| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Severance Family |
| Title: | Severance Family Papers, Series II |
| Dates: | 1826-1989 |
| Extent: | 4.00 linear feet (4 containers) |
| Abstract: | The Severance family was a prominent Cleveland, Ohio, family known for its philanthropic activities. Solon Severance, a Cleveland banker, was the son of Solomon Severance and Mary Helen Long, and a brother of Louis Severance. He was also a descendent of John Walworth, an early settler of Cleveland who was a civil engineer and was appointed in 1806 as the Custom Collector for the District of Erie. Solon's wife, Emily Allen, was the daughter of Dr. Dudley Allen, and the sister of prominent surgeon Dudley P. Allen. Solon and Emily's daughter, Julia Severance Millikin, was the wife of Benjamin Millikin, a noted Cleveland opthalmologist. Julia's children included Helen Millikin Nash and Severance, Marianne, Dudley, and Louise Millikin. The collection consists of historical and biographical data on various family members; diaries and travel journals, especially of Julia Severance Millikin and her mother, Emily Allen Severance; correspondence, especially between Julia and her mother, Emily Severance; wills, genealogical notes, deeds, notices of events, and newspaper clippings. Among the correspondence are numerous letters from Julia's friends from Wells College. The collection also includes a certificate appointing John Walworth collector for the district of Erie, 1806, and a journal kept by Dudley Allen detailing early medical practice in the area. There is also material on author Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) and his voyage around the world, which included Solon and Emily Severance, and became the basis of his novel "The Innocents Abroad". |
| MS Number | MS 4558 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English |
The Severance Family of Cleveland, Ohio, descends from John Walworth and his wife Juliana (Morgan) Walworth who migrated to Painesville, Ohio, from Aurora, New York, in 1800, and then moved to Cleveland in 1806. John Walworth was a civil engineer who was employed by the state of Connecticut. He was later appointed by President Thomas Jefferson to the post of Custom Collector for the District of Erie. The Walworths' daughter, also named Juliana, served as a nurse during the War of 1812, tending wounded soldiers who were brought to Cleveland. In 1811, she married David Long, who arrived in Cleveland from Hebron, New York, in 1810. Long was the first physician to practice in Cleveland and also served as a surgeon during the War of 1812.
David and Juliana Long had three children, but only one, Mary Helen Long, lived to maturity. She was a charter member of the Young Ladies' Missionary Society of Cleveland's First Presbyterian Church, an association continued throughout her life. In 1833, she married Solomon Severance, who had recently arrived in Cleveland from Shelburne, Massachusetts. Mary and Solomon became the progenitors of one of Cleveland's most prominent families of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They had two sons, Solon and Louis. Solomon Severance died in 1838, less than a month before Louis was born, leaving his wife to raise their two young sons by herself.
Louis Severance had four children with his first wife, Fannie Benedict. Their son John L. Severance was a patron of the arts; Severance Music Hall (home of the Cleveland Orchestra) is named after him, because he provided most of the funds for its construction (the rest was provided by members of the Bingham family). Daughter Elisabeth (called Bessie as a child) is remembered for the Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation, which supports medical research. Robert Bruce Severance died in infancy and Annie Belle Severance died unmarried at the age of 28. Fannie Benedict Severance died in 1874 and Louis remarried to Florence Harkness, with whom he had no children.
The family of Solon Severance, however, is the one most prominently featured in this collection. Solon was a prominent Cleveland banker. In 1860, he married Emily Allen who, like his mother, came from a family of physicians. Emily Allen's grandfather, Peter Allen, was an early doctor in Kinsman, Ohio, and her father, Dudley Allen, practiced medicine in Kinsman and in Oberlin, Ohio. Her brother, Dudley P. Allen, was a prominent Cleveland surgeon and was also the first husband of the aforementioned Elisabeth Severance (she married Francis Prentiss after Allen's death). Solon and Emily Severance had four children: Julia Walworth Severance, Allen Dudley Severance, Mary Helen Severance, and Paul Frame Severance (died in infancy).
