Richard Cutts
Richard Cutts | |
---|---|
![]() Portrait by Gilbert Stuart | |
Second Comptroller of the United States Treasury | |
In office March 6, 1817 – March 21, 1829 | |
Preceded by | None (position created) |
Succeeded by | Isaac Hill |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 14th district | |
In office March 4, 1801 – March 3, 1813 | |
Preceded by | George Thatcher |
Succeeded by | Cyrus King |
Personal details | |
Born | Pepperellborough, Massachusetts Bay, British America (now Saco, Maine) | June 28, 1771
Died | April 7, 1845 Washington, D.C., U.S. | (aged 73)
Political party | Democratic-Republican |
Spouse(s) | Anna Payne (m. 1804-1832, her death) |
Relations | James Madison (brother-in-law) Dolley Madison (sister-in-law) James M. Cutts (grandson) Adèle Cutts Douglas (granddaughter) |
Children | 7 (including Mary Cutts) |
Alma mater | Harvard University |
Occupation | Merchant |
Signature | ![]() |
Richard Cutts (June 28, 1771 – April 7, 1845) was an American merchant and politician. A Democratic-Republican, he was most notable for his service as Second Comptroller of the United States Treasury from 1817 to 1829 and a United States Representative from Massachusetts from 1801 to 1813.
Early life[edit]
Cutts was born Cutts Island on June 28, 1771.[1] The island was near the town of Pepperellborough in Massachusetts Bay's Province of Maine (modern-day Saco, Maine).[1] The fifth of eight children born to Thomas Cutts and Elizabeth Scammon Cutts,[2] he attended the rural schools of Maine and Phillips Academy, Andover.[3] He graduated from Harvard University in 1790, then traveled extensively in Europe.[1] Cutts' father was a shipbuilder and merchant who traded in lumber and other cargoes at ports in several Caribbean islands.[4] Cutts studied law, but rather than pursuing a legal career, he also became a successful trader and merchant.[5]
Political career[edit]
A Democratic-Republican, Cutts served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1799 and 1800.[1] In 1800 he was elected to the Seventh U.S. Congress.[1] He was reelected five times and served from March 4, 1801 to March 3, 1813.[1] He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1812 to the Thirteenth Congress.[1]
During the War of 1812, Cutts was appointed as the federal superintendent general of military supplies, and he served from 1813 to 1817.[1] In 1817, he was appointed Second Comptroller of the Treasury, the first individual to hold this post.[6] He served until March 21, 1829, and was succeeded by Isaac Hill.[6]
Slavery[edit]
Cutts was a slave owner.[7]
Death and burial[edit]
In retirement, Cutts was a resident of Washington, D.C.[8] He died in Washington on April 7, 1845.[8] Cutts was buried at St. John's Graveyard, and in 1857 he was reinterred at Oak Hill Cemetery.[8]
Family[edit]
In 1804, Cutts married Anna Payne, whose sister Dolley Madison was the wife of Secretary of State (and later, President) James Madison.[1] They were the parents of seven children, five sons and two daughters:[9]
- James Madison (1805-1863)
- Thomas (1806-1838)
- Walter Coles (b. 1808, d. after 1833)
- Richard (1810-1815)
- Dorthea (Dolley) Payne Madison (1811-1838)
- Mary Estelle Elizabeth (1814-1856)
- Richard Dominicus (1817-1883)
Cutts' daughter Mary was close to Dolley Madison and wrote two memoirs about her.[10] Cutts' grandson James M. Cutts was a member of the Union Army during the American Civil War and a recipient of the Medal of Honor.[11] His granddaughter Adèle Cutts Douglas was the second wife of Senator Stephen A. Douglas.[12]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i New England Historic, Genealogical Society (July 1848). "Obituary, Richard Cutts". The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: Samuel G. Drake. pp. 277–278 – via Google Books.
- ^ Howard, Cecil Hampden Cutts (1892). Genealogy of the Cutts Family in America. Albany, NY: Joel Munsell's Sons. pp. 44–45 – via Google Books.
- ^ Carpenter, Charles C. (1903). Biographical Catalogue of the Trustees, Teachers and Students of Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., 1778-1830. Andover, MA: Andover Press. p. 29 – via Google Books.
- ^ Caldwell, Bill. Rivers of Fortune. Camden, ME: Down East Books. pp. 145–146. ISBN 978-1-4617-4545-7 – via Google Books.
- ^ Lossing, Benson John, ed. (1872). The American Historical Record. Vol. I. Philadelphia, PA: Chase & Town. p. 35 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b Gilkeson, Benjamin F.; Kern, Josiah Quincy (1893). Digest of Decisions of the Second Comptroller of the Treasury. Vol. III. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. p. 410 – via Google Books.
- ^ Weil, Julie Zauzmer (February 20, 2022). "Post readers help identify enslavers in Congress". The Washington Post. pp. C1, C6. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
David B. Mattern, a historian who lives inCharlottesville, said he spent more than 30 years editing the papers of James Madison, one of 12 American presidents who enslaved people. He pointed The Post toward a letter from Madison’s wife, Dolley, to her sister Anna, in which Dolley complained about her enslaved maid and asked about Anna’s. “I would buy a maid but good ones are rare & as high as 8 & 900$— I should like to know what you gave for yours,” Dolley wrote. Along with an 1820 census that a Post journalist found, Madison’s letter helped demonstrate that Anna and her husband, Rep. Richard Cutts of Massachusetts, were slaveowners, adding Cutts to the database.
- ^ a b c U.S. Congress Joint Committee on Printing (1928). Biographical Directory of the American Congress. 1774-1927. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. p. 874 – via Google Books.
- ^ Clark, Allen Culling (1914). Life and Letters of Dolly Madison. Washington, DC: W. F. Roberts Company. p. 501 – via Google Books.
- ^ Leibiger, Stuart (2014). "The Queen of America: Mary Cutts's Life of Dolley Madison. Edited by Catherine Allgor . Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012. 240 pp". Presidential Studies Quarterly. 44 (2): 376–377. doi:10.1111/psq.12125. ISSN 1741-5705.
- ^ "Union Veteran Dead: Col. J. Madison Cutts a Victim of Disease". The Evening Star. Washington, DC. February 25, 1903 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ James, Edward T., ed. (1971). Notable American Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary. Vol. I. Cambridge, MA: Radcliffe College. pp. 509–510. ISBN 978-0-674-62734-5 – via Google Books.
External links[edit]
- United States Congress. "Richard Cutts (id: C001033)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- 1771 births
- 1845 deaths
- Harvard University alumni
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from the District of Maine
- Comptrollers in the United States
- People from Saco, Maine
- Massachusetts Democratic-Republicans
- Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)
- Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts