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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-03-13 PACKET 11.B.CORDENIO ARNOLD SEVERANCE MARY HARRIMAN SEVERANCE CARLETON COLLEGE D CORDENIO ARNOLD SEVERANCE JUNE 30, 1862 May 6, 1925 Counselor -at -Law, Lover of Music, of Gardens, of Men; One of intimate Loyalties, To Whom Wise Men came to be strengthened in their Wisdom; From Whom no one ever went away without realizing the Richness and Sweetness of Human Fellowship. MARY HARRIMAN SEVERANCE MAY 8, 1863 SEPTETIBER 11, 1925 Maher of Friends, Lover and Loved of Children; To Whom Books and Trees were living Companions, To Whom Human Beings Their Daily Lives when they were toiling, Their Dream Lives when they were creating, Their Intellectual Lives expressed in Education, Their Social Relations expressed in Politics—were ever vital interests; thousands remain gladly in her debt. A Sketch of the Life of Mr. Severance CORDENio ARNOLD SEVERANCE was born on June 30, 1862, in Mantorville, the son of Erasmus C. and Amanda Julia Arnold Severance. The Severances came out of England into New England in 1637, out of New England by way of Pennsylvania into Minnesota in 1855. Cordenio. Severance was an only son. Living in the farm community of Mantorville, he attended the schools there, and in 1877 enrolled as a student in Carleton to remain there for four years. He studied law in Kasson. In 1883 he was admitted to the bar, and in 1885 he entered a law office in St. Paul. In 1887 the law partnership of "Davis, Kellogg and Severance" was formed. The senior member had been Governor of Minne- sota, and was to be Senator from Minnesota; the second member was to be Senator from Minnesota, Ambassador to Great Britain, and Secretary of State. Robert E. Olds, who became representative of the American Red Cross in France during the war and Assistant and then Under Secretary of State, later became a member of the firm. The partnership has remained for more than forty years one of the leading law firms, not only in what was the Old Northwest, but in what is now the Middle West, and in the Nation. As a lawyer Mr. Severance had a diversified and distinguished practice, serving as counsel in many of the celebrated cases fought to and through the Supreme Court during the half century when business in the United States was making its �t tremendous adjustments with the public. He had an intellect clear and penetrating, a mind powerful in analysis, a wit always alert, and an ability to act positively on his swift intuitions. He possessed a poised judgment, cool, sound, con- servative. He had an understanding of the general principles of the law, profound and accurate. Furthermore, he had the power of application to a case which compelled him to study with buoyant zest and fresh zeal each new problem as it was conditioned by statutes, decisions, and technical rules. It was this ample knowledge, this profound ti understanding; and this cautious conviction that a case must be prepared and must be argued before it is decided, which gave him his large practice. ' Sometimes he argued for the Government, as in the action against the Union Pacific Railroad Company and the Southern Pacific Railroad Company; sometimes he opposed the Govern- ment, as in federal prosecutions against the United States Steel Corporation, the International Har- vester Company and the United States Shoe Machinery Company. Mr. Severance was president of the Ramsey County Bar Association, of the Minnesota Bar Association, and, in 1921-1922, of the American Bar Association. In 1917 he was chairman of the American Red Cross Commission to Serbia. After the war he arranged for the construction of a library presented to the University of Belgrade by the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace. He was a member of the Council of Foreign Re- lations, of the Council of the American Law In- stitute, a Commissioner of the Conference on Uniform Laws, a trustee of the Carnegie Founda- tion for International Peace, and a trustee of Carleton College. Although his profession was always his occu- pation, he had wide and varied interests,—fre- quently derived from his profession, for this brought him into fellowship with distinguished members of the bar in this and in foreign countries, but also come from a richly endowed nature which demanded varied expression. Born in rural Minne- sota, he preferred always country living; the acres at Cedarhurst were actively under cultivation, and the problems of a Minnesota farmer were problems which Mr. Severance chose to meet at first hand. He was a lover of animals, and there were always excellent mounts in the stables and collies of beauty and pedigree in the kennels. The spacious lawns, the lovely gardens, the rolling landscape without,—the books, the music, the good cheer within,—were the natural environment of the man. During the later years of Mr. Severance's life Cedarhurst was a center of hospitality. Few homes in this country attracted a wider circle of distinguished visitors from this and other lands. Equally welcome were friends from the simple life of the neighboring countryside. Mr. Severance moved with a handsome and dignified presence, bestowing a waren comradeship as the scene or the moment demanded, but always and everywhere with frank simplicity. His natural tastes, dis- ciplined through profound study and by compre- hending association with his fellow -men in the profession he chose, led him further to an interest in the arts. He loved the 'cello and the organ; he cherished books and talk. In all, he lived a life that was full and abounding, a life of such superb vitality and joy that it continues in the recreating memories of men, and in the definite gifts he chose to make,—gifts opening to others opportunities for the cultured discipline and human associations which had meant so much to him in the profession he loved so well. [8] [9] A Sketch of the Life of Mrs. Severance MARY HARRIMAN SEVERANCE was born Mary Frances Harriman, on May 8, 1863, in Somerset, Wisconsin. Her father was General Samuel Harriman, a veteran of the Civil War. Her mother was Fidelia Holbrook Fanning, one of those cultivated women who, in the Middle West in the mid -decades of the century, maintained unbroken the traditions which had been trans- planted in Eastern states out of the older cultures of Europe. When a child Mary Frances came to the home of her maternal grandparents in Cottage Grove. It was a small house with a modest acre- age; it grew in a half century into the noble estate of hundreds of acres and the pillared, many - windowed mansion of Cedarhurst. At times the family lived in the village,—all social centers of the region were villages in those days and one potentially as important as another,—where Mary began her studies and her friendships. Although both were to widen to large horizons and a vast number of interests, never were the beginnings to be forgotten. From Cottage Grove Mary Frances came to Carleton in 1877, where she completed the three- year preparatory course and also studied music. She continued her college work at Wellesley grad- uating in 1885. There followed three years of study in Switzerland at the University of Zurich. She returned home, to teach for a time in Hastings, Minnesota. In June, 1889, she was married to Mr. Severance in the little Congregational church at Cottage Grove`. Their home was technically in St. Paul, but in reality at Cottage Grove, and Cedarhurst became a center of cultured life under the inspiration of its chatelaine. The intimacy and charm of this life is pictured in a letter from Hamlin Garland: "They were the most delightful and hospitable of hosts. They loved to entertain and they did entertain lavishly and with the most delightful humor. They knew almost every- body and almost everybody knew them. They knew 1 Washington and New fork and Boston and St. Louis, and later Los Angeles as few people knew them. They were intellectually hospitable Mary especially so. They were both so vital that I cannot quite believe that they are no longer astir on some other place or planet. + "Cordenio never seemed to have anything to do but to make his guests happy. His fund of humorous anecdote was inexhaustible. I have been at his home when he was in the midst of an enormously important law case but I t would not have known it had not Maidie told