Finding aid for the Severance Family Photographs, Series II


Repository: Western Reserve Historical Society
Creator: Severance Family
Title: Severance Family Photographs, Series II
Dates: 1850-2011
Dates: 1858-1950
Extent: 2.60 linear feet (3 containers and 3 oversize volumes)
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 12 daguerreotypes, 4 ambrotypes, 70 cartes-de-vistes, 1 lantern slide, 3 silhouettes, 1 portrait drawing, 14 color prints and 326 black and white prints. They include Severance and related family portraits and views of various family homes and estates.
PG Number PG 585
Location: closed stacks
Language: The records are in English

Biography of the Severance Family

The Severance family was a prominent Cleveland, Ohio family known for its philanthropic activities. Solon Severance, a Cleveland banker, and Louis Severance were the sons of Solomon Severance and Mary Helen Long. They were also descendents 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 ophthalmologist. Julia's children included Helen Millikin Nash and Severance, Marianne, Dudley, and Louise Millikin. Louis Severance married Fannie Benedict and they had four children: John L., Elisabeth, Robert Bruce (who died in infancy) and Annie Bell who died at the age of 28. After Fannie died, Louis remarried Florence Harkness with whom he had no children.

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 born in Groton, Connecticut in 1765 to Samuel Walworth and Hannah (Woodbridge) Walworth. Samuel died when John was only 8 years old, causing his mother to lease the family's land in order to support the family. Hannah Walworth remarried in 1775 to William Avery with whom she had one daughter. William Avery died two years later and so in 1800 Hannah remarried a third time to Peter Avery (not a close relative of her second husband).

John Walworth became 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.

Solon Severance 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 traveled 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 for John Walworth

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History for Elisabeth Severance Allen Prentiss

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 Prentiss


Scope and Content

The Severance Family Photographs, Series II, (ca. 1850s-2011) contain 12 daguerreotypes, 4 ambrotypes, 70 cartes-de-vistes, 1 lantern slide, 3 silhouettes, 1 portrait drawing, 14 color prints and 326 black and white prints. They include Severance and related family portraits and views of various family homes and estates.

This collection is of value to researchers seeking illustrative materials on the Severance Family and related families including the Allens, Longs, Millikins, and Walworths. This collection will be very useful to those interested in Severance and related families genealogy. Also included are views of various Severance and related families homes/estates. Researchers interested in the former stately homes of Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio will find the photographs of Solon and Emily Severance's home at 8821 Euclid Avenue of note. Those interested in the development of Cleveland Heights may find the Longwood photographs of some value. Also anyone interested in architecture and landscaping of the late 1910s-early 1920s may find the views of Longwood and Glen Allen (Cleveland Heights), Il Paradiso (Pasadena, California), and Westwood (San Marino, California) of note.


Statement of Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series.
Series I: Portraits is arranged alphabetically by image type (group or individual) then by family name and then by individual name.
Series II: Views is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.

Restrictions on Access

None.

Related Material

The researcher should also consult MS 805 Severance Family Papers; MS 4558 Severance Family Papers, Series II; MS 5140 Severance Family Papers, Series III; MS 1901 John Walworth Family Papers; MS 3068 Euclid Avenue National Bank, Cleveland, Ohio Records; and PG 440 Severance Family Photographs.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Allen family -- Photograph collections
Architecture, Domestic -- California -- Pasadena -- Photographs
Architecture, Domestic -- California -- San Marino -- Photographs
Architecture, Domestic -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Photographs
Architecture, Domestic -- Ohio -- Cleveland Heights -- Photographs
Cleveland (Ohio) -- Genealogy -- Photographs
Cleveland (Ohio) -- History -- 19th century -- Photographs
Long family -- Photograph collections
Millikin family -- Photograph collections
Severance family -- Photograph collections
Walworth family -- Photograph collections

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] PG 585 Severance Family Photographs, Series II, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Anne M. Robbins, 2010 and Mrs. Elaine Hadden, 2011.

Processing Information

Processed by Hannah Kemp-Severence in 2012. The processing of this collection was made possible through the generosity of Elisabeth H. Alexander, Elaine G. Hadden, Louise N. Robbins, Louise Franke, and William C. McCoy.

