History:This portrait is a copy of the Charles Wilson Peale portrait of John Sevier. It is signed by Cooper beside the subject's left shoulder.
Notes:John Sevier (1745-1815) was born in Virginia and as a young man was a successful merchant. Coming to a new settlement on the Holston River in 1773, he was one of the first white settlers of Tennessee. He was elected governor of the state of Franklin at the end of the Revolutionary War, and as such, became the governor in what would be Tennessee. When statehood was attained in 1796, Sevier was elected its first governor. He served six terms totaling twelve years. While governor he negotiated with the Indian tribes to secure additional lands for the new state and opened new roads into the area to encourage settlement. At the close of his sixth term, he was elected to the state senate, and then to Congress. Sevier died while on a Congressional mission to Creek Indian country in 1815.
