 He was named after his father, Valentine 'The immigrant' Sevier, who had taken passage from London to America and settled in Augusta County, Virginia in an area which is part of Rockingham County today.His older brother, John Sevier, became the first governor of the state of Tennessee.As a young man, Sevier moved over the Appalachian Mountains to join the Watauga Association when it was established at present day Elizabethton, Tennessee.