Born in Rockingham, Vermont, Severens received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Middlebury College in 1857 and read law to enter the bar in 1859.

A Democrat in politics,[1] he was prosecuting attorney of St. Joseph County from 1861 to 1864, returning to private practice in Kalamazoo, Michigan from 1865 to 1886.

[2] President Grover Cleveland nominated Severens on May 14, 1886, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan that Judge Solomon Lewis Withey vacated.

The United States Senate confirmed him on May 25, 1886, and he received his commission the same day.

His service terminated on March 16, 1900, due to his elevation to the Sixth Circuit.