me of it. Apparently he hadn't a care in the world. He was a very able lawyer and I am persuaded could have had a most distinguished political career if he had been willing to let his friends advance him in that direction. He sometimes irritated me by his modesty or whatever it was that led him to put aside preferment of this official kind. Every- body liked him. He was one of the most popular men in his state and one of the most loyal of its citizens. "Much as he loved his friends in other cities he would not give up his home in St. Paul, and so he and Maidie [10] [11] added on to the old farmhouse until it became a noble mansion, one in which they placed a great organ, for Cordenio loved music as Maidie loved literature and literary folk. They made that prairie home a center of inspiration in the Northwest. It radiated light and loyalty to the best in America. I rejoice that they counted me among their guests so often and with such affection." Mrs. Severance had a gift for initiating activi- ties and for administration. The list of organiza- tions in which she was a trustee or director is long and liberally inclusive: political, civic, patriotic, economic, religious, educational, artistic, literary, musical. Her war service was particularly dis- tinguished, and for her Belgian relief work she was decorated by King Albert. She shared her loyalties and her generous gifts between her two colleges, Carleton and Wellesley. There is a Severance Hall at each, although Severance Hall at the eastern college is the gift of a cousin. President Ellen Pendleton of Wellesley writes: "Maidie Harriman was one of the most original mem- bers of her Class of 1385 at Wellesley College. Her later life fulfilled the promise of her student days in its catho- licity of interests. She was a leader in political organiza- tions, a member of the first Republican executive com- mittee to include women. During the war she held many directorships in the various relief organizations. She never lost her interest in her Alma Mater, serving often as a member of the Graduate Council. She was chosen as one of the alumni visitors of the Department of Botany. She was keenly interested in the welfare of children, and her memory will always be kept alive at Wellesley because of the Alexandra Garden which she and Mr. Severance founded in memory of their little daughter, Alexandra. Later Mrs. Severance added to this gift and changed the name to Alexandra Botanic Garden, making it possible that this should not only be a beautiful addition to the college campus but should also contribute to the scientific study of plants under the supervision of the Botany de- partment. Thus she combined in this fashion `her love of scholarship, love of beauty, love of Wellesley, and underneath all, love of the little only daughter whom she had hoped to see one day a student of her Alma Mater.'" Mrs. Severance died in Germany, far from Cedarhurst, far from the America she had known intimately, but in the midst of a culture she loved, to which she had turned for inspiration as a young woman, in which she was spiritually at home. The two, man and woman, lie at rest, beside each other, under friendly skies in the little grave- yard at Cottage Grove,—come home after many travels in many .lands to this lovely countryside which by constantly reverting choice remained their home. It "makes one half in love with death to think of being buried in so sweet a place." It makes one in love with life to think how it came to them,—in small places, like Mantorville, like Cottage Grove, little Minnesota villages then and now. Theirs was a life brimming over with treasure. They were brave enough and vivid enough to come to close quarters with it, and then to scatter its gifts with lavish generosity. [12] ! [13] Their Common Interest in Carleton THE friends of a college are its richest endowment. No college ever had more loyal friends than Carleton had in Mr. and Mrs. Severance. They met first on the Carleton campus. Their devotion to the College was, in a way, a perpetual remembrance of their meeting. It was in 1877 that Cordenio Severance first came to Carleton. Most of the students at that time came from the farms and small villages of southern Minnesota. He was no exception. Carleton that fall had some two hun- dred students and a faculty of ten teachers. Young Severance registered in the Preparatory Department and entered the freshman class in 1879, remaining in the college for two years. Among the Trustees of this period were William Windom, later to be Secretary of the Treasury in President Garfield's Cabinet, and William R. Marshall, soon to be Governor of the state. Among the faculty members were President Strong, Dean Goodhue, Professor Payne and Margaret Evans, all of whom remained with the College until retirement, and Professor John Bates Clark who later, as Professor of Economics at Columbia, became one of the most distinguished authorities in his field. In the student body were Thorstein Veblen, Selden Bacon, B. Fay Mills, Herbert C. Wilson and A. Z. Conrad,—all of whom were to attain more than ordinary distinction in later life. Mr. Severance left Carleton to enter the law office of Robert Taylor at Kasson and in 1887 he became a member of the law firm of Davis, Kellogg and Severance. Later, much later, in 1919, he was granted the degree of Doctor of Laws, thus becoming an alumnus of the College. It is known that no honor ever came to him which he prized more highly. Mary Frances Harriman matriculated at Carleton in 1877. She, too, came from the small -village, small -farm life of the time and the area. She entered the third pre- paratory class and remained to complete her preparation for an eastern college. After leaving Carleton in 1880, she entered Wellesley College from which institution she was graduated in 1885. Mr. and Mrs. Severance were married in 1889 and throughout their lives they maintained a warm interest in the College which had made them known to each other. Mr. Severance was elected a member of the Board of Trustees at Carleton in March, 1921, and faithfully served its interests until his death. During this period he served on several of the most important Committees of the Board and also acted as Attorney for the College, without fee, in the tax case which was carried to the Supreme Court of Minnesota. Mrs. Severance was, for many years, Chair- man of the Women's Advisory Committee, composed of prominent women all over the state who had become interested in the work of the College. She was active in all of the financial campaigns undertaken by the College and was most effective in presenting its needs to individuals and in speaking in its behalf before large gatherings of inter- ested friends. During their lives, Mr. and Mrs. Severance made many gifts to Carleton, totalling about $32,500. Mrs. Severance, in her will, left the College a definite gift of $100,000 with instructions to her executors to add such an additional amount as might be necessary to provide a suitable me- morial for Mr. Severance. With the consent of Mr. Sever- ance's sister, Mrs. William F. Howard of Los Angeles, one of the executors, an additional amount of $50,000 was thus added. This legacy of $150,000 was used to endow the "Cordenio A. Severance Foundation for Political and Social Science", the income from which will be used for the support of the Departments of Economics, Sociology, History and Political Science. Severance Hall, which is financed through the Carleton Corporation, has been named as a memorial for Mr. and Mrs. Severance in recognition of their generous support and devoted service to the College. [14] [15] An Appreciation By his former law partner, Frank B. Kellogg, Secretary of State THE life of Mr. Severance is an example and an in- spiration to the young men of our country. He rose in a few years from a place of obscurity in the little village of Mantorville to become one of the leading lawyers of the nation, His reputation not only extended to all parts of the United States but to foreign countries in which he had clients. He was engaged in many great cases pending in the courts of the country, especially in the Supreme Court of the United States. In recognition of his standing at the Bar he was made president of the Minnesota Bar Associa- tidn in 1911 and received the distinguishing honor of a unanimous election *as