Los Angeles County, CA, Biographies

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives 
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


MARK SIBLEY SEVERANCE, 
 
Los Angeles, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, October 28, 1846. His father, T. C. 
Severance, is a native of Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, and his mother, 
Caroline (Seymour) Severance, a native of Canandaigua, New York, is well known 
in literary circles throughout the country. He pursued his college-preparatory 
studies at the Roxbury Latin School in Boston; after leaving this school one of 
his tutors was Wendell Phillips Garrison, a son of the celebrated leader of the 
Abolitionists, William Lloyd Garrison. In 1869 he graduated at Harvard College. 
After spending a year in the South, he was appointed assistant librarian of 
Congress, under A. R. Spofford, the present librarian, and held that position 
three years. In 1872 he went on an exploring expedition conducted by George M. 
Wheeler, in Utah and Nevada; was a member of the engineer corps. In 1874 he came 
to Santa Barbara, where he acted as president of the Santa Barbara College for 
one year. Then
he came to Los Angeles and invested in land in Los Angeles and San Bernardino 
counties. In 1878 he went to San Francisco and entered the employ of the 
Southern Pacific Railroad Company, in which position he remained nine years.  In 
1883 he was appointed general agent for the company at Salt Lake City, and held 
that position four years, then resigning to give his attention to his vast 
interests in this part of California. Mr. Severance, being a literary man, has 
contributed articles to various magazines and is the author of " Hammersmith," a 
book on college life. He has one of the most elegant homes in Los Angeles, on 
Adams street, surrounded and characterized by every pleasant feature that 
culture and taste can suggest. He was married November 1, 1879, to Miss Annie, 
daughter of Hiram Crittenden, of St. Louis, and niece of Mrs. Mark Hopkins. 
Their two children are: Hattie, four and a half years old, and Marjorie, one and 
a half years of age, at this writing (March, 1889).
 
An Illustrated History of Los Angeles County, California �  Chicago, The Lewis 
Publishing Company, 1889   Page 626
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler