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COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 
 
" 7 thought he looked like a good man." 
 
 COLONEL THOMAS CUTIS 
 
 SACO'S MOST EMINENT CITIZEN 
 IN THE COUNTRY'S EARLY DAYS 
 
 BOEN 1736; DIED 1821 — WEST INDIA MERCHANT, 
 SHIP OWNER, FOUNDER OF INDUSTRIES — MILI- 
 TARY LEADER, TOWN OFFICER, MEMBER OF 
 LEGISLATURE AND OF GOVERNOR'S COUNCIL — 
 A FOUNDER OF THORNTON ACADEMY AND ITS 
 FIRST PRESIDENT OF TRUSTEES — OVERSEER 
 OF BOWDOIN COLLEGE — FRIEND OF LEARNING 
 
 BY 
 
 GEORGE ADDISON EMERY 
 
 Rkai> hefore the Maine Historical Society November 20, 1912 
 
 SACO, MAINE 
 1917 
 
•^5^6>/(^ 
 
 /i^- 
 
 ! 7. H 
 
 
COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 
 
 About 1645 there came from the west of England to the 
 Isles of Shoals, at that time a great fishing resort, and then to 
 Portsmouth (then called Strawberry Bank on the Piscataqua), 
 two young men, John and Richard Cutt. They were joined 
 later by a brother, Robert, and a sister, Anne Cutt, who 
 married John Shipway, a merchant of Strawberry Bank. 
 
 It is impossible now to say with certainty from what par- 
 ticular point in England they came, or to give any positive 
 statement as to their parentage. 
 
 Traditionally, their father was Richard Cutts, Esq., of 
 Grondale Al^bey, Essex County, an adherent of Cromwell; he 
 married a widow })y the name of Shelton, who, it is said, by 
 him and her former huslxand had twenty-three children, all 
 living at the same time. The young men dropped the final 
 letter in their name, calling it Cutt, when they emigrated to 
 this country. 
 
 The first brother, John, lived at Portsmouth. He became a 
 member of the Council for Government of the Province, and in 
 1679 he was appointed l)y the Crown its first Prcsitlent. His 
 name was written Cutts in his letters-patent. John's and 
 Richard's estate in Portsmouth covered two-thirds of what is 
 now the compact part of the city. John's second wife was 
 Ursula Cutt, who after his death was killed by the Indians in 
 July, 169-4. Madam Ursula was murdered in her own meadow 
 where she had gone with a maid-servant to carry refreshments 
 to her men in the hay-fields, when she and her haymakers were 
 shot down and scalped. 
 
 Robert Cutt, the third brother and the great-grandfather of 
 Col. Thomas Cutts, came to this country several years after 
 John and Richard. He went after a time to the Barbadoes and 
 was probably connected with his V)rothers in ]:)usiness, receiving 
 fish and lumber, and shipping West Indies goods in return. He 
 finally returned to Portsmouth, moved across the river to 
 Kittery and "built a large number of vessels." 
 
 3 
 
4 COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 
 
 His son, Richard Cutt, owned and lived on Cutts Island, 
 Kitteiy. Besides this large island, Richard had acquired a 
 fine estate from his father (Robert) and was a man of wealth 
 and repute. In the years 1694-5-7-8-9-170O-6 he served as 
 selectman of Kittery. 
 
 Major Richard Cutt, the son of Richard Cutt and the father 
 of Col. Thomas Cutts, was a man of great distinction in the 
 Province. In 1745, at the time of the expedition to Louisburg, 
 he was commissioned Major in Sir Wm. Pepperrell's regiment. 
 He was in the Legislature of Massachusetts as a Councillor 
 from 1755 to 1762. He also served as special justice of the 
 Court of Common Pleas, as his father did before him. His 
 residence was on Cutts Island, Kittery, where he and his wife 
 entertained in a truly "hospital)le and elegant manner all the 
 noted men of the day." While many of the stories of his style 
 of entertaining are exaggerated, there is no doubt he had a 
 luxurious home for those times and entertained freely. 
 
 On the eighth of April, 1724, he signed a petition in which 
 is set forth that "A house is lately made defenceable near y^ 
 head of York River, built by Mr. Robert Cutt for security 
 against the Indians, and the Lt. Gov'r. is huml^ly requested to 
 have six or eight soldiers posted there." Among others who 
 signed it were Win. Pepperrell and Wm. Pepperrell Jr. He was 
 selectman in Kittery from 1732 with few exceptions till 1776. 
 He was deacon of a church and is often spoken of in old records 
 as "Deacon Richard Cutt." 
 