president of the American Bar Association in 1921. No greater honor can be paid an American lawyer than election as president of this Associa- tion. The long line of illustrious men who have filled this position accentuates the testimonial of esteem paid Mr. Severance by his associates of the American Bar. It is a place which has been filled by the most illustrious Ameri- cans. In that list are the names of such men as Joseph H. Choate, William Howard Taft, Charles Evans Hughes, and many others. Mr. Severance was a man who devoted much time to public service. - He went to Serbia as the representative of the Red Cross during the war; he was a trustee of the Carnegie Endowment for Peace and a trustee for Carleton College, and was prominent in many civic and charitable activities. Mr. Severance had a remarkably keen and active mind; he seemed to grasp great legal problems as if by intuition, but he was never a slave to his profession. Though a hard worker he devoted much of his time to general literature and to public matters. He had a most engaging manner, a warm heart and was a generous friend. A cordial welcome to Cedarhurst 6940 Keats Avenue, Cottage Grove Washington County, Minnesota 55016 Telephone: 459-9741 This stately mansion is most widely known as the country estate of Mr. and Mrs. Cordenio Severance who made the home a center of hospitality in this area. Few homes in this country attracted a wider circle of distinguished visitors from this and other lands. The estate is now listed on the National Register of Historic Sites, the official list of the nation's cultural resources worthy of preservation. The origianl part of the house was built about 1860 by Mrs. Severance's maternal grandfather, Charles 0. Fanning. In 1888 the house was extensively remodeled and in 1917 the ballroom wing was added. Mary Severance was the daughter of General Samuel Harriman, a prominant veteran of the Civil War, and came as a child to live in the small house in Cottage Grove which was to grow in a half -century into the noble estate known as Cedarhurst. Cordenio Severance was a widely known lawyer associated with Frank B. Kellogg. When Mr. Kellogg became Secretary of State in 1917, Mr. Severance offered his country estate as a meeting place of high government officials. House guests included Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft and Warren G. Harding. Queen Marie of Romania was also a guest here. The upper floor of the ballroom wing was reserved for distinguished guests and protected by guarded doors and an ante -room for secret service men during presidential via.its. It was in this house that the historic Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact of 1929 was drafted. The elegance of the Severance house is the creation of Cass Gilbert Uho designed the Minnesota State Capitol and numerous well-known buildings across the nation. The spacious landscaped lawns, the lovely rose garden, and the beauty of the rolling coutryside dtdhout-the gaiety, the music, the good cheer within, was the natural environment of this famous era in Minnesota history. The 26 -room mansion has three fireplaces, nine bathrooms, an elevator, and a 100 -foot veranda in addition to the ballroom with an 18 rank theater organ. Also on the estate is a walled, formal rose garden soon to be restored and var- ious out -buildings including the original ice house built in 1860. The beauti- ful lawns and gardens of Cedarhurst now comprise the ten acres of the present estate. Today this fine family mansion will again extend its hospitality to the people of the northwest area by catering various parties and wedding receptions, scheduling public tours, and as the new interior design studio of Mr. Nienaber. Cedarhurst is open to the public every Tuesday for tours at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. A buffet luncheon is served at 12:00 noon; reservations are required. Price information can be obtained and reservations made by calling 459-9741. Our special services include luncheons, cocktail parties, lawn parties, garden weddings, a ballroom for dancing, pipe organ concerts, convenient off-street parking, and club dinners. We can accomodate parties of 20 to 300 guests. We also provide specialized catering at your location. In our years at the Summit Avenue Guest House we devoted our attention to serving our patrons in the very best manner possible and to that end we rededicate ourselves in this new and exciting location. IV MPF 7. �+ s i aYir�RXc' s sMERICAN BAR HEADER EXPIRES 1 6 . A. Severance Dies at dome in Soitth Pasadena Fas Formerly Partner of Secretary Kellogg clad Retired After Life of Distingttished R frort r'o+cIenio Arnold Sovera ac,% .Or- nFt•r I'dty purt-le+of SQVP01a1'y ur it:l.ln lCrl'llf„l ap former 1€r€:s!- aletlt +1f tlias Aincrit:Iin Bar A}";oclst- 11e11, .Iled sueiii(1nl yekslerd,€y aftur- 110011 alt )It -;winter 1lonle, sevol-ante Bill, In South 1'nraden.t. Death Van attributed €t1 lurart ali�erlste. lie ifv€ts 63 Years of age and had been reiiretl rrullr practice several years, ' SVllb the distinguished lawyer when Life end cAnie was his wife, 1lfary Prances Severance, whom lie Married in J839, icor years Ma. ]severance made Isis winter ho€re in I California, although his residence was St. Paul. DISTINGUISHED PRACTICE Air. Sove1'ance had a wide and (list]ltgulslteti praolico over a great ruizge Of litigation and represented severut lnlnortant western and northwestern r+ailroad.9 as well as many corporations, traffic assocla- Mills and Individual clients. Ae special assistant to the United States Attorney -General he had rharge of uctlons under the Flher- €nan antitrust law diss0ving the Union Paefilo and Southern Pacif}c Railroad merger. He also served I as attar€€ey for the I7nitsd StUt@s I Steel Cal'1301'atlon during the World War, MV. Severance Went to 1110 Balkan 'Peninania us the head of the Iloci Cross Conrxnie, $tan for the €•ellef of Serbian rer- ugees Fle was president of the Ameri- can .sa.r Assoola0011 In 1901. a former president @f the 14linnesota -State Bar Association and was a lnembor of commission of uni- form laws, member of the coun- cll of foreign relations and of the council of the American Law Institute, Although an' active 'Republican and a member, of -nearly commis- slons, Mr. Say-erano© .never held a political office. I Lir J iii a c d _n o JAX-f j q L-4 L .11 BURN IN 31INNESOTA Born in Mantorville, U11111., In 13612, the son of D.,C. and Amanda .lulls Severance, he was educated { al. Carletnn Cal.lolee, ' Nor thi eld, Ij Mimi)., which institution in later life conterrod'uV011 him the hon- orary deffree of L.L.D. 1.10 studied Taw under Robert 'Taylor, one the foremost htwyers of the State, and was admitted to the bar In. Minnesota in 1803• After being ad 9nitted to pr€[ctic A he entered thO law office of Cush - nAi United States Senato€UofeMhln nesota. In Iasit rlaw (Irl orgia Kellogg & ev nl7.ed, the second member of the lir€n being ]Frank B. 1Lellogg, who later sarved as 'United At Les Sand ator, Ambassador to now is Secretary of State 'rhe partnership continued for thirtaon years, until the death Of Mrea to vi:.t. When Mr. 3io.11ogg take up his duties as I enal.or, Uob- I' "rt D. Olcls �olnad the firm and 1 the name was changed to Davis, I` severance & Olds. 