marriage	1634/35	England - Abigail Kimball
Residence	1637	Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States
Residence	Abt 1639	Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts, United States
Marriage	27 Oct 1663	Susanna Ambrose
Will	7 Apr 1682
Death	9 Apr 1682	Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts, United States
Will	9 May 1682

Spouse	Abigail Kimball (1616 - 1658)
Child	Samuel Severans (1637 - )
Child	Ebenezer Severans (1638 - 1667)
Child	Abigail Severans (1640 - 1641)
Child	Abigail Severance (1643 - )
Child	Mary Severans (1645 - )
Child	John Severans (1647 - )
Child	Joseph Severans (1650 - )
Child	Elizabeth Severans (1652 - 1652)
Child	Benjamin Severans (1654 - )
Child	Ephraim Severans (1656 - )
Child	Daughter Severans (1658 - 1658)
Child	Elizabeth Severans (1658 - )

Spouse

Susanna Ambrose ( - )

Father	John Severans (1580 - )
Mother	Mary Langley (1584 - )