Manasseh Cutler (representative)

Manasseh Cutler
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 3rd district
In office
March 4, 1803 – March 3, 1805
Preceded by Ebenezer Mattoon
Succeeded by Jeremiah Nelson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 11th district
In office
March 4, 1801 – March 3, 1803
Preceded by Bailey Bartlett
Succeeded by William Stedman
Personal details
Born May 13, 1742
Killingly, Connecticut
Died July 28, 1823 (aged 81)
Hamilton, Massachusetts
Political party Federalist
Alma mater Yale College
Religion Congregationalist
Military service
Allegiance United States of America
Union
Service/branch Continental Army
Years of service 1776,
1778
Rank Chaplain
Unit 11th Massachusetts Regiment
Battles/wars American Revolutionary War
Battle of Rhode Island

Manasseh Cutler (May 13, 1742 – July 28, 1823) was an American clergyman involved in the American Revolutionary War. Cutler was also a member of the United States House of Representatives. Cutler is “rightly entitled to be called ‘The Father of Ohio University.’”[1]

Another portrait of Manasseh Cutler

Cutler was born in Killingly, Connecticut. In 1765, he graduated from Yale College and after being a school teacher in Dedham, Massachusetts and a merchant – and occasionally appearing in court as a lawyer – he decided to enter the ministry. From 1771 until his death, he was pastor of the Congregational church in what was the parish of Ipswich, Massachusetts until 1793, now Hamilton.

For a few months in 1776, he was chaplain to the 11th Massachusetts Regiment commanded by Colonel Ebenezer Francis, raised for the defense of Boston. In 1778, he became chaplain to General Jonathan Titcomb's brigade and took part in General John Sullivan's expedition to Rhode Island. Soon after his return from this expedition he trained in medicine to supplement the scanty income of a minister. In 1782, he established a private boarding school, directing it for nearly a quarter of a century.

In 1786, Cutler became interested in the settlement of western lands by American pioneers to the Northwest Territory. The following year, as agent of the Ohio Company of Associates that he had been involved in creating, he organized a contract with Congress whereby his associates (former soldiers of the Revolutionary War) might purchase one and a half million acres (6,000 km²) of land at the mouth of the Muskingum River with their Certificate of Indebtedness. Cutler also took a leading part in drafting the famous Ordinance of 1787 for the government of the Northwest Territory, which was finally presented to Congress by Massachusetts delegate Nathan Dane. In order to smooth passage of the Northwest Ordinance, Cutler bribed key congressmen by making them partners in his land company. By changing the office of provisional governor from an elected to an appointed position, Cutler was able to offer the position to the president of Congress, Arthur St. Clair.[2] From 1801 to 1805, Cutler was a Federalist representative in Congress.

Cutler was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1781.[3] Besides being proficient in the theology, law and medicine of his day, he conducted painstaking astronomical and meteorological investigations and was one of the first Americans to conduct significant botanical research. He is considered a founder of Ohio University and the National Historic Landmark Cutler Hall on that campus is named in his honor. He received the degree of Doctor of Laws from Yale University in 1789. Manasseh was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1813.[4]

Cutler died in 1823 at Hamilton, Massachusetts.

Departure of pioneers from Manasseh Cutler’s parsonage in 1787
Manasseh Cutler prepared this wagon for the first pioneers to the Ohio Country

See also

References

  1. ↑ Life of Manasseh Cutler, Vol. 2, p. 21.
  2. ↑ McDougall, Walter A. Freedom Just Around the Corner: A New American History, 1585-1828. (New York: Harper Collins, 2004), p. 289.
  3. ↑ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter C" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  4. ↑ American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Bailey Bartlett		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 11th congressional district
March 4, 1801 – March 3, 1803 		Succeeded by
William Stedman (district moved)
Preceded by
Ebenezer Mattoon		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district
March 4, 1803 – March 3, 1805 		Succeeded by
Jeremiah Nelson
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