'rwo vea.rs lat- W, l4lorgan,' at 1 thatt l neda4repro- agntative of, the American Red Cross, was admltted to the firm. Mr. Severance Wag a member And director of many clubs and orgssnl4ations, lnOuding the Con- gresslonal Country Club of Wash- ington, D.C.; MatropolltarjS Bank- ora- and C:enturY Club of Nen' toric; university Clul€ of St. Pmul' Sacloty of Colonial Wars, and was a trust}". of Carietnll College and of the Gltrnegle 131,idowment for Irttornational peace. F,Llnerai arrangements are in charge of Turner & Stevens in to St. Paul i hs'oburial will be s' sur- vlved by his widow. LV -1 • X1, 0) _ 6 , Sun,- I,I Z. CORDENIO ARNOLD SEVERANCE: 1862-1925 THERE are some men of whose life and person- ality one can perhaps get a fair idea from the col- lection of successive dates, positions held, promi- nent activities and the like which constitute the natural material of memorials. But this is emphatically not true of the late Cor- denio A. Severance, for- mer president of the American Bar Associa- tion, whose death at Pasa- dena, California, on May 6, was noted in the May issue of the JOURNAL. He lived a life too full and abounding in varied inter- ests to be adequately rep- resented in that semi -sta- tistical way. He had to an unusual degree what we call "personality," and it is the man himself and not merely what he did professionally and other- wise that stands out most clearly in the recollection of those who came in con- tact with him. There are two modes of achievement in human careers: to do something and to be something; and the latter is perhaps more important than the former. Mr. Severance was the type of man who was successful in both modes. His interests em- braced not only his pro- fession and all that make for the elevation of its standards and the im- CORDENIO AR provement of the law in general, but agriculture, music and art, outdoor life, animals, business, and by no means least important, his fellow men. He was one of the most sociable of men and the conventional ex- pression "he was a man of broad human sympathies" is really apt description in his case. This quality mani- fested itself in his relations with his fellow citizens of whatever walk in life, as well as in the cultivation of the fine art of social intercourse which he and Mrs. Severance illustrated so charmingly at his attractive home, "Cedarhurst," near Cottage Grove, Minn., only a few miles out from St. Paul. Of Mr. Severance as a lawyer of national distinction a capable friend has written so well in a former issue of the JOURNAL (Sept., 1921, p. 453) that little need be added here. As President of the American Bar Association he brought to the discharge of the duties of the position all the energy and enthusiasm for which he was so well known. It is Iargely due to his efforts that the San Francisco meeting of the Association achieved such a remarkable success and remains such a happy memory for those who attended it. Cordenio Arnold Severance was born at Mantor- ville, Minnesota, on June 30, 1862. He was the son of Erasmus C. Severance and Amanda Julia Arnold Severance, and both his parents were of New England ancestry. He was a descendant of John Severance, who came from Ipswich, England, to settle in New England in 1637. Representatives of the family served in the War of the Revolu- tion and other early American wars. Erasmus C. Severance e a r l y re- moved from Pennsylvania to Minnesota, where he held an important position in the affairs of his day. He was educated in the public schools of Mantorville and later at Carleton College of Northfield, Minnesota, an institution w h i c h subse- quently conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. He studied law in the office of Robert Taylor, one of ,the leading attorneys of the State at Kasson, Min- nesota. He was admitted to the Bar in Minnesota in 1883, and in 1885 en- tered the law office of Cushman K. Davis, for- merly Governor and sub- sequently for many years Senator from Minnesota. In 1887 Mr. Sever- ance joined with Senator Davis and Frank B. Kel- logg, formerly Senator from Minnesota and Am- bassador to England and now Secretary of State, LD SEVERANCEin forming the partner- ship of Davis, Kellogg & Severance, a partnership which continued until the death of Senator Davis and which became one of the well-known law firms of the country. Robert E. Olds was afterward admitted to the firm, and when Mr. Kellogg retired from practice to take his place in the Senate, the firm name was changed to Davis, Severance & Olds. Later, when Mr. Olds retired from active practice in 1918, to act as representative of the Ameri- can Red Cross in Paris, and George W. Morgan be- came a member of the firm, the name was changed to Davis, Severance & Morgan. In 1889 Mr. Severance ° was married to Mary Frances Harriman, daughter of General Samuel Harri- man of Wisconsin who survives him. Besides being President of the American Bar As- sociation in 1921-1922, Mr. Severance was Presi- dent of the Minnesota State Bar Association and of the Bar Association of Ramsey County, the county in which St. Paul is located. He was a member of the Commission on Uniform State Laws, of the Council on Foreign Relations, of the Council of the American Law Institute, a Trustee of the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace, a Trustee of Carleton College of Northfield, Minnesota, and a director of other in- stitutions. NO 369 370 AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION JOURNAL During the Great War, Mr. Severance temporarily gave up his practice and went to the Balkan Peninsula as head of the Red Cross Commission for the relief of Serbia, spending months in Southern Serbia and Mace- donia. In 1920, as a Trustee of the Carnegie Founda- tion, he visited Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, to arrange for the construction of a library donated to the University of Belgrade by the -Foundation. Mr. Severance had devoted himself actively to the practice of law since 1883. He had a wide, diversified and distinguished practice. Among other important litigation, as Special Assistant to the Attorney General, he represented the Government in.its action under the Sherman Anti -Trust Law against the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads, arguing the case in the trial court and the Supreme Court. The decision of the United States Supreme Court in 1912 for dis- solving the merger was regarded not only as a notable triumph for the Government, but as a personal victory for Mr. Severance. He was one of the counsel for the defendant in the Government suit to dissolve the United -States Steel Corporation, participating actively in the trial and argument of the case, which resulted in a decision in favor of the corporation. His last argu- ment in court was made as one of the attorneys for the International Harvester Company in the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit last October in St. - Paul, in a proceeding brought by the Government for further relief against the Harvester Company under the Sherman Act, in which the Court has just dismissed the Government's petition. The following extracts from a well written ap- preciation appearing in the St. Paul Pioneer -Press give some interesting personal details that enable one to understand better the wide -spread sense of loss that followed the announcement of Mr. Severance's death: "For years the Severance country place, Cedar- hurst, near Cottage Grove, Minn., has been the scene of entertainment on a manorial scale. Due to extensive travel, as well as to the international scope of Mr. Sev- erance's professional interests, his acquaintanceship included notables from all parts of the world, so that Cedarhurst has for years been included in the itinerary of nearly all celebrated visitors, American and Euro- pean, to the Northwest. "Mr. Severance's remarkably developed gift for forming and maintaining not only friendships, but social relationships of every degree, was the logical result of a boundless enthusiasm and interests so di- versified as to prove a source of never-ending wonder and delight to every one who knew him. Coupled with these assets were a keen sense of humor and a phe- nomenal memory, not only for events but for the faces and names of individuals 'whom he had encountered, even though casually. And although he was in a very real sense a citizen of the world, Mr. Severance always regarded himself as a member of the community at Cottage Grove. He knew all its older residents and kept track of the two generations which had arisen there during his residence. "He took an active interest in the welfare of schools and churches and was in touch with commercial conditions. Weddings and funerals in the families of his friends there nearly always found him present un- less he happened to be in another part of the world, and his boyhood years on a farm planted in him a Iifelong interest in the affairs of farming communities. "Nor was it alone an interest. -He spoke with the authority of special practical knowledge on agricultural matters and stock -raising. The Cedarhurst estate in- cludes a farm of more than 500 acres, and Mr. Sever- ance was in touch with the management of all its affairs, and able at any time to give intelligent advice concern- ing them. The beautiful gardens surrounding his home were a source of great pride and delight to him, and he seemed to regard every tree on the premises with a real