Julia Severance, the oldest child of Solon and Emily Severance, was born in 1862. In the early 1880s she attended Wells College in Aurora, New York, graduating in 1885. She later served on the college's board of trustees, a post she held from 1912 until her resignation in 1934. After her graduation, she travelled extensively, touring Europe in 1888 and 1889. In 1891, she married Benjamin Millikin, a noted Cleveland ophthalmologist who worked closely with her uncle, Dudley P. Allen. The Millikins had five children: Helen, Severance, Marianne, Dudley, and Louise. All of the daughters attended Wells College; Helen followed in her mother's footsteps when she was elected to the board in 1936. Helen Millikin was married in 1923 to Richard Preston Nash, whose father, John Nash, had been the proprietor of a meat packing house in Cleveland. The Nashes had three children: Julia, Richard Preston, Jr., and Louise.
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for John Long Severance
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Louis Henry Severance
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Solomon Lewis Severance
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Solon Lewis Severance
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for David Long
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Juliana Walworth Long
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for John Walworth
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Severance Hall
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Dudley P. Allen
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Peter Allen
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Francis F. Prentiss
The Severance Family Papers, Series II, 1826-1989 consist of historical and biographical data, diaries, other writings, correspondence, wills, genealogical notes, deeds, notices of events, and newspaper clippings.
This collection pertains primarily to the lives of members of one of Cleveland's wealthiest families during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The person most prominently featured is Julia Severance Millikin. The letters written to her while she was a student at Wells College provide much detail about the lives of the family members who were home in Cleveland and the surrounding area. The letters Emily Allen Severance wrote to her daughter are an especially valuable source for women's history. It was not unusual for Emily to write three or four lengthy letters to Julia per week. Others who wrote frequently to Julia were her sister, Mary Severance; her cousin, Elisabeth Severance; and her grandmother, Mary Long Severance. After Julia Severance's graduation, she received numerous letters from classmates, as she maintained the friendships she formed while in college well after graduation. One of the classmates she received letters from was Frances Folsom Cleveland, the wife of President Grover Cleveland, of whose wedding party she was a member. The biographical sketches of Juliana Walworth Long, Mary Long Severance, and Emily Allen Severance are also useful for students of women's history as are Emily Severance's diaries and Julia's diaries. The collection can also be utilized by those interested in the early history of the medical profession in Cleveland and northeastern Ohio. The biographical data on David Long and the journal of Dudley Allen are particularly valuable sources of information on this subject. Several of the Severances married members of the medical profession or relatives of medical professionals, thus establishing permanent ties to medicine in Cleveland. This is reflected in their continuous contributions to Cleveland hospitals and other medical organizations. There is also material in the collection on the nineteenth century author Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain). Clemens accompanied Solon and Julia Severance on a voyage around the world in 1867. He based his novel The Innocents Abroad on this trip and the collection includes information about the voyage. Other travel diaries in the collection detail journeys in England, Scotland, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and France during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The material also includes some information on the family's philanthropic activities, particularly Julia Severance Millikin's work with Wells College, John L. Severance's arts patronage, and the Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation.
None.
Related MaterialResearchers should also consult the following collections for additional information on the Severance and Walworth families: MS 805 Severance Family Papers; MS 1901 John Walworth Family Papers; and MS 3068 Euclid Avenue National Bank, Cleveland, Ohio Records.
Separated MaterialAll photographs have been removed to PG 440 Severance Family Photographs.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4558 Severance Family Papers, Series II, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Given in memory of Helen Millikin Nash by her family: Richard P. Nash, Jr.; Louise Nash Robbins; and the Children of Julia Nash McCoy (Sarah, Louise, William B., and Peter), 1990. Diary of Julia Severance Millikin, 1887, photocopy made in 1994 from original owned by William C. McCoy, (subsequently donated to Wells College).
Processed by Richard Hite in 1991.
