Severance family.

Members of the Severance family were prominent bankers and industrialists in Cleveland, Ohio. Solon L. Severance was the son of Solomon Lewis and Mary Long Severance and the grandson of Dr. David Long, Cleveland's first physician. Severance organized the Euclid Ave. Natl. Bank, which later became the First Natl. Bank. One of the most notable members of the Severance family was John Long Severance (1863-1936) who worked for the Standard Oil Co. and the Cleveland Linseed Oil Co., a pioneer paint and varnish industry. Severance was president of the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Musical Arts Assoc., and in 1929 gave Cleveland the funds to build Severance Hall, home of the Cleveland Orchestra. Severance Center (Cleveland Heights), Ohio's first indoor shopping mall, was built on the site of John Long Severance's 161-acre estate "Longwood."