affection. "A love of animals manifested itself particularly in the thoroughbred collie dogs for which the Cedar- hurst kennels have long been famous. Here he kept about 40 grown dogs, most of them prize -winners in various exhibitions, and the puppies he often gave to his friends. "Mr. Severance's extensive professional affiliations kept him in close and important touch with financial interests not only throughout the United States, but in Europe as well, and he was as much at home in European capitals and their official circles as in Wash- ington. He was widely consulted as an authority on large investments and the general condition of world markets with the economic causes underlying phases and developments. "A man of striking good looks and cordial manner, Mr. Severance was everywhere regarded as a highly desirable figure in any social group. His was a re- niaarkable conversational gift, made up of quick wit, genuine interest in people, and an inexhaustable fund of general information. He was in great demand everywhere as an after-dinner speaker and toastmaster and enjoyed a national reputation as a raconteur, especi- ally of humorous stories. "Although so much of his keen mental activity was directed in channels having to do with strictly business and professional affairs, the aesthetic interests found a large place in his life. Very early in life he mani- fested a decided taste for music and this was cultivated largely through a study of the 'cello, as well as through enthusiastic patronage of music in all its creditable forms. A steady subscriber to and warm supporter of the St. Paul and Minneapolis Symphony orchestras, he also attended all such concerts in other cities as opportunity permitted, and Walter Damrosch, veteran conductor of the New York Symphony society, was numbered among his close personal friends, as was Emil Oberhoffer, former conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony orchestra. "This interest in music took shape, a few years ago, in the installation at Cedarhurst of a pipe organ in which Mr. Severance took especial delight and which figured in some of the many informal concerts of which the big music room was the scene. "His personal library, one of the most complete in the West, was another source of pride and delight. Himself a thorough student of history, Mr. Severance had acquired many rare and valuable books on the sub- ject, some of them editions long out of print. Like many men who have had a share in the larger affairs of life, he found keen interest in the career of Na- poleon, and was the possessor of numerous volumes on the man and his period. However, the scope of his literary 'taste was broad and on his shelves were to be found works in an unlimited variety. "But it probably will be for his warmly endearing personal qualities that Mr. Severance will be best re- membered. His affection, not only for those who came into intimate contact with him but for the friends he made through the years, was characterized by a loyalty which made it impossible for him to say unkind per- sonal things himself, and made him intolerant of un- kind criticisms as uttered by others. His personal CORDENIO ARNOLD SEVERANCE 371 Photograph of Secretary Hughes and members of the Executive Committee of the American Bar Association taken in the summer of 1923 at "Cedarhurst," Mr. Severance's home. Reading from left to right: John B. Corliss, William Brosmith, Thomas W. SIhelton, A. T. Stovall, Thomas W. Blackburn, Cordenio A. Severance, Frederick E. Wadhams, John W. Davis, W. Thomas Kemp, Edgar Bronson Tolman, Charles E. Hughes, W. O. Hart, S. E. Ellsworth, John T. Richards. affections included the children and grandchildren of his friends, and in their affairs he tools a very real interest. "His material contributions to patriotic and chari- table causes totaled enormous amounts, for his gener- osity of hand paralleled his generosity of mind. There can be no accurate computation of the help he bestowed privately on needy individuals. Many a boy owes his education to timely help from Mr. Severance's sympa- thetic hand. Many an unfortunate citizen, incapacitated through illness or disaster, has been quietly helped back to usefulness and self-reliance. For abounding human sympathy was, after all, the trait which distinguished this man from many others of perhaps equal profes- sional prominence and intellectual attainment." Chairman Long Addresses Bar Associations Hon. Chester I. Long, Chairman of the Gen- eral Council of the American Bar Association, re- cently was the guest of honor at a dinner given by the Bar Association of Dallas, Texas. He spoke on "Dur Dual Government," warning against the tend- ency at present so prevalent to reduce the states to a position inferior to that called for by our constitutional scheme. On February 28, 1925, Mr. Long spoke to the Chicago Bar Association on "The Legal Aspects of the Movement for Uniform State Laws." Death of Bradner W. Lee Bradner W. Lee, former president of the Cali- fornia Bar Association and one of the most eminent and respected members of the Los Angeles bar, died at Los Angeles on April 28. Upon the announcement of Mr. Lee's death at the luncheon of the Bar Association of San Francisco yes- terday, on motion of former Chief Justice F. M. An- gellotti, President Beverly L. Hodghead was directed to wire to the Los Angeles County Bar Association and to the family of the deceased the regrets and sympathy of the Bar Association of San Francisco in the death of Mr. Lee. George F. McNoble, president of the California Bar Association, when notified at Stockton of the death of Mr. Lee, wired expressions of sympathy on behalf of the association and appointed ,john G. Mott, Thomas C. Ridgway and Thornas W. Robinson a committee to represent the California Bar Association at the funeral and to present a suitable wreath on behalf of the bar of the state.—San Francisco Recorder. 372 AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION JOURNAL AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION JOVRNAL BOARD OF EDITORS EDGAR B. TOLMAN, Editor -in -Chief .............. Chicago, Ill. HoRAcxKENT TENNEY..........................Chicago, Ill. JOHN B. CORLISS..............................Detroit, Mich. CHESTER I. LONG........... ............... Wichita, Kan. ?HERMAN OLIPHANT ........................New York, N. Y. :R. E. LEE SANER..............................Dallas, Texas Subscription price to individuals, not members of the Association nor of its Section of Comparative Law, $8 a year. To those who are members of the Association (and no of the Section), the price is $1.50, and is included in their annual dues, $6. Price per copy 25 cents. Office: 1612 First National Bank Bldg., 38 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, I1Pinois "WHY DOESN'T THE BAR DO SOMETHING?" When a situation arises or an incident occurs in connection with the administra- tion of justice that seems to call for condem- nation or drastic action, one is quite likely to hear the question on the street or read it in the newspapers, "why doesn't the bar do something?" There seems to be an impres- sion that the bar is armed with plenary powers to correct on the spot any abuse that may arise, and that it often refrains from exercising it; and another equally fatuous impression, that the way to correct defects in the administration of justice is merely to deal with the individual incidents as they arise. Certainly few laymen in our country, profoundly as they are affected by every- thing that concerns the administration of the law, have any idea of- what the bar is really doing—of the tremendous sweep of the .present movement on the part of the legal profession to improve conditions. Nor do they realize that in order to achieve any measure of permanent success the attack must be on the fundamental causes of de- fects and not merely a hasty response to an occasional alarm bell. The bar is doing something. Never be- fore in the history of our country was there such an organized and concerted attack by the legal profession on the things that inter- fere with the proper administration of jus- tice. The bar has launched a campaign to raise the educational standards: for those who seek admission to the profession. The bar is attempting in various states to secure the incorporation of the profession as a whole in order that it