 Madam Wood, the first novelist in Maine, speaking of the 
 time of Major Cutts, says: 
 
 Cutts Island aiul a large tract of land in Kittery formed a domain 
 almost lordly. The family resided on the Island, which was connected 
 with the mainland by a drawbridge which was taken up every evening for 
 the safety of the inhabitants and let down in the morning to permit the 
 workmen and retainers of the estate to attend to their usual duties. They 
 kept thirty cows and several hundred sheej:), and had a large old-fashioned 
 house, one apartment of which was long and large enough to dine fifty or 
 sixty guests. 
 
 The arms of the Cutts with quarterings innumerable were carved over 
 the immense fire-places, the mantel of which was adorned with colored 
 glass and two silver branches for candles. The floor was daily rubbed 
 with wax till it became like a nice mahogany table. The walls were 
 ornamented with i)aintings and work of the daughters, and the six dozen 
 pewter plates bore upon their edge the crest of the family. The daughters 
 were sent to the best schools and taught not only dancing, music and 
 embroidery, but one day in every week was devoted to the manufacture 
 of cake and pastry, the latter being as light as a feather and white as snow. 
 
 Returning from school with the daughter of Gov. Vaughan, one of the 
 Miss Cutts was detained a day and two nights at Portsmouth and saw at 
 the Governor's, tea for the first time. " I did not know," said she, on her 
 
COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 5 
 
 return, "how to act, but waited until I saw Miss Vaughan turn out the 
 tea and after adding sugar and cream, raise the cup to her hps and then 
 I followed her example." She purchased her mother a pound of the tea, 
 for which she paid a guinea, and sent to Boston for a set of China. 
 
 When at home the young ladies assisted in spinning, attended to the 
 dairy and oversaw the cooking. 
 
 Mrs. Cutts herself always skimmed her own milk and instructed her 
 dairy maids in the quantity of the rennet for the cheese. They made two 
 every day and churned every morning. They kejit a pleasure boat and 
 every young lady had a horse and side saddle of her own. They kept a 
 steward and a butler and once a year gave a grand entertainment, to 
 which only the highest were invited. 
 
 Invitations were sent a week in advance anfl the whole week devoted 
 to preparation. Extra help was secured and Billy Ball was engaged for 
 the whole day with his fiddle. Flowers or jjlants from Lady Ursula's 
 garden, which she had brought from England, had been set out. The 
 fiddler and drummer were close by the landing to welcome the guests with 
 "God Save the King." 
 
 Madam Wood then gives a vivid account of the dinner: 
 
 They had a pig roasted whole, called a barbecue, and fish that were 
 caught and cookecl immediately, with chickens, ham and tongues, every- 
 thing being raised upon the island except sugar, wine and spirits. 
 
 On the centre of the table was a silver tub that would hold four gallons 
 full of pancakes, rising from its rich and polished sides like an immense 
 snowdrift, for it was covered from the base to the attic with powdered 
 sugar. A floating island, representing a ship in the sea, was stationed a 
 little below, etc. 
 
 Col. Cutt, the su])ject of this paper, was for a lono- time one 
 of the most eminent merchants in Maine (Folsom says), and 
 from humble circumstances he, like all his ancestors in this 
 country, rose to great wealth, the reward of long continued 
 and successful effort. Thomas was the youngest l)ut one of 
 ten children. He served a clerkship with Sir Win. Pepperrell, 
 and, though very young, was entrusted with important busi- 
 ness. Sir Wm's. son-in-law (Sparhawk), in letters to him, 
 shows great confidence in his judgment and ability. He then 
 commenced business in Kittery but was unfortunate in his 
 first enterprise and about 1758 came to Saco. 
 
 He was then twenty-two years old and had only one hundred 
 dollars, which he had borrowed of his father. It is worthy of 
 mention that, as soon as he was able, he paid back to his father 
 what he owed him. He commenced trading in a small way, 
 first in a room in Dr. White's house at the foot of Wharf Hill. 
 He practised the closest economy, doing his own cooking and 
 thus saving the expense of board. He had an unusual aptitude 
 for business (Folsom says), and in a short time enlarged his 
 capital and became engaged in lucrative and extensive trans- 
 actions. 
 
b COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 
 
 Indian or Bonython Island was then covered with oaks and 
 was frequented by friendly Indians during the fishing season. 
 At this time and long after, the river was alive with salmon, 
 there being no dams or mills to trouble the free passage of fish. 
 In fact, salmon were so plenty that laborers stipulated, when 
 hired out, that they should not l)e required to eat salmon more 
 than twice a week. 
 
 Col. Cutt was the first to appreciate the advantages of the 
 island which was afterwards named Cutt's Island and is now 
 known as Factory Island. 
 
 In 1759 he purchased a small undivided part for ninety 
 dollars and soon afterwords built a small house with con- 
 veniences for a store, just in the rear of the York Manufactur- 
 ing Company's coal office. This is standing now. 
 
