Henry Clontz Severs

He was born on a ship at sea shortly before arrival at Charleston, SC from Germany, with his family, in November 1842. In 1860 he was a 17 year old clerk living with his siblings, mother Mette Marie Bruns (1815-1875), and Bavarian-born father Heinrich Harn "Henry" Severs (1814-1878), a successful brewer and merchant in Charlotte, NC. They'd come to Charlotte from Charleston, SC about 1850.

He enlisted at Salisbury in Rowan County as a Private in Company K of the 4th North Carolina Infantry on 30 May 1861.

He was captured in action at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862, where Captain Osborne later noted:

Henry Severs was another brave Mecklenburg boy ... He was with General George B. Anderson when he was wounded, and assisted in helping that noble hero from the field of Sharpsburg.

He was paroled at Sharpsburg on 21 September and was exchanged and returned to duty, dates not given.

He was captured again, at Gettysburg, PA on 5 July 1863. He was in the the US Army General Hospital in West's Buildings, in Baltimore, MD from 14 October 1863 to 23 April 1864 with intermittent fever, debility, and/or gonorrhea, then transferred to Fort McHenry. On 21 July he was sent to the prison at Point Lookout, MD. He was exchanged at Cox's Landing on the James River, VA on 20 February 1865.

By 1870 and to at least 1880 he was a retail merchant with a general store in Charlotte, NC. He also invested in other businesses and real estate. In 1900 he was a Justice of the Peace there, and he had retired in Charlotte by 1910. The Seversville section of Charlotte is named for him.

On November 24th [1915], Henry set out on a train trip to Richmond with a contingent of fellow Charlotteans for the annual Thanksgiving game between the University of North Carolina and the University of Virginia. While the “football special” was stopped awaiting signals in Salisbury, North Carolina, another train rear-ended it, killing two, including Henry, and injuring nearly two dozen others.

His service from his Compiled Service Records,1 via fold3, and the Roster.2. Personal details from the US Census of 1860-1910, a bio sketch in Lewis Publishing's History of North Carolina: North Carolina Biography (Vol. VI, 1919), and family genealogists - notably Ann Stephens; the description of his death quoted here is from her blog Leafy Vines. The Osborne quote above is from his history of the regiment in Clark,3 source also of his picture. His gravesite is on Findagrave.

He married Mary Roxanna Prim(m) (1847-1926) in June 1865 and they had 10 children.

A statement of the causes of the train accident which killed Henry were published by the Interstate Commerce Commission in December 1915.

11/02/1842; at sea off of Charleston, SC

11/24/1915; Salisbury, NC; burial in Elmwood Cemetery, Charlotte, NC