may have the full con- trol and discipline over its membership that has been shown to work so successfully in England. The bar, through the grievance committees of state and local associations, is dealing more vigorously than ever with unworthy members of the profession. The bar is standing forth more and more for the selection of judges on the score of merit and not of partisanship. The bar is doing all it can to secure for judges the reasonable compensation necessary to attract good men to the bench and keep them on it. The bar is aiding in the improvement in the organ- ization of the courts and methods of pro- cedure. The bar is standing out against efforts to deprive the judges of our federal system of the powers which have proved so efficient all aid to justice. The bar is pointing out to the legislatures from time to time the need of removing statutory obstacles to the administration of the law and of leaking statutory changes which will assist it. The bar is backing, and certain of its members are executing, one of the greatest movements in our entire national history,— that for the simplification of law. This sig- nificant undertaking, epic in conception and tremendous in scope, would by itself be a sufficient answer to the question, "why doesn't the bar do something?" Far from being the mere apostles of conservatism and the devotees of laissez faire, leading mem- bers of the profession have banded together to meet one of the most pressing needs of American life,—none the less pressing be- cause the average man has little conception of it. The American Law Institute is at- tempting a restatement of law which will clarify principles, remove uncertainties, rec- oncile contradictions and relieve both bench and bar from the crushing weight of an ac- cumulating body of decisions and reports which no human being could be familiar with, and which is being handled with the greatest difficulty even with the help of all the digests and aids now in use. In the noblest, most efficient and, -as far as the gen- eral public are concerned, probably the most unappreciated sense of the phrase, the bar is doing something. So much for the bar. What about the other people? What are they doing? Read this significant little extract from the recent letter of President Hughes to members of the American Bar Association: "The bill sponsored by the Association relating to ar- bitration in the field of maritime and inter- state commercial transactions has been Staff Photos by Donald Black Cedarhurst, where a queen and perhaps three presidents visited, and a famous peace treaty was drafted. By Neal Gendler Staff Writer A couple of years ago, Pon and Jean Nienaber realized their businesses had outgrown their 16 -room house on St. Paul's Summit Av. and they needed something bigger. Well, they found it. Last February, they hauled his interior - design studio, her catering business and themselves to a 9,100-square400t giant slumbering amid the corn fields of Washington County. The place is Cedarhurst, once the country home of St. Paul lawyer Cordenio Severance and his wife, Mary. During the middle of its century -plus existence, it led a lively and elegant social lite, playing host to a riomanian queen and, various accounts say, three presidents. Historical sketches niezrz Gnv it was the place where the Kellogg They had been operating out of half a brownstone at Summit and Hamline Avs. in St. Paul, ,but it had no dance space, Jean said. "This came up in June 197'7," she said. They'd told their troubles to a real-estate seller they met at a party. "Several weeks later, she called and told us this is, what she had." "She.called and asked if we wanted to buy the White House," Ron laughed. "We were incredulous when she started the description. As she progressed ... I knew instF�ntly what it was," he said. "I knew the place, but i never dreamed I'd live here." "We came out to look at it and became more incredulous," Jean said. "It offered everything we'd been looking for." Within its three wings, Cedarhurst housed 26 rooms -11 bedrooms, nine bathrooms andi best of all, a 44 -by -28 -foot ballroom Cedarhurst: a museum, a business and a home i said, n the e and were, rnish- 1917 furni- Before t have rithout 11e to he's st two h of it repair Indows it rose 1t trel- j taking I porch, )m are ,d four S, lead- iuseum Urnish- rausP outgrown their t6N`roarrihouse anT I"i3[i Summit Av. and they needed something bigger. Well, they found it. Last February, they hauled his interior - design studio, her catering business and themselves to a 9,100 -square -foot giant slumbering amid the corn fields of Washington County. The place is Cedarhurst, once the country home of St. Paul lawyer Cordenio Severance and his wife; Mary. During the middle of its century -plus existence, it led a lively and elegant social life, playing host to a Romanian queen and, various accounts say, three presidents. Historical sketches also say it was the place where the Keilogg- •Briand pact was drafted. The Nienabers are rousing the giant, injecting it with not just one but three new lives—as a business headquarters, a museum and a home. They'd told their troubles to a real-estate seller they met at a party. "Several weeks later, she called and told us this is what she had." "She called and asked if we wanted to buy the White House," Ron laughed. "We were incredulous when she started the description. As she progressed ... I knew instantly what it was," he said. "I knew the placo, but I never dreamed I'd live here." "We came out to look at it and became more incredulous," Jean said. "It offered everything we'd been looking for." Within its three wings, Cedarhurst housed 26 rooms -11 bedrooms, nine bathrooms and; best of all, a 44 -by -26400t ballroom with a photogenic conservatory on one end, just right to frame a wedding party for photos. "It was very spacious and had a lot of personality," Ron said. "It had a lot of off- street parking, grounds for people to wander through." Excited, the Nienabers worked with the Small Business Administration for financial help and obtained a business permit from Cottage Grove. They also agreed with the Minnesota Historical Society to allow a minimum of 12 tours a year to qualify for assistance in restoration. Nine months after their first visit, they were in, their furniture spread among the rooms, their businesses in a place ample for just about anything. The house was built in three phases, Ron said. The original portion, into which the Nienabers have moved their 10 -burner, twin -oven stove and lots of kitchen gear, was built in 1860 by Charles Fanning at what now is the intersection of County Rds. 19 and 20. It was a six -room, squarish, two- story house that Ron Nienaber figures faced south, where a porch beneath stout columns leads into a -parlor that now is half of the dining room. In 1888, he said, what now is the south wing was built. It included three downstairs Cedarhurst/ 7H �s R kn�om »3 _ The Cedarhurst ballroom, with its pipe organ and conservatory, is used frequently for weddings. At home in Cedarhurst were, from left, Thea, Jean and Ron Nienaber and Ron's mother, Florence Nienaber. Cedarhurst From/ 1H parlors and several upstairs bed- rooms. Some alterations apparently were made in 1911, Nienaber said, and the last, most elegant changes were made in 1917 by Severance, who with Mary gave Cedarhurst its days of glory. The Severances enclosed the cov- ered area on the north §ide of the house where people, must have stepped from their carriages; it be- came a grand foyer linking the rest of the house with the ballroom wing. The ballroom was built with bed- rooms above, and an organ was in- stalled, its pipes running beneath the floor. The work included twin porti- coes, giving the place the mark of its designer, Cass Gilbert, the man who did the Minnesota Capitol. The front guest room upstairs appar- ently is where President Warren Harding stayed, and the bedroom outside the doors housed his Secret Service guards, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft must have stayed in the south wing if they visited while they were presidents, because their terms ended before the ballroom wing was added. There's loads of space, and the Nien- abers are using it all. Daughter Thea; a high-school junior, has one bedroom. The Nienabers sleep in the presidential bedroom, One upstairs room is