 A bridge wns thrown across the river on the Saco side not far 
 above the location of the present Alain Street crossing, and a 
 ferry from Col. Cutt's established to Allen's wharf. The old 
 ferry was from Sir Wm. Pepperrell's wharf and store, situated 
 where the Biddeford & Saco Coal Company's coal shed is now, 
 to Luques' wharf. This new arrangement shortened the ferri- 
 age and became the popular route to Biddeford. 
 
 Col. Cutt was very soon reaping the advantages of his 
 judicious selection, and, in addition to the business of his store, 
 engaged in shipbuilding and navigation. He was soon com- 
 pelled to secure a larger store. 
 
 His old store was occupied j^ears ago by Capt. Nathaniel 
 Fernald as a sail loft and afterwards by the York Manufactur- 
 ing Company as a waste house and later as a stable. 
 
 Sir Wm. Pepperrell having come into possession of one half 
 of the Island, this portion of it was purchased by Col. Cutt for 
 eleven hundred dollars in 1775. This explodes the old story 
 that it was purchased of the Indians for rum. He also pur- 
 chased small portions of the island of Sellea and Mclntire, and 
 of the Berry and Scanunan heirs. After this. Col. Cutt, Amos 
 Chase, Thomas Gilpatric and Benjamin Nason built a bridge 
 from the southwest side of the island to Allen's (now Luques') 
 wharf, which was met with much opposition from Col. Tjaig, 
 who owned the old Ferry but the people were much pleased 
 with the new departure. These gentlemen passed around a 
 subscription paper, a copj' of which follows and which may be 
 interesting: 
 
 Whereas a good Bridge over the Western Branch of Saco River at or 
 near the phxce where the Ferry is kept, ther(> would ho greatly serviceable 
 to the Pubhc and would much facilitate the Travelling to and from the 
 Eastward jiarts of the Province, and whereas Benjn Nason & Thomas Gil- 
 
COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 7 
 
 Patrick of Biddeford it Amos Chase & Thomas Cutt of Pepperrellboro, 
 All in the Comity of York, hath undertaken to build the same with a 
 Laudable Zeal for the Public Good — • and we the subscribers being willing 
 to promote a work of so general and extensive usefulness, Do hereby for 
 our selves Severally and Respectivelj^ Promise and Engage to the said 
 Benjn Xason, Thomas Gilpatrick, Amos Chase & Thomas Cutt to pay 
 them the particular and several sums herein affixed and carried out 
 against our names hereunto subscribed with our hands, always provided 
 the said Benjn Nason, Thoms Gilpatrick, Amos Chase & Thos Cutt do 
 within nine months from this time give bond to the Treasurer for the 
 County of York and to his successors in said office in the sum of Two 
 Thousand Pounds Lawful Money that they will truly and faithfully apply 
 the money, work or other articles subscribed as aforesaid and which shall 
 be paid to them for the purpose of building the bridge aforesaid and that 
 they will within nine months from this time proceed on the said work and 
 continue the same until a good and sufficient bridge is built as aforesaid — 
 
 And whereas there may be much money & other value given or paid to 
 the said Benjn Nason, Thoms Gilpatrick, Amos Chase & Thos Cutt in a 
 more private or some other manner than by a subscription that the said 
 Benjn Nason, Thoms Gilpatrick, Amos Chase and Thos Cutt shall also 
 become bound and obliged as aforesaid to apply what may be received in 
 any manner whatever on account of said Bridge to the use aforesaid. 
 Witness our hands at Biddeford Oct. 20, 1766. 
 
 Nathaniel Sparhawk for himself & family one half when the bridge is 
 begun & the other half at the Compleatuig of it One Hundred Dollars in 
 the whole. 
 
 Benj Hooper Six Pounds Thirteen Shillings 4P. 
 
 Joseph Terbon Ten Dollars 
 
 Samuel Seavey Ten Dollars 
 
 William Cole One Thousand Four Inch Plank. 
 
 John Dyer fifteen hundred of Four Lich Plank. 
 
 There are also many other contributors of money, work, etc. 
 Col. Cutt subscribed himself Twenty Dollars. 
 
 The original subscription paper is in the possession of B. N. 
 Goodale. 
 
 This bridge (called the Proprietors' bridge) was carried 
 away in the great freshet of 1785, but was promptly rebuilt by 
 Col. Cutt. 
 
 As soon as the bridge was built, Col. Cutt's business in- 
 creased still more rapidly. His store became the largest and 
 most successful in town, and he engaged more extensively in 
 navigation and up to the time of the Revolutionary war 
 carried on a very profitable lumber trade with the West Indies. 
 
