John Long Severance

John Long Severance (May 8, 1863 – January 16, 1936) was a businessman and philanthropist in Cleveland, Ohio. Biography He was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Louis Severance (1838-1913) and Fannie Buckingham Benedict (1839-1874). Louis was a founding member of the Standard Oil Trust and the first treasurer of Standard Oil, which was established in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller and Henry Flagler.   Shortly after John L. Severance graduated from Oberlin College in 1885, he began working for the Standard Oil Co. in Cleveland. He married Elisabeth Huntingdon DeWitt (1865–1929) in 1891. When Severance left Standard Oil in 1892, he joined the Cleveland Linseed Oil Company, which specialized in paint and varnish, and would go on to found the American Linseed Oil Company in 1899. Two years later, Severance became president of Colonial Salt Co., and continued to expand his business activities in Cleveland and Youngstown. Severance's wealth made him instrumental in the support of The Cleveland Orchestra during its creation by Adella Prentiss Hughes and Nikolai Sokoloff.  Beginning in 1921, Severance would serve as president of the Musical Arts Association, the board of trustees that oversaw the Orchestra's founding — a collaboration that continues to this day. He also became president of the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1926, stating “things that are beautiful and also helpful to the cultural life of a community” were an “outstanding pleasure” in his life. At the time of his death, in 1936, Severance would leave the museum nearly $3 million worth of artwork for its collection.