Jean's catering office, another Ron's interior -design studio. The Severances' suite of two bedrooms, two baths and a sitting room are, rented as apartments, as are other bedrooms. The downstairs parlors are, used as. reception and living rooms. In the Severances' day, Ron said, one evi- dently was a showcase for travel memorabilia, especially for things from the Orient. The Nienabers don't have many such things around; the occasional bareness of some of the furnishings, and the plastic signs on the pianos asking people not to uoa *ham me chrlvae fnr drinks nnri Staff Photos by Donald Black Ron Nienaber is decorating the Cedarhurst elevator in an Oriental col- or scheme he thinks appropriate for the time Cordenlo Severance in- stalled it. Severance became ill in the 1920s and used the elevator to go between the first and second floors. beneath ceilings wi wild -rose plas- ter artwork and Ort -deco chande- liers. There are damask wall cover- ings, a marble -front fireplace, hard- wood floors and doors framed in burgundy antique silk damask drap- eries. The doors open onto the 100 - foot veranda along the front of the house inside Gilbert's porticoes. thunder, a crash and three fire gongs. The interesting areas of the house are available to the public on Tues- days, when Ron's mother and sister conduct midday tours. Arrange- ments, which can include lunch, can be made by calling the Cedarhurst number under "Caterers" in the St. Paul Yellow Pages. Civil War general, Samuel Harriman. Born in Somerset, Wis., she came to live with the Fannings, her maternal grandparents. After three years of college at Carman in Northfield, Minn., graduation from Wellesley and study in Switzerland, she taught in Hastings and, in 1889, married Severance, from Mantorville, Minn. Severance, who attended Carleton about the same time, never graduat- ed, but a biography said he studied law after leaving school and was admitted to the bar on his 21st birth- day. Not long after joining a St. Paul firm, he became a partner, forming Davis, Kellogg & Severance. An 1897 edition of "Progressive Men of Minnesota" said Severance was "a Republican in politics," f3thP.r of a daughter born in 104 who died the next year, and "not a member of any church, but usually attends the House of Hope Presbyterian Church, of which Mrs. Severance is a mem- ber." "Mr. and Mrs. Severance reside at 589 Summit Av.," the book said, rein- Briand Peace Pact, ratified in 1929, were written at Cedarhurst. In the pact, which won Kellogg a Nobel prize, 15 major powers renounced war as an instrument of national policy. Severance's connections led to a pa- rade of guests, the most distin- guished of whom reportedly arrived by private railway car at St. Paul Park, a few miles away. Cordenio Severance was born in 1862 and Mary in 1863; they died within a few months of each other in 1925, the Nienabers said. The house passed through several hands, they said, and stood empty for several years In the 1960s. They bought it from a St. Paul florist who lived alone. It was basically solid, save a roof that ldst month dripped water into a collection of dessqrt-topping containers, leaving the Nienabers with mostly cosmetic work to return the place to something like its earli- er splendor. There are some limitations, though, trot the least of which is that the a...,u U,;. innnmaa likes "The furnishings are ours," Ron said, "not strictly what they had in the rooms. But Cee..arhurst won't be and can't be totally a museum. If it were, we'd have to take out all our furnish- ings, which are Drench." A 1917 photo showed teak and rattan furni- ture from the Orient. The previous scheme, done before the Severances took over, must have been different, he said, "But without photos, it's almost impossible to know." The earliest' photos he's found are from 1911. The Nienabers figure at least two years of work lie ahead, much of it outside, where they want to repair and reinstall original storm windows and plan to restore a formal rose garden with two 12 -by -20 -foot trel- lises. But things have a way of taking, longer than expected. The six porch, columns outside the dining room are an example—Nienaber needed four weeks just to pry off the thick, lead- based coatings for repainting. Cedarhurst wouldn't be a museum even if a lot of the original furnish- inne warm auailahia eiinn1v hPralme.. rvtc yc v.a,.rw.. a=a, ended before the ballroom wing was added. There's loads of space, and the Nien- abers are using it all. Daughter Thea, a high-school junior, has one bedroom. The Nienabers sleep in the presidential bedroom. One upstairs room is Jean's catering office, another Ron's interior -design studio. The Severances' suite of two bedrooms, two baths and a sitting room are, rented as apartments, as are other bedrooms. The downstairs parlors are used as, reception and living rooms. In the Severances' day, Ron said, one evi- dently was a showcase for travel memorabilia, especially for things from the Orient. The Nienabers don't have many such things around; the occasional bareness of some of the furnishings, and the plastic signs on the pianos asking people not to use them as shelves for drinks and smokes, reveal Cedarhurst's rebirth as a working mansion. In its leisure days, Cedarhurst was the scene of what contemporaneous accounts called constant and gra- cious entertainment. Cedarhurst has returned to a life of hospitality and throbs with guests three or four times a week, the Nienabers said, but now they're paying guests. Cedarhurst is available for a variety of uses, the Nienabers said. One they stress is weddings in the ballroom, Staff Photos by Donald Black Ron Nienaber is decorating the Cedarhurst elevator in an Oriental col- or scheme he thinks appropriate for the time Cordenio Severance in- stalled It. Severance became ill in the 1920s and used the elevator to go between the first and second floors. beneath ceilings with wild -rose plas- ter artwork and qrt-deco chande- iiers. There are damask wall cover- ings, a marble -front, fireplace, hard- wood floors and doors framed in burgundy antique silk damask drap- eries, The doors open onto the 100 - foot veranda along the front of the house inside Gilbert's porticoes. There's room inside for quite a mob, and the dressing rooms are unusual- ly homelike: They're the Nienabers' bedrooms. No matter how large the crowd, they won't drown out the music: The orig- Inal pipe organ was replaced in 1973 with a gold -painted model of mon- ster -movie porportions that came from a theater in Aurora, Ill. Its pipes fill virtually the whole base- ment beneath the ballroom, the Nienabers said, and the player can tap a foot onto a variety of effects to enliven any ceremony, including thunder, a crash and three fire' gongs. The interesting areas of the house are available to the public on Tues- days, when Ron's mother and sister conduct midday tours. Arrange- ments, which can include lunch, can be made by calling the Cedarhurst number under "Caterers" in the Sl. Paul Yellow Pages. Visitors will get a good look at the house, Ron said, but aside from two dresses, an Oriental robe and some big items like the foyer urn, few Severance artifacts remain. The Nienabers hope to contact people who have some of the place's earlier furnishings, Ron said, but five dec- ades have passed since the Sever- ances died and the house passed to a relative who later sold it. The best-known mistress of Cedar- hurst, Mary, was the daughter of, a college at CaCjrWn in Northfield, Minn., graduation from Wellesley and study in Switzerland, she taught in Hastings and, in 1889, married Severance, from Mantorville, Minn. Severance, who attended Carleton about the same time, never graduat- ed, but a biography said he studied law after leaving school and was admitted to the bar on his 21st birth- day. Not long after joining a St. Paul firm, he became a partner, forming Davis, Kellogg & Severance. An 1897 edition of "Progressive Men of Minnesota" said Severance was "a Republican in politics, father of a daughter born in 1894 who died the next year, and "not a member of any church, but usually attends the House of Hope Presbyterian Church, of which Mrs. Severance is a mem- ber." "Mr. and Mrs. Severance reside at 589 Summit Av.," the book said, rein- forcing the likelihood that, for all its size, Cedarhurst was for a long time a summer home. Biographical