Manasseh Cutler | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMassachusetts | |
| In office March 4, 1801 – March 3, 1805 | |
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| Born | (1742-05-13)May 13, 1742 |
| Died | July 28, 1823(1823-07-28) (aged 81) Hamilton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Federalist |
| Alma mater | Yale College |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | Continental Army |
| Years of service | 1776, 1778 |
| Rank | Chaplain |
| Unit | 11th Massachusetts Regiment |
| Battles/wars | American Revolutionary War |
Manasseh Cutler (May 13, 1742 – July 28, 1823) was an AmericanCongregational clergyman involved in theAmerican Revolutionary War. He was influential in the passage of theNorthwest Ordinance of 1787 and wrote the section prohibiting slavery in theNorthwest Territory. Cutler was also a member of theUnited States House of Representatives. Cutler is "rightly entitled to be called 'The Father ofOhio University.'"[1]
Cutler was born inKillingly in theConnecticut Colony. In 1765, he graduated fromYale College and after being a school teacher inDedham and a merchant – and occasionally appearing in court as a lawyer – he decided to enter theministry. He married Mary Balch within a year of graduating from Yale.[2] Mary's sister, Hannah, married Jabez Chickering, making Cutler the uncle of their son, also namedJabez Chickering.[3] Cutler studied under Mary's father,Thomas Balch, the minister at Dedham's Second Parish Church, for the ministry.[2] From 1771 until his death, he waspastor of theCongregational church in what was the parish ofIpswich, Massachusetts until 1793, nowHamilton. For a few months in 1776, he was chaplain to the11th Massachusetts Regiment commanded by Colonel Ebenezer Francis, raised for the defense ofBoston. In 1778, he became chaplain to General Jonathan Titcomb's brigade and took part in GeneralJohn Sullivan's expedition toRhode 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 1784 a geological party, headed by Manasseh Cutler, named the highest peak in the northeast Mount Washington.
In 1786, Cutler became interested in the settlement of western lands byAmerican pioneers to the Northwest Territory.[4] On March 1, 1786, Cutler attended a meeting at theBunch of Grapes Tavern withRufus Putnam,Benjamin Tupper, andSamuel Holden Parsons to form theOhio Company of Associates, which led to a contract being drawn up, later approved by theConfederation Congress, that sold about five percent of what was to become theState of Ohio to this group of Revolutionary War Veterans. Provisions of the contract included setting asidetwo townships in the center of the purchase for a university; these "College Lands" are inAppalachia.[5][6] The following year, as agent of theOhio 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 theMuskingum River with their Certificate of Indebtedness. During the Continental Congress, Cutler took a leading part in drafting the famousNorthwest Ordinance of 1787 for the government of theNorthwest Territory, particularly its prohibitions regardingslavery in the new territories,[7] which was finally presented to Congress by Massachusetts delegateNathan Dane. In order to smooth passage of the Northwest Ordinance, Cutler influenced and won the votes of key congressmen by making them partners in his land company[citation needed]. 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.[8]
Cutler was friends withBenjamin Franklin, and kept detailed notes during theConstitutional Convention about his visits to Franklin'sPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania residence and the wonders Franklin kept there.[9] From 1801 to 1805, Cutler was aFederalist representative in Congress. Cutler was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1781.[10] 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 significantbotanical research. He is considered a founder ofOhio University and theNational Historic LandmarkCutler Hall on that campus is named in his honor. In 1785, Cutler was elected a member of theAmerican Philosophical Society.[11] He received the degree ofDoctor of Laws from Yale University in 1789. Manasseh was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1813.[12] Cutler died in 1823 at Hamilton, Massachusetts.Three of his descendants were members of the U.S. Congress-and one vice president:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cutler, Manasseh".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 671.| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMassachusetts's 11th congressional district March 4, 1801 – March 3, 1803 | Succeeded by William Stedman (district moved) |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMassachusetts's 3rd congressional district March 4, 1803 – March 3, 1805 | Succeeded by |
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