Manasseh Cutler (May 13, 1742 – July 28, 1823) was an American

Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...

clergyman involved in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. He was influential in the passage of the

Northwest Ordinance The Northwest Ordinance (formally An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio and also known as the Ordinance of 1787), enacted July 13, 1787, was an organic act of the Congress of the Co ...

of 1787 and wrote the section prohibiting slavery in the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

. Cutler was also a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. Cutler is "rightly entitled to be called 'The Father of

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

.'"

Biography

Cutler was born in Killingly in the

Connecticut Colony The Connecticut Colony, originally known as the Connecticut River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became the state of Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636, as a settlement for a Puritans, Puritan congregation o ...

. In 1765, he graduated from

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

College and after being a school teacher in Dedham and a merchant – and occasionally appearing in court as a lawyer – he decided to enter the ministry. He married Mary Balch within a year of graduating from Yale. Mary's sister, Hannah, married Jabez Chickering, making Cutler the uncle of their son, also named

Jabez Chickering Jabez Chickering (circa 1782-October 20, 1826) was a lawyer and businessman from Dedham, Massachusetts. Personal life Chickering was the son of the minister in Dedham's South Church, also named Jabez Chickering, and his wife Hannah, the daughter ...

. Cutler studied under Mary's father, Thomas Balch, the minister at Dedham's Second Parish Church, for the ministry. From 1771 until his death, he was

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

of the

church in what was the parish of

Ipswich, Massachusetts Ipswich is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,785 at the 2020 census. Home to Willowdale State Forest and Sandy Point State Reservation, Ipswich includes the southern part of Plum Island. A res ...

until 1793, now

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

. For a few months in 1776, he was chaplain to the

11th Massachusetts Regiment The 11th Massachusetts Regiment was a unit of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Service history Authorization for the formation of the regiment was given on September 16, 1776. The unit was originally known as Francis ...

commanded by Colonel Ebenezer Francis, raised for the defense of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. In 1778, he became chaplain to General Jonathan Titcomb's brigade and took part in General John Sullivan's expedition to

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. 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. Ordinance2 of 1787

In 1786, Cutler became interested in the settlement of western lands by

American pioneers to the Northwest Territory This is a list of early settlers of Marietta, Ohio, the first permanent settlement created by United States citizens after the establishment of the Northwest Territory in 1787. The settlers included soldiers of the American Revolutionary War and ...

. On March 1, 1786, Cutler attended a meeting at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern with

Rufus Putnam Rufus Putnam (April 9, 1738 – May 4, 1824) was an American military officer who fought during the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. As an organizer of the Ohio Company of Associates, he was instrumental in the initial co ...

Benjamin Tupper Benjamin Tupper (March 11, 1738 – June 7, 1792) was an American soldier in the French and Indian War, and an officer of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, achieving the rank of brevet brigadier general. Subsequently ...

, and

Samuel Holden Parsons Samuel Holden Parsons (May 14, 1737 – November 17, 1789) was an American lawyer, jurist, generalHeitman, ''Officers of the Continental Army'', 428. in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and a pioneer to the Ohio Countr ...

to form the

Ohio Company of Associates The Ohio Company of Associates, also known as the Ohio Company, was a land company whose members are today credited with becoming the first non-Native Americans in the United States, Native American group to permanently settle west of the Alle ...

, which led to a contract being drawn up, later approved by the

Confederation Congress The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States from March 1, 1781, until March 3, 1789, during the Confederation ...

, that sold about five percent of what was to become the State of Ohio to this group of Revolutionary War Veterans. Provisions of the contract included setting aside two townships in the center of the purchase for a university; these "

College Lands The College Lands were a tract of land in the Northwest Territory, later Ohio, that the Congress donated for the support of a university. Ohio University became the first college northwest of the Ohio River as a beneficiary of this tract. Backgro ...

" are in

Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...

. The following year, as agent of the

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 The Muskingum River ( ; ) is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southward through the eastern hill country of Ohio ...

with their Certificate of Indebtedness. During the Continental Congress, Cutler took a leading part in drafting the famous

Northwest Ordinance of 1787 The Northwest Ordinance (formally An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio and also known as the Ordinance of 1787), enacted July 13, 1787, was an organic act of the Congress of the Co ...

for the government of the

, particularly its prohibitions regarding

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

in the new territories, which was finally presented to Congress by Massachusetts delegate

Nathan Dane Nathan Dane (December 29, 1752 – February 15, 1835) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Massachusetts in the Continental Congress from 1785 through 1788. Dane helped formulate the Northwest Ordinance while in Congress, and ...

. 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 . 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 Major-General Arthur St. Clair ( – August 31, 1818) was a Scottish-born American military officer and politician. Born in Thurso, Caithness, he served in the British Army during the French and Indian War before settling in the Province of Pe ...

. Cutler was friends with

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

, and kept detailed notes during the Constitutional Convention about his visits to Franklin's

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

residence and the wonders Franklin kept there. From 1801 to 1805, Cutler was a

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

representative in Congress. Cutler was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1781. 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 Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

research. He is considered a founder of

and the

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

Cutler Hall on that campus is named in his honor. In 1785, Cutler was elected a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. He received the degree of

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

from Yale University in 1789. Manasseh was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1813. Cutler died in 1823 at Hamilton, Massachusetts. Three of his descendants were members of the U.S. Congress-and one vice president: * William P. Cutler 812-1889son of Ephraim Cutler *

Rufus Dawes Rufus R. Dawes (July 4, 1838August 1, 1899) was a military officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He used the middle initial "R" but had no middle name. He was noted for his service in the famed Iron Brigade, particularly dur ...

838-1899father of Vice President Charles Gates Dawes and

Beman Gates Dawes Beman Gates Dawes (January 14, 1870 – May 15, 1953) was a politician and oil executive who served two terms as a Republican Congressman from Ohio from 1905 to 1909. Biography Dawes, a descendant of American Revolution hero William Dawes ...

; he was the son of Mrs. Sarah (Cutler) Dawes daughter of Ephraim CutlerNew England Families, Genealogical and Memorial
/ref> *

870-1953son of Congressman Rufus Dawes Image:DepartureOfThePioneers.jpg, Departure of pioneers from Manasseh Cutler's parsonage in 1787 Image:ForTheOhio.jpg, Manasseh Cutler prepared this wagon for the first pioneers to the Ohio Country

References

* *

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cutler, Manasseh 1742 births 1823 deaths Clergy in the American Revolution Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences People of Massachusetts in the American Revolution Ohio University people Yale Law School alumni People from Killingly, Connecticut Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts People from colonial Connecticut University and college founders Clergy from Dedham, Massachusetts Politicians from Dedham, Massachusetts People from colonial Dedham, Massachusetts 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives Members of the American Philosophical Society

Biography

See also

References

External links