Detailed Description of The Collection

Series I: Portraits 1858-2011 and undated

Box Folder
1 1 Group portraits, Allen Family, Dudley P. Allen and sister Jennie Allen undated
1 2 Group portraits, Long Family, Dr. and Mrs. David (Juliana Walworth) Long undated
1 3 Group portraits, Long Family, Dr. and Mrs. David Long undated
1 4 Group portraits, Long Family, Dr. David Long and John Long Severance undated
1 5 Group portraits, Millikin Family, miscellaneous ca. 1930s, 1973, and undated
1 6-7 Group portraits, Severance Family, miscellaneous 1858, 1893, and undated
1 8 Group portraits, unidentified undated
1 9 Individual and group portraits, Severance and Long Family album undated
1 10 Individual and group portraits, Severance Family digitized daguerreotypes and ambrotypes (on CD) and condition report (all originals included in this collection) 2011
1 11 Individual portraits, Adams Family, Sarah Adams, field worker in Africa who was supported by Mary Long's Young Ladies Foreign Missionary Society undated
1 12 Individual portraits, Alexander Family, Elisabeth Hadden Alexander undated
1 13 Individual portraits, Allen Family: Benjamin Allen; Dudley Allen; Dudley P. Allen; Elizabeth (Bessie Sill Severance) Allen; and Emily Allen 1864-ca. 1904 and undated
1 14 Individual portraits, Edward VII as Prince of Wales, souvenir photograph from Boston visit 1860
1 15 Individual portraits, Frame family, Kate Frame (second wife of Dr. Dudley Allen) and unidentified, probably Kate Frame's first husband undated
1 16 Individual portraits, Long Family, Dr. David Long and Mary Long (oversize material removed to Container 3, Folder 1) undated
1 17 Individual portraits, Millikin Family, Julia Severance Millikin; Marguerite "Greta" Millikin (second wife of Severance Millikin); and Severance Millikin ca. 1918-1938 and undated
1 18 Individual portraits, Morgan Family, Christopher Morgan undated
1 19 Individual portraits, Prentiss Family, Elisabeth Severance Prentiss (oversize material removed to Container 3, Folder 2) ca. 1930 and undated
1 20 Individual portraits, Severance Family, Elisabeth DeWitt Severance (wife of John L. Severance); Hannah Hoyt Severance-silhouette; John Long Severance (oversize material removed to Container 3, Folder 3) 1859, 1927, and undated
1 21 Individual portraits, Severance Family, John L. Severance (1863-1936) (oversize material removed to Container 3, Folder 4) ca. 1926 and undated
1 22 Individual portraits, Severance Family, Louis H. Severance (oversize material removed to Container 3, Folder 5) 1859 and undated
1 23 Individual portraits, Severance Family, Robert Bruce Severance (portrait drawing) undated
1 24 Individual portraits, Severance Family, Mrs. Solomon Severance (Mary Long Severance) undated
1 25 Individual portraits, Severance Family, Solon Long Severance undated
1 26 Individual portraits, Severance Family, "Mrs. Solon L. Severance" as labeled (Emily Allen Severance) but may be Mrs. Dudley (Janet Frame) Allen, mother of Emily Allen Severance undated
Box Folder
2 1 Individual portraits, Severance Family, unidentified family members, young girl and woman undated
2 2 Individual portraits, Walworth Family, Horace Walworth undated
2 3 Individual portraits, Walworth Family, John Walworth, silhouette undated
2 4 Individual portraits, Walworth Family, Julianna (Morgan) Walworth, silhouette undated

Series II: Views ca. 1850s-ca. 1950s and undated

Box Folder
2 5 Farmhouse used before Ben Brae, the Millikins' Cleveland Heights estate, as summer retreat undated
2 6 Glen Allen, Elisabeth Severance Prentiss's Cleveland Heights home (oversize material removed to Container 3, Folder 6) ca. 1917 and undated
2 7 Il Paradiso, Elisabeth Severance Prentiss's Pasadena, California home (oversize material removed to Container 3, Folder 7) undated
2 8 Longwood, Severance Family estate, Cleveland Heights (oversize material removed to Container 3, Folder 8) ca. 1850s, 1917, ca. 1950s, and undated
2 9 Longwood (oversize volumes removed-volumes 1, 2, and 3) undated
2 10 Severance mansion (home of Solon and Emily Severance), 8821 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio (oversize material removed to Container 3, Folder 9) ca. 1921
2 11 Unidentified ca. 1932 and undated
2 12 Unidentified Pasadena, California or San Marino, California gardens (could be either Il Paradiso or Westwood) (oversize material removed to Container 3, Folder 10) 1921 and undated
2 13 Westwood, John L. Severance's San Marino, California home (oversize material removed to Container 3, Folder 11) 1921 and undated

Container 3 and Oversize Volumes 1, 2, and 3: oversize materials removed from Series I and II described above .