John Sevier was born on September 23, 1745, in Rockingham County, Virginia to Valentine and Joanna (Goode) Sevier. He married Sarah Hawkins in 1761 and they had ten children together before she died in 1780. In August of 1780, he married Catherine Sherrill, and they had eight children together.

John Sevier was an early American soldier and statesman. As a soldier, he fought some thirty-five battles or skirmishes, including the controversial Battle of Kings Mountain, and was made a Lieutenant Colonel in 1776 and a Grigadier General in 1791. He began his political career as a representative to the Provincial Congress during the Revolutionary War. He helped organize the State of Franklin, which collapsed after a battle between his faction and the opposing Tipton Family faction in February 1788. This battle tarnished his reputation, and after his arrest for taking part in a brawl in 1788, he fled to hide in the mountains. He found his way back to political respectability by strongly supporting the ratification of the national Constitution. In 1789, he was pardoned upon his election to the North Carolina Senate. Also, in 1789, Sevier was elected to the U.S. Congress for the 1789-1791 term as the representative of North Carolina's Western district.

With the cession of western lands to the Federal government, Sevier became active in the politics of the new territory, serving in the Territory's legislative council. With statehood in 1796, Sevier became the first governor of Tennessee, serving three consecutive terms from 1796 to 1801 and returning to the position two years later for three more terms in office from 1803 to 1809. In 1809, he was elected to the state Senate and in 1811 he was again elected to the U. S. House of Representatives. Here he served, until his death on September 24, 1815, while on a mission to survey the boundary of the Indian peace treaty. In 1889, his grave was moved to Knoxville, Tennessee.