 At that time Pepperell Square and the surrounding land to 
 the wharf w^as a swamp and was used as a place or yartl for the 
 storage of lumber. 
 
 It was said the Colonel netted $100,000 at one time on 
 molasses, for which he had exchanged lumber, which arrived 
 just after the war of the Revolution began, when the market 
 was very high. 
 
8 COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 
 
 r August 24, 1762, he was married by Rev. Mr. Moses Morrill 
 to Elizabeth, (laughter of Dominicus Scaniman. She was born 
 in March, 1745, and died Jan. 10, 1803. As there were no 
 carriages in those days, Mr. C'utt and his lady rode horseback 
 to the parson's, the lady on a pillion behind him, and they 
 returned in the same manner. The mail carrier at that time, 
 in this section at least, rode horseback, occasionally taking a 
 passenger on a pillion. 
 
 Mr. Seth Storer when a very old man (he died in Scar- 
 borough) said the first four-wheeled carriage he ever saw was 
 the mail coach from Portsmouth to Portland put on the route 
 by Enoch Paine about 1790, twenty -eight years after Col. Cutt 
 was married. In 1796 the custom of blowing the horn was 
 inaugurated, to give teamsters notice to turn out for the mail. 
 If not done at once, Mr. Storer said, the passengers would turn 
 out and turn over the offender. Sailors and rough men enjoyed 
 the fun of capsizing any one who obstructed the U. S. Mail. 
 Deacon Amos Chase of Saco is said to have driven the first 
 pair of wheels, a cart, from Kennebunk to Saco, prior to 1787. 
 Daniel E. Owen in "Old Times in Saco" says Deacon Chase 
 enjoyed the distinction of driving the first chaise from Kenne- 
 bunk to Saco. Marshal Thos. G. Thornton had the first fancy 
 finished chaise in Saco. 
 
 But to return to the bride whom we left unceremoniously on 
 her wedding day. She is described as a tall, well proportioned 
 lady, with a strong face but not handsome. A full length 
 panel picture of her and one of the Colonel are in York Insti- 
 tute. Her riding hood of black satin, lined with white satin 
 is also in the Institute. Mrs. C'utts was kind to the worthy 
 poor and was nuicli loved by them. She was reserved and 
 dignified, but very ladylike. In the painting she holds a 
 snuff-ljox in her hand. 
 
 Mr. C'utt continued to occupy the small house at the foot of 
 the hill for twenty years, and all but the youngest of his chil- 
 dren were born there. 
 
 In 1782 he moved to the mansion he had l^uilt at the top of 
 the hill, where Mr. Ernest L. Morrill now lives. From this 
 fine location he could see his many vessels as they came in and 
 went out of the harbor. Gov. Fairfield says in his "Trip to 
 the Pool " that "on either side of the road fronting the mansion- 
 house, were two fields formerly known under the significant 
 soljriquet of the Colonel's vest pockets. One of them is now 
 a brick yard, and the other is covered with factories. The 
 Colonel, if permitted to revisit us, would probably be not a 
 little puzzled in regard to his identity, finding his 'pockets' 
 
iili: o 
 
COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 9 
 
 one with clay and bricks, the other with spindles and pretty 
 girls." 
 
 Of course all supplies or nearly all came by water in those 
 days, as there were no railroads. I have been told that twenty 
 or thirty vessels have been in port at one time — many of 
 them making regular trips to and from Saco, and bringing 
 cargoes from home and foreign ports. The noted sea captains, 
 Coit, Storer and Sanuiel Hartley, commanded the Colonel's 
 vessels. 
 
 One of the first bridges across the river was known as the 
 ''Lottery Bridge." A commission was issued by the General 
 Court to Sir Wm. Pepperrcll and others empowering them to 
 set up a lottery to procure funds to build the bridge. The 
 price of tickets was two dollars. The highest prize, one 
 thousand dollars, was drawn by Ebenezer Ayer. 
 
 People in those days seem to have approved of lotteries if 
 the money obtained was devoted to some good object, but this 
 was before Col. Cutt's day. The "Lottery Bridge" was 
 washed away l:)y a freshet. Col. Cutt then built another, the 
 town contributing one hundred pounds, and a toll was taken 
 from strangers. This ])ridge lasted for twenty years, when he 
 built again. 
 
 He also with others built another bridge on the other side 
 (towards Biddeford) as I have stated. This too was a toll 
 bridge for a time. 
 
 The Colonel was an earnest advocate of the war of the 
 Revolution, although he suffered heavj^ losses thereby. 
 
 The travel over the bridges was so light that they were 
 temporarily thrown open to the public during the war. 
 
 Mr. Cutt not only owned the Island but large tracts of land. 
 He bought a portion of the Great Lot, so-called, of Sir Wm. 
 Pepperrell, aliout twelve hundred acres