sketches say Severance eventually became president of the Ramsey County, Minnesota and American bar associations, and he and Mary were active in public af- fairs, especially during World War I. He went -to Serbia as a representa- tive of the Red Cross, and her work with Belgian relief reportedly brought her a royal decoration. "Mr. Severance had a remarkably keen and active mind," said his for- mer law partner, Frank B. Kellogg, in a tribute found by the Nienabers. "He seemed to grasp great legal problems as if by intuition, but he was never a slave to his profession. Though a hard worker he devoted much of his time to general litera- ture and to public matters. He had a most engaging manner, a warm heart and was a generous friend." Kellogg became a U.S. senator from Minnesota from 1917 to 1923. Defeat- ed for reelection in 1924, he was appointed ambassador to Britain by Harding, and from 1925 to 1929 he was secretary of state. Published re- ports say that drafts of the Kellogg - war as an instrument of national policy. Severance's connections led to a pa- rade of guests, the most distin- guished of whom reportedly arrived by private railway car at St. Paul Park, a felm miles away. Cordenio Severance was born in 1862 and Mary in 1863; they died within a few months of each other in 1925, the Nienabers said. The house passed through several hands, they said, and stood empty for several years in the 1960s. They bought it from a St. Paul florist who lived alone. It was basically solid, save a roof that hist month dripped water into a collection of dessgrt-topping containers, leaving the Nienabers with mostly cosmetic work to return the place to something like its earli- er splendor. There are some limitations, though, fiot the least of which is that the Nienabers don't have incomes like Severance's; a newspaper a few years ago said one of Severance's clients was the Pullman company, paying him an annual retainer re- ported to be $100,000. "We're going to try to discover the earliest wall coverings under layers of others," Ron said. "In some cases, we'll have restoration paper made" by a Chicago firm that creates silk- screen reproductions of samples. "But the house goes from 1860 to the 1920s," he said, and "in some cases, it's difficult to pick a period to em- phasize." The answer, they think, is to :try to do each wing to its day, within re- strictions imposed by use of the 1860 downstairs for the catering kitchen, the ballroom for weddings and a lot of the rest for living. , "The ballroom is pretty much set," Ron said, even though a 1917 news- paper photo shows it with different furniture and calls it a library. we'd have to take out all our furnish- ings, which are French." A 1917 photo showed teak and rattan furni- ture from the Orient. The previous scheme, done before the Severances took over, must have been different, he said, "But without photos, it's almost impossible to know." The earliest photos he's found are from 1911. The Nienabers figure at least two years of work lie ahead, much of it outside, where they want to repair and reinstall original storm windows and plan to restore a formal rose garden with two 12 -by -20 -foot trel- lises. But things have a way of taking longer than expected. The six porch columns outside the dining room are an example—Nienaber needed four weeks just to pry off the thick, lead- based coatings for repainting. Cedarhurst wouldn't be a museum even if a lot of the original furnish- ings were available, simply because the Nienabers live there and need to use it for business to keep the place alive. It also isn't exactly a private home, but the Nienabers said that doesn't bother them. "We're used to living in a home where we conduct our business," Jean said. "We're accustomed to people coming in and out all day." "It's like being a small-town hotel owner," Ron said. "You meet people in a personal setting. We're showing people what we're planning for res- toration. "We've become sort of public' figures in a way, but also background fig- ures to the home." 3 Presidents and Queen Were Guests White pillars and stately trees frame the main entrance of Sev- erance house. Aside from its historic back- ground, the house was a symbol of elegant living and a gathering place for St. Paul's social and cultural leaders. Rural Mansion Was GOP Showplace By JACKIE GERMANN, Staff Writer Photos by Dennis Magnuson MINNESOTA mansion, slightly used by three United States presidents and Queen Marie of Romania, is wear- ing a For Sale sign. The 21 -room Severance house, a mile west of Cottage !'_rnva arse nwngzA hw rnrAanin Qavnrannn a In "orfnnr 3 Presidents and Queen Were Guests PIT.. n "+- leaders. Rural Mansion Was GOP Showplace Glass doors in the dining room open onto a terraced area which was once a formal garden. The open porch that extends over the rear entrance was part of the servant quarters. By JACKIE GERMANN, Staff Writer Photos by Dennis Magnuson A MINNESOTA mansion, slightly used by three United States presidents and Queen Marie of Romania, is wear- ing a For Sale sign. The 21 -room Severance house, a mile west of Cottage Grove, was awned by Cordenio Severance, a law partner of Frank B. Kellogg, United States secretary of state from 1925 to 1929 and prior to that ambassador to the Court of St. James and United States senator. When Kellogg became senator from Minnesota in 1917, Severance told him he might use the house as a summer retreat and as a spot for entertaining high government officials. Within the next few years, the white -pillared mansion, Cedarhurst; - became the showplace of - the Republican party: Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard . Taft and Warren G. Harding and- Queen Marie of Ro- mania were guests. Conferences were held in the house- in the late 1920's before Kellogg wrote the Kellogg-Briand peace pact of 1929. And the main portion of the pact was writ tea in the country retreat. It is believed the house was built for a Congregation- alist minister in' 1888. It was remodeled extensively in 1917 by Severance. He enlarged it, adding the' ballroom, pipe organ and 7% baths. Its architect was Cass Gilbert, who began his career in St. Paul and designed the Minnesota Capitol and the United States supreme court building. Present owner of the house is the Catholic Archdio- cese of St. Paul, which bought it two years ago as a pos- sible home for elderly persons. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE ST. PAUL SUNDAY PIONEER PRESS, MAY 10, 1964 7 CONTINUED— House Was GOP Showplace A marble fountain in the foyer accentuates the elegance of Sev- erance house. Marble benches on each side of the pillars were favorite spots for guests to rest and chat. The glass doors lead into the ballroom. Some believe this is the room in which Queen Marie of Romania was a guest. The room, in the new section of the house, has been fur- nished by the caretaker for his children. V Modern tiled bathrooms connect with bedrooms in the new section of the house. Cordenio Severance added 71/2 bathrooms when he remodeled and enlarged the house in 1917. Bathrooms in the old section of the house have not been updated, still fehturing bathtubs perched on iron legs. d A marble fountain in the foyer accentuates the elegance of Sev- erance house. Marble benches on each side of the pillars were favorite spots for guests to rest and chat. The glass doors lead into the ballroom. Some believe this is the room in which Queen Marie of Romania was a guest. The room, in the new section of the house, has been fur- nished by the caretaker for his children. Some of St. Paul's gayest parties were held in this ballroom in the 1920's. It was done in deep gold and -furnished with Victorian mahogany that Mrs. Severance brought from Europe. Guests danced to music from the pipe organ (right) under crystal lights, chatted in the glass portico or wormed themselves by the marble fireplace. Modern tiled bathrooms connect with bedrooms in the new section of the house. Cordenio Severance added 71/2 bathrooms when he remodeled and eglorged the house in 1917. Bathrooms in the old section of the house have not been updated, still febturing bathtubs perched on iron legs. ST. PAUL SUNDAY PIONEER PRESS, MAY 10, 1964 This is the, bedroom hallway in the old section of the house. Although the rooms need redecorating, they stand as a silent tribute to their early owners.