Series I: Historical and Biographical Data 1851-1989 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Allen, Dudley P. (1852-1915), newspaper clippings about retirement 1910 | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Allen, Dudley P. (1852-1915), obituary 1915 | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Allen, Dudley P. (1852-1915), reminiscence by Severance Millikin undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Allen, Peter (1787-1864), newspaper clipping about home in Kinsman, Ohio undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Hadden, Elisabeth Severance (1957-1976), obituaries 1976 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Hadden, John A. (1886-1979), obituary 1979 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Long, David (1787-1851), obituary (typed copy) 1851 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Long, David (1787-1851), article in Bulletin of The Academy of Medicine of Cleveland 1930 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Long, David (1787-1851), article "The Sesquicentennial of the War of 1812" 1962 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Long, David (1787-1851), article in A Centennial History of University Hospitals of Cleveland 1965 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Long, David (1787-1851), newspaper clippings 1968 1976 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Long, David (1787-1851), notice in The Pioneer Families of Cleveland undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Long, Juliana Walworth (1794-1866), obituary (typed copy) 1866 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Long, Juliana Walworth (1794-1866), biographical sketch in Women of Cleveland 1881 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Millikin, Benjamin L. (1851-1916), biographical sketch 1916 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Millikin, Dudley L. (1898-1975), obituary 1975 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Millikin, Dudley L. (1898-1975), article about Motor and Equipment Motors Association undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Millikin, Julia Severance (1862-1950), articles about Aurora Inn, Aurora, New York 1958 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Millikin, Severance A. (1895-1985), newspaper clippings 1938-1989 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Millikin, Severance A. (1895-1985), pamphlet on surgical intensive care unit 1981 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Millikin, Severance A. (1895-1985), list of objects in art collection undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Prentiss, Elisabeth Severance Allen (1865-1944), report on Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation 1983 | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Severance, Emily Allen (1840-1921), obituaries 1921 | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Severance, Emily Allen (1840-1921), newspaper clippings undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Severance, John Long (1863-1936), memorial sketch 1936 | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Severance, John Long (1863-1936), listing of floral offerings at funeral 1936 | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Severance, Mary Helen Long (1816-1902), newspaper clipping 1902 | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Severance, Mary Helen Long (1816-1902), recollections undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Tryon, Louise Millikin (1900-1980), engagement announcement 1944 | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Tryon, Louise Millikin (1900-1980), obituary 1980 | |||||||||
Series II: Personal Writings 1846-1928 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Allen, Dudley (1814-1898), journal including biographical sketches of himself and his father, Peter Allen, and some genealogical data on the Allen and Morgan families undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 17-18 | Allen, Dudley (1814-1898), family registers with genealogical data on Allen and Frame families undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Allen, Dudley (1814-1898), reminiscences undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Allen, Dudley (1814-1898), certificate of having reached Termination Rock at Niagara Falls 1846 | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | Allen, Jennie (1850-1868), report cards from Kinsman Academy 1862-1865 | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | Allen, Jennie (1850-1868), drawing 1862 | |||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Allen, Martha (1838-1846), death notice 1846 | |||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Allen, Martha (1838-1846), merit slips from teachers undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Allen, Martha (1838-1846), drawings undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 22 | Allen, Rebecca Theresa (1842-1867), autograph book 1853 | |||||||||
| 1 | 23 | Millikin, Julia Severance (1862-1950), travel diary describing trip to Niagara Falls 1872-1873 | |||||||||
| 1 | 23 | Millikin, Julia Severance (1862-1950), diary, Washington D. C. and White House, photocopy 1887 | |||||||||
| 1 | 24-26 | Millikin, Julia Severance (1862-1950), travel diary detailing European voyage 188-1889 | |||||||||
| 1 | 27 | Millikin, Julia Severance (1862-1950), travel diary detailing European voyage 1913 | |||||||||
