Timothy Cutler

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Timothy Cutler, (May 31, 1684 - Aug. 17, 1765), rector of Yale College and Episcopal clergyman, was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, a descendant of Robert Cutler who settled in that town prior to Oct. 28, 1636. His father was Major John Cutler, an anchorsmith, and his mother, Martha Wiswall. The fact that both his father and grandfather opposed the government formed after the overthrow of Andros in 1689, and although severely penalized, refused to subscribe to it until it had received royal sanction, suggests a family tendency to conform to the established order at home, which may have had something to do with Timothy's subsequent conversion to the Church of England. When seventeen years old he graduated from Harvard College, and on January 11, 1709/10, having come from Massachusetts to Connecticut with the recommendation of being "one of the best preachers both colonies afforded," he was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in Stratford.

On March 21, 1710/11, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Samuel Andrew [q.v.] of Milford, Connecticut, then acting rector of Yale College. He served his parish acceptably until March 1718/19 when, conditions at Yale College calling imperatively for a resident rector, he undertook that office at the request of the trustees, his appointment being formally approved in September. Although his father-in-law was doubtless instrumental in securing his appointment, Cutler was in general well fitted for the position, being "an excellent Linguist," a "good Logician, Geographer, and Rhetorician," while "in the Philosophy & Metaphysics & Ethics of his Day or juvenile Education he was great. . . . He was of an high, lofty, & despotic mien. He made a grand figure as the Head of a College" (The Literary Diary of Ezra Stiles, 1901, II, 339-40).

The new rectorship opened auspiciously and an era of prosperity seemed at hand when, on Sept. 13, 1722, the rector, with Tutor Daniel Browne and several Congregational clergymen, met with the trustees, declared themselves doubtful of the validity of their ordination, and asked advice with regard to entering the Church of England. Upon request they made a written statement of their position, and the meeting was adjourned for a month. In the meantime Governor Saltonstall arranged a public debate on the matter, held Oct. 16, as a result of which, on the following day, at a special meeting of the trustees, it was voted to "excuse the Rev. Mr. Cutler from all further services as Rector of Yale College," and it was provided that all future rectors and tutors should declare to the trustees their assent to the Saybrook Confession of Faith, and give satisfaction as to their opposition to "Arminian and prelatical corruptions."

Contemporary evidence indicates that Cutler was never whole-heartedly a Dissenter, that he had been converted to Episcopalianism when at Stratford by John Checkley [q.v.], and that in spite of this fact had accepted the rectorship of a Congregational college, publicly declaring what he had privately believed only when a desirable place in the Established Church was assured him (Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, ser. 2, IV, 299; Josiah Quincy, History of Harvard University, 1840, I, 365; F. B. Dexter, Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College, with Annals of the College History, vol. I, 1885, p. 271).

After a visit to London where he was ordained by the Bishop of Norwich in March 1723, and received the degree of D.D. from both Oxford University and Cambridge University, Cutler became rector of the newly formed Christ Church, Boston. Here he remained until his death, one of the leading Episcopal clergymen of New England, full of polemic spirit, venerated for his learning, but too haughty in manner to be popular. He founded the church at Dedham and took care of Christ Church, Braintree. He was a high Tory, intolerant of Dissenters, and a militant defender of the rights of his fellow believers. With Rev. Samuel Myles of King's Chapel he laid claim to a seat on the Board of Overseers of Harvard, as a minister of the Episcopal Church in Boston, maintaining that he was a "teaching elder" as required by the college charter. Both the Overseers and General Court decided against him (Quincy, supra, pp. 365-76). He never ceased to urge the appointment of a bishop for the American colonies. With the exception of four sermons, two preached before the Connecticut General Assembly, May 9, 1717, and Oct. 18, 1719, he left no published works. -- Harris Elwood Starr

His daughter Elizabeth Hilton Cutler was married to Roger Sherman's father William on July 15, 1714, by Rev. Simon Bradstreet; and then married Roger's mother Mehitabel (Sweetman) Wellington on September 13, 1715 in Watertown, Massachusetts Bay Colony; their married was performed by Jonas Bond, a Justice of the Peace.

[edit] FURTHER READINGS

[William S. Perry, Historical Collections Relating to the American Colonial Church (1870) and John Nichols, Illustrations of the Lit. History of the Eighteenth Century (1822) contain Cutler letters; Henry W. Foote, Annals of King's Chapel (1882-96) is rich in references. See also Nahum S. Cutler, A Cutler Memorial and Geneal. History (1889); Richard Frothingham, History of Charlestown, Mass., no. 5 (1847); Edwin Oviatt, The Beginnings of Yale (1916); Samuel Orcutt, History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport, Conn. (1886); Justin Winsor, Memorial History of Boston, vol. II (1881); E. E. Beardsley, History of the Episc. Church in Connecticut (1866); William S. Perry, History of the American Episc. Church (1885); William B. Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit, vol. V (1859); Henry Burroughs, An Historical Account of Christ Church, Boston (1874); Asa Eaton, Historical Account of Christ Church, Boston (1824).]

[edit] SOURCE CITATION

"Timothy Cutler."Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2005. http://galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy.sfpl.org/servlet/BioRC

Academic Offices
Preceded by Samuel Andrew, as Rector of the Collegiate School, pro tempore	Rector of Yale College 1719–1726	Succeeded by Elisha Williams