Major John Sevier was the scion of the prestigious Tennessee family, the son of General John Sevier and Sarah Hawkins Sevier. General Sevier was one of the master strategists who had defeated Major Patrick Ferguson at the Battle of King's Mountain on October 7, 1780. He was elected as the first Governor of Tennessee in 1796.

Major Sevier was married three times and had issue by each wife. He first married Elizabeth Conway in 1788 and had two children:

John Augustus Sevier
Catherine Sherill Sevier

The year of birth of their daughter corresponded with the year of death of her mother: 1790. It was, therefore, possible that Elizabeth Sevier died in childbirth or from complications of that birth.

In 1790, Major Sevier married Rebecca Sarah Richards, the beautiful daughter of William Richards and Mary Patrick Richards. Mrs. Rebecca Sarah Sevier thus became stepmother to Major Sevier's two children and raised them to their majority. She and Major Sevier added four sons to the family:

William Sevier
Thomas Rush Sevier
James Sevier
John Sevier, III
She and Major Sevier also had a daughter Elizabeth who married Joseph Throckmorton. (Two other births are mentioned but not named indicating that they may have been still births or died within days of birth.)
Source: "A Genealogical History of he DuPuy Family", John Meredith DuPuy; 1910.

In 1809, the birth of a child again corresponded with the death of the mother. Major Sevier may have suffered the loss of his second wife to childbirth or complications from that childbirth. As with the first wife, the cause of death of Rebecca Sevier was not established.

Because he had young children who needed a mother, Major Sevier married a third time. His marriage to
Sophia Garoutte occurred less than a year after the death of his second wife. Once again, a stepmother was tasked with raising the children of a former wife along with the children that she and Major Sevier added to the family:

John Garoutte Sevier
Elizabeth Conway Sevier
Michael Robert Sevier
Anna Maria Sevier
Archibald McAfee Sevier
Martha Ann Sevier
Louisa Rebecca Sevier
Sophia Smith Garoutte Sevier

Note:

Major Sevier's father, Governor Sevier was married twice. As stated above, Sarah Hawkins Sevier was the mother of Major Sevier. She died January 1, 1780. Later that same year, John Sevier, Sr. married Catherine "Bonny Kate" Sherrill. Obviously, Sarah Hawkins Sevier was the mother of those siblings of Major Sevier's listed below who were born before 1780 and Catherine Sherrill Sevier of those after.