Marsena E. Cutts | |
|---|---|
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's6th district | |
| In office March 4, 1883 – September 1, 1883 | |
| Preceded by | John C. Cook |
| Succeeded by | John C. Cook |
| In office March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1883 | |
| Preceded by | James B. Weaver |
| Succeeded by | John C. Cook |
| Attorney General of Iowa | |
| In office 1872–1877 | |
| Governor | Cyrus C. Carpenter Samuel J. Kirkwood |
| Preceded by | Henry O'Connor |
| Succeeded by | John F. McJunkin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Marsena Edgar Cutts (1833-05-22)May 22, 1833 Orwell, Vermont, U.S. |
| Died | September 1, 1883(1883-09-01) (aged 50) Oskaloosa, Iowa, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Cemetery, Oskaloosa, Iowa |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Helen Frick (m. 1857) |
| Children | 4 |
| Profession | Attorney |
Marsena Edgar Cutts (May 22, 1833 – September 1, 1883) was a nineteenth-century politician and lawyer fromIowa. ARepublican, he was most notable for his service asAttorney General of Iowa from 1872 to 1877 and in theUnited States House of Representatives from March 1881 to March 1883 and again from March 1883 until his death.
Born inOrwell, Vermont, Cutts attended common schools in his native village and later attended St. Lawrence Academy inPotsdam, New York. He moved toSheboygan Falls, Wisconsin in 1853 where he taught school for two years and studied law. He moved toOskaloosa, Iowa in 1855, continued to study law and was admitted to the bar the same year, commencing practice inMontezuma, Iowa. He wasprosecuting attorney ofPoweshiek County, Iowa in 1857 and 1858, was a member of theIowa House of Representatives in 1861 and served in theIowa Senate from 1864 to 1866. Cutts was again a member of the Iowa House of Representatives from 1870 to 1872 and wasAttorney General ofIowa from 1872 to 1877.
In 1880, Cutts ran as a Republican for the U.S. House of Representatives forIowa's 6th congressional district. He won the Republican nomination, and the Democratic and Greenback parties united behind a single opponent, DemocratJohn C. Cook.[1] After a very close general election, Iowa's State Board of Canvassers concluded that Cutts had won 106 more votes.[2] This enabled Cutts to be sworn in in 1881 and to initially serve as a congressman, as Cook pursued a contest of the election with the Republican-controlled U.S. House in the47th United States Congress.[3] A commissioner took evidence regarding the contest in Oskaloosa in the Spring of 1882, but the House Committee on Elections had not announced a decision by the date that the seat was again up for election in November 1882[4] (when Cutts undisputedly won a plurality of votes).[5] It was not until February 1883, in the waning days of Cutts' first term, that the Committee issued its recommendation - an 8–2 vote that Cook, not Cutts, won the 1880 election.[6] The House accepted this recommendation in time for Cutts to serve only a single day of the term, on March 3, 1883, and to collect his salary.[7]
In the 1882 election, the Democratic Party and the Greenback Party nominated separate candidates. Cutts undisputedly won more votes than any other opponent, but the combined votes against him exceeded those in favor of him by over 5,000 votes.[1] Because Cutts undisputedly won the election, his term in the48th United States Congress began the day after Cook's single day in the previous Congress.
Cutts was in poor health during his service in Congress.[8] He died of tuberculosis inOskaloosa, Iowa on September 1, 1883.[1] He was interred at Forest Cemetery in Oskaloosa.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Marsena E. Cutts (incumbent) | 106,632 | 57.2 | |
| Republican | John H. Keatley | 79,754 | 42.7 | |
| scattering | 183 | 0.1 | ||
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromIowa's 6th congressional district March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1883 (obsolete district) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromIowa's 6th congressional district March 4, 1883 – September 1, 1883 (obsolete district) | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Attorney General of Iowa 1872–1877 | Succeeded by |
