The presence of the Severance family in Cleveland and their philanthropic and business contributions to foundations and organizations in the1800s and 1900s  impact the city as we know it today. Through three generations, the Severance family made philanthropy and priority, contributing to causes and organizations like the Cleveland Museum of Art, St. Luke’s Hospital, and Severance Hall, among other causes.

It all began with the 1830 arrival of Solomon Lewis Severance, who came to Cleveland from Massachusetts, opened a dry goods store on Superior Street in 1833, and married Mary Helen Long. The couple had two sons, Solon Lewis Severance and Louis Henry Severance. Solomon was a founder and officer of both the Cleveland Anti-Slavery Society and the Cuyahoga County Anti-Slavery Society. He died in 1938 and is buried in Erie Street Cemetery.

Louis Henry became treasurer of Standard Oil and had a career at Commercial National Bank. He fathered three children, including John Long Severance and Elisabeth Severance Allen Prentiss. Solon Lewis organized and became director of Euclid Avenue National Bank and was a charter member of Woodland Avenue Presbyterian Church. He had one daughter with his wife Emily Allen, named Julia Severance Milliken.

In the 1880s, cousins Elisabeth Severance Allen and Julia Severance Millikin established three small farms along Mayfield Road near Taylor Road. Julia and her husband, Benjamin Millikin, established Ben Brae; Elizabeth established Glen Allen; and John later developed Longwood Estate—at 125 acres, the largest of the three farms and today the site of Severance Town Center.

Ben Brae

The smallest farm was Ben Brae, built by Benjamin Millikin and Julia Severance Millikin on the northeast corner of Mayfield and Taylor Roads in 1913. The English Tudor two-and-a-half-story home was made of brick, stone, and stucco and surrounded by English gardens. Razed in 1953 after the Millikins’ deaths, the site is now home to a Cleveland Heights fire station and an apartment complex.

Glen Allen EstateGlen Allen

Elisabeth Severance Allen hired Charles Schweinfurth to design Glen Allen, which was built on 45 acres in 1915 shortly after the death of her first husband, Dudley Allen early that year. The brick and stone English Manor with a metal and glass awning and both gabled and flat roofs was surrounded by formal gardens. Inside was decorated with French tapestries, paintings, and rare prints.

In 1917 Elisabeth married industrialist Francis Prentiss. She continued the family tradition of philanthropy, and in 1928 became the first woman to receive the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce distinguished public service medal.

She funded causes like St. Luke’s Hospital, where she succeeded Prentiss as president of the Cleveland Museum of Art after his death in 1937, Western Reserve University, and supported the Cleveland Health Museum, for which she donated a Euclid Avenue building for the museum’s first home. In 1939 she founded the Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation, which continues to promote medical care and research today.

Glen Allen was razed after Elisabeth died in 1944. She is buried in Lake View Cemetery. Today, the Bluestone townhomes development sits on the property, as well as a portion of Lutheran High School East.  Some of the original landscape still exists today as well, including part of a stone wall that runs along Mayfield Road and the stone pier at the southeast corner of the Lutheran East property. A few complete structures also survive, as well, including an 1850 farmhouse.

Garden side view of LongwoodLongwood

John Long Severance inherited the 125-acre property in 1911 after his father’s death. John hired J. Milton Dyer to design an English Tudor Mansion. The brick manor had both flat parapets and gabled slate roofs with many windows with stone carvings to view the formal gardens.

The home resembled a castle and inside featured a drawing room, library, and a great hall with a pipe organ.  Severance hired Schweinfurth in 1917 to design extensive renovations to the estate, as well as design stables on the property.

John Long Severance is perhaps the most well-known for his philanthropic work, which included donating $2.5 million for Severance Hall's construction in memory of his wife, who died in 1929. John’s death followed in 1936.

The Longwood Estate was demolished in 1960 to make way for a new mall, Severance Mall, considered Ohio’s first indoor shopping center. The mall opened in 1963, was remodeled in 1972, and saw multiple changes in the early 1980s. In 1984 the mall was converted into Severance Town Center, with storefronts and anchor big box retailers, and surrounded by Cleveland Heights City Hall and police station, as well as a post office and medical building.

Cleveland Masterworks is sponsored by the Cleveland Restoration Society, celebrating 50 years of preserving Cleveland’s landmarks and cultural heritage. Cleveland Restoration Society preserves houses through the Heritage Home Program. Experience history by taking a journey on Cleveland’s African American Civil Rights Trail. Become a member today!