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Sevier was born near the end of the 19th century on a plantation in southern Madison Parish, the eldest child of William Sevier, Sr. (1868-1943), a native of Thomastown in Leake County  in central [[Mississippi]], and the former Ada Shadbourne Graves (1877-1955). His maternal Graves grandparents were large landowners and planters prior to the [[American Civil War]]. As a child, Sevier took the nickname "Buck", but later tried to discourage its use. Most people still called him Buck as an adult. In 1916, he graduated from the [[Segregation|segregated]] Tallulah High School. (It has since beendesegregated, relocated and renamed Madison High School.) ​

Sevier was born near the end of the 19th century on a plantation in southern Madison Parish, the eldest child of William Sevier, Sr. (1868-1943), a native of Thomastown in Leake County  in central [[Mississippi]], and the former Ada Shadbourne Graves (1877-1955). His maternal Graves grandparents were large landowners and planters prior to the [[American Civil War]]. As a child, Sevier took the nickname "Buck", but later tried to discourage its use. Most people still called him Buck as an adult. In 1916, he graduated from the [[Segregation|segregated]] Tallulah High School. (It has since beendesegregated, relocated and renamed Madison High School.) ​

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He attended [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]] with hopes of becoming a lawyer. He was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. His studies were interrupted by [[World War I]], when he served as a balloon observer.  He never completed legal studies but returned to Tallulah in 1922. He worked at the [[United States Department of Agriculture]] experiment station there, which was established to try to develop ways to protect [[cotton]] growers from the pervasive [[boll weevil]], which was destroying crops throughout the South.  This station developed products and processes for crop dusting from airplanes.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url= http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lamadiso/bios/sevierwp.txt|title=William Putnam Sevier, Jr., Mayor of Tallulah, Madison Parish, Louisiana|publisher=rootswebancestry.com|accessdate=July 24, 2013}}</ref> Hundreds of flights took off from the Tallulah Airport as they worked on the best methods to dust the crops. Delta Dusters, a company that developed here to carry out crop dusting, was the origin of Delta Airlines.​

He attended [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]] with hopes of becoming a lawyer. He was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. His studies were interrupted by [[World War I]], when he served as a balloon observer.  He never completed legal studies but returned to Tallulah in 1922. He worked at the [[United States Department of Agriculture]] experiment station there, which was established to try to develop ways to protect [[cotton]] growers from the pervasive boll weevil, which was destroying crops throughout the South.  This station developed products and processes for crop dusting from airplanes.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url= http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lamadiso/bios/sevierwp.txt|title=William Putnam Sevier, Jr., Mayor of Tallulah, Madison Parish, Louisiana|publisher=rootswebancestry.com|accessdate=July 24, 2013}}</ref> Hundreds of flights took off from the Tallulah Airport as they worked on the best methods to dust the crops. Delta Dusters, a company that developed here to carry out crop dusting, was the origin of Delta Airlines.​

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Soon Seveier became a teller at Tallulah State Bank. He worked with the institution and advanced to lead it, serving fifty-eight years until he was eighty. He retired with the title of chairman emeritus. When Sevier began working for the bank, it employed only five people and did not use electricity until after 5 p.m. All receipts were hand-posted. He was working at the bank during the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929]] and the [[Great Depression]], a period in which many financial institutions closed. But his bank survived and has never closed its doors.<ref name=bio/> ​

Soon Seveier became a teller at Tallulah State Bank. He worked with the institution and advanced to lead it, serving fifty-eight years until he was eighty. He retired with the title of chairman emeritus. When Sevier began working for the bank, it employed only five people and did not use electricity until after 5 p.m. All receipts were hand-posted. He was working at the bank during the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929]] and the [[Great Depression]], a period in which many financial institutions closed. But his bank survived and has never closed its doors.<ref name=bio/> ​

The Seviers had a son, Richard Putnam Sevier, born on March 22, 1931, in Vicksburg,  Mississippi. He was residing in [[Midland]], [[Texas]], at the time of his father's death, but later relocated to Jackson, Mississippi. They also had twin daughters, both of whom married and moved away as well: Dorothy Hamilton Elliott, later of El Dorado,  [[Arkansas]]; and Nancy Sherrill Pirone, later of [[Lexington, Kentucky|Lexington]], [[Kentucky]].<ref name=roots>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lamadiso/articles/sevierfamily/sevierfamily.htm|title=Sevier Family of Madison Parish, Louisiana|publisher=rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=July 23, 2013}}</ref>​

The Seviers had a son, Richard Putnam Sevier, born on March 22, 1931, in Vicksburg,  Mississippi. He was residing in [[Midland]], [[Texas]], at the time of his father's death, but later relocated to Jackson, Mississippi. They also had twin daughters, both of whom married and moved away as well: Dorothy Hamilton Elliott, later of El Dorado,  [[Arkansas]]; and Nancy Sherrill Pirone, later of [[Lexington, Kentucky|Lexington]], [[Kentucky]].<ref name=roots>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lamadiso/articles/sevierfamily/sevierfamily.htm|title=Sevier Family of Madison Parish, Louisiana|publisher=rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=July 23, 2013}}</ref>​

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Sevier died on September 4, 1985, a few weeks before his 86th birthday. He and his wife, Martha, who preceded him in death by two years, are interred at Silver Cross Cemetery in Tallulah. Most members of the extended Sevier family in Louisiana are buried here.<ref name=cemetery/> ​

Sevier died on September 4, 1985, a few weeks before his 86th birthday. He and his wife, Martha, who preceded him in death by two years, are interred at Silver Cross Cemetery in Tallulah. Most members of the extended Sevier family in Louisiana are buried here.<ref name=cemetery/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/111719006|title=William Putnam "Buck" Sevier, Jr.|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=April 28, 2019}}</ref>​

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Sevier kept a hunting camp on the Tensas River. He had such interest in thoroughbred [[horse racing]] that his son-in-law, Dr. Thomas Pirone, placed a racing form in Sevier's coat pocket before he was buried. The form was from the 1973 [[Kentucky Derby]] won by Secretariat, an event for which Sevier had been in the stands.<ref name=bio/>​

​Sevier maintained a hunting camp on the Tensas River. He had such interest in thoroughbred [[horse racing]] that his son-in-law, Dr. Thomas Pirone, placed a racing form in Sevier's coat pocket before he was buried. The form was from the 1973 [[Kentucky Derby]] won by Secretariat, an event for which Sevier had been in the stands.<ref name=bio/>​

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In a 1974 "Baghdad on the Bayou" column of the ''Madison Journal'', editor Carroll Regan  recalls Sevier's political clout:​

In a 1974 "Baghdad on the Bayou" column of the ''Madison Journal'', editor Carroll Regan  recalls Sevier's political clout:​

==References==​

==References==​

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[[Category:Louisiana People]]

[[Category:Louisiana People]]