Son of George Washington Sevy and Phoebe Melinda Butler

Married Sarah Evadine Crosby, 16 November 1886, St. George, Washington, Utah. Children - Jessie Wentworth Sevy, Thomas Franklin Sevy, Blaine Erastus Sevy, Arthur Crosby Sevy, Pauline Sevy, Eva Dean Sevy.

Married Amy Genevieve Clark, 6 Nov 1900, Panguitch, Garfield, Utah. Children - Wendell Clark Sevy, George W. Sevy, V. M. Sevy, Mary Sevy, Artois Sevy, Albert D. Sevy, Vera Sevy, Amy Sevy.

Biography - Thomas Sevy, son of George W. and Phoebe Butler Sevy, was the ninth child of a family of fourteen children. He was born 4 October 1867, at New Harmony, Washington, Utah. His father and mother were married in Spanish Fork, Utah, where they established their first home.

In the spring of 1861, George w. Sevy was called to the Dixie mission and with his family started on a new adventure. They helped to settle New Harmony, where they lived for ten years.

In 1871, he was called to head a resettlement of the Panguitch Valley, the former settlers having been driven out by the Indians. Tom, as he has always been known, was four and a half years old when his family reached Panguitch that early March in 1871.

The family lived and ranched on the Panguitch Creek during the spring, summer and fall of each year, moving to town for the winter. Tom's father had sheep and cattle as well as a sawmill, so there were plenty of jobs for all the family.

His mother made cheese and butter and cooked for the mill hands. Tom and a sister, Minnie, would fish on Panguitch Creek to supply the table with meat, and many times the catch would be so heavy, the two children could hardly carry it back to the house.

The children always went barefoot during the summer and Tom has said many times, "There isn't a rock on that creek that doesn't owe me a toenail." When he was about ten years old, his pants were worn out, so his mother made him a pair out of an old wagon cover. The pants were much too white to suit him, so two of his friends, Dick Judd and Matt Evans, dragged him around the Darn yard, to put a little color into them.

The first freighting trip young Tom ever took, was when he was fourteen years old. His father sent him to Salt Lake City to sell two wagon loads of wool, fastened together and drawn by four horses. The trip took 28 days. He would make camp at night and travel the rough and muddy roads - by day. When he reached Salt Lake, he sold the wool for $3700. He took the check to the bank and was given that amount in gold and silver, tied up in a sack. As he left the bank an elderly gentleman with a long white beard said, "My boy, be very careful. People are being killed for less than you have there. "

Tom took the money to his wagon and hid it in a sack of grain, then hitched up his horses and drove to ZCMI to load his wagon with goods for the Co-op store back home. He also bought a six shooter and cartridges, because he had to protect all that money. At night he would hobble out his horses, prepare his supper and go to bed with the six shooter under his pillow. At Levan, Utah, two well dressed men stopped at the camp where Tom was cooking his evening meal.

He shared his food and part of his quilts with them. He was very frightened and knew they had come to steal his money. All night he lay on his stomach, holding his gun. In the morning they helped him wi th breakfast, catch the horses and prepare for his trip, then they went on their way. He decided they must be pretty good fellows, after all. After leaving Levan Tom couldn't by any bread, so he opened a ten pound box of stick candy and ate that to satisfy his hunger. By the time he reached home he was pretty sick. His mother took the sack of gold and silver and emptied it into a six quart milkpan, and it was a sight never to be forgotten. When his father returned home he said, "Tom, why didn't you leave the money in the bank?" His reply was, "You didn't tell me what to do with the money, and besides I thought a bank was a place to get money not to leave it." The money was sent back with the next freighter.

Tom completed his education in the Public School of that day, and at a very tender age began his own business of raising sheep and cattle. As the years passed he prospered in his undertakings and accumulated valuable farming and grazing lands. He was a dedicated promoter of the natural resources, and was always working, studying and trying out new ideas and methods to improve his holdings. His business affairs were wisely and carefully directed which shows that industry and determination were among the fine elements of character which he possessed.

He married Sarah Evadine Crosby, a daughter of President Jesse W. and Sarah P. Clark Crosby, in 1886. Six children were born to this union, four of whom are still living. In 1899 Sarah died, and in 1900, he married Amy Genevieve Clark, a daughter of Albert D. and Mary Ann Brown Clark. Eight children were born to this couple, five of whom are still living.

At the very early age of 18 he accepted his first civic responsibility. He was sworn in as under sheriff of Garfield county to assist Joseph Cameron, then acting sheriff. When Tom was 21 years old he was elected sheriff of the county, a position he held for one and a half terms. As sheriff, he had many exciting experiences.

Outlaws from 'Robbers Roost' hideout were frequently in Garfield county making his life one of excitement and danger. He resigned during his second term, so that he could run on the Republican ticket for State Representative. Tom was the youngest member of that 1896 Legislative body which was the same year that Utah was admitted to the Union. He was elected a second time as Representative in 1915, and was always very active in State affairs.

He and his brother Warren and William Cameron built and operated the Cameron and Sevy store for many years. Later it was incorporated as the Southern Utah Equitable.

Tom was Mayor of Panguitch for four years and a city councilman for twelve years. During this time the city water system was realized and the franchise was granted to the Telluride Power Company for electricity. The Carnegie Library was also built. In March 1913 he gave to the City and County seventeen acres of land with water rights for a Fairground and racetrack.

He was one of the organizers of the Panguitch State Bank, but sold his stock and bought stock in the Richfield Commercial and Savings Bank, where he was a director for forty years. Later years he was Vice-president but resigned because of ill health. He was president of Jumbo Plaster and Cement company for many years. It burned down so the mine was sold to Keen Cement company. It is still in operation. He also acted as president of Home Acceptance Corporation and Finance company. As a community builder, he was ever striving for better conditions.

In 1906 a group of citizens from Panguitch and Kanab organized a stock company known as the Garfield County Telephone and Telegraph company. It operated for many years between Kanab and Marysvale, Utah. The Bell Telephone System people have said that he was truly one of the outstanding bought the company out in 1929. So extensive have been his operations, so active and industrious his life that many influential men of Garfield County and the State of Utah.

After an illness, Tom died in Panguitch on 3 April 1953, and was buried there.

This information was compiled by Minerva Sevey Vance & Eileen Sevey Cluff in The Genealogy of the Descendants of George Washington Sevey, courtesy of Amy C. Sevy page 90. Printed by Robert L. Pellett Medford, Oregon 1965