| 1 | 28-30 | Millikin, Julia Severance (1862-1950), compositions 1883-1885 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 31-38 | Millikin, Julia Severance (1862-1950), class notebooks undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 39-40 | Millikin, Julia Severance (1862-1950), music books undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 41 | Millikin, Julia Severance (1862-1950), writings by members of a Sunday school class she taught undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 42 | Millikin, Julia Severance (1862-1950), expense account undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 43 | Millikin, Julia Severance (1862-1950), report cards 1881-1885 | |||||||||
| 1 | 43 | Millikin, Julia Severance (1862-1950), autograph book undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 44 | Nash, Helen Millikin (1893-1990), travel diary detailing trip to Europe 1910 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 45 | Nash, Helen Millikin (1893-1990), notebook about her children following weight gains, walking, and talking 1924-1928 | |||||||||
| 2 | 46 | Nash, John (1837-1910), cash book 1878-1886 | |||||||||
| 2 | 47 | Nash, John (1837-1910), list of assets in estate undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 48-49 | Prentiss, Elisabeth Severance Allen (1865-1944), travel diaries detailing trip around the world 1910-1911 | |||||||||
| 2 | 50 | Prentiss, Elisabeth Severance Allen (1865-1944), travel diary detailing European trip 1867 | |||||||||
| 2 | 51 | Severance, Emily Allen (1840-1921), travel diary detailing European trip 1867 | |||||||||
| 2 | 52-61 | Severance, Emily Allen (1840-1921), general diary 1910-1919 | |||||||||
| 2 | 62 | Severance, Emily Allen (1840-1921), poems 1863-1902 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 63 | Severance, Erasmus D. (1817-1840), "Maxim and Item" book 1832 | |||||||||
| 2 | 64 | Severance, Solon (1834-1915), account of voyage around the world undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 65 | Severance, Solon (1834-1915), expense account book 1889-1892 | |||||||||
| 2 | 66-68 | Unidentified diary 1874-1879 1882 undated | |||||||||
Series III: Correspondence 1826-1985 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 69 | Correspondence, primarily letters to Julia Severance Millikin as a child, mostly from family members who were travelling. Her most frequent correspondents were her parents, Solon and Emily (Allen) Severance. The 1826 letter is from Solon Long (son of Dr. David Long) to his uncle, Ashbel W. Walworth 1826 1864-1880 | |||||||||
| 2 | 70-72 | Correspondence, primarily to Julia Severance Millikin who was then a student at Wells College in Aurora, New York. Her most frequent correspondents were her parents, who kept her informed about the family's life in Cleveland 1881 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 73-89 | Correspondence, primarily to Julia Severance Millikin who was then a student at Wells College in Aurora, New York. Her most frequent correspondents were her parents, who kept her informed about the family's life in Cleveland 1882-1885 | |||||||||
| 3 | 90-93 | Correspondence, primarily from friends of Julia Severance Millikin whom she met at Wells College and it usually concerns their activities after they graduated. One of the correspondents was Frances Folsom, who married President Grover Cleveland. The letters from her are mostly from the period after her marriage 1885-1886 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 4 | 94-105 | Correspondence, primarily from friends of Julia Severance Millikin whom she met at Wells College and it usually concerns their activities after they graduated. One of the correspondents was Frances Folsom, who married President Grover Cleveland. The letters from her are mostly from the period after her marriage 1886-1985 undated | |||||||||
Series IV: Genealogical Data 1915-ca. 1960 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 4 | 106 | Will, Millikin, Benjamin 1915 | |||||||||
| 4 | 106 | Will, Millikin, Julia Severance 1932 | |||||||||
| 4 | 106 | Will, Prentiss, Elisabeth Severance Allen 1940-1941 | |||||||||
| 4 | 106 | Will, Severance, Emily Allen 1919 | |||||||||
| 4 | 107 | Genealogical notes: Allen family, 1701-1898; Baldwin family, 1638-1750; Benedict family, 1617-1901; Buckingham family, 1637-1901; Frame family, 1775-1985; Long family, 1747-1956; Millikin family, 1690-1900; Morgan family, 1647-1862; and Nash family, 1475-1989 undated | |||||||||
| 4 | 108 | Genealogical notes: Severance family, 1637;1950; and Walworth family, 1689-1900 undated | |||||||||
| 4 | 109 | Pedigree charts ca. 1950-ca. 1960 | |||||||||
Series V: Miscellaneous Papers 1806-1989 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 4 | 110 | Deeds and transactions 1893-1944 | |||||||||
| 4 | 111-112 | Notices of events, including wedding announcements 1881-1986 undated | |||||||||
| 4 | 113 | Papers relating to Solon and Emily Severance's voyage with Mark Twain, including copies of Emily Severance's journal kept during the trip, correspondence, and a poem by Twain (original poem removed to Vault) 1882-1945 | |||||||||
| 4 | 114 | Newspaper clippings relating to Clemens/Twain voyage 1935-1983 undated | |||||||||
| 4 | 115 | Newspaper clippings dealing with family members 1883-1989 undated | |||||||||
| 4 | 116 | Photocopied newspaper clippings dealing with family members ca. 1840-1955 | |||||||||
| 4 | 117 | Copy of document appointing John Walworth to the post of Collector for the District of Erie 1806 | |||||||||
| 4 | 118 | Miscellaneous items, including cards of John D. Rockefeller and Frances Folsom Cleveland, an itinerary of Solon and Emily Severance's trip to the Orient, two unidentified short writings, a certificate from the Society to Encourage Studies at Home, and a certificate presented to Helen Millikin Nash by the Cleveland Friends of Music 1882-1967 undated | |||||||||