Born in Germany, Severin Roesen, a young practicing still-life artist, came to the United States to live in the mid 1800's. He originally lived in New York upon coming to the country but settled in Williamsport in 1860. Many of the area residents commisioned Roesen's work and he became good friends with some of those individuals including Peter Herdic who hung some of Roesen's paintings in the Herdic Hotel.

Roesen disappeared from the Williamsport and from record in 1872, although there is a work dated for that year. Various reports indicate that he died in Philadelphia, New York, or Williamsport but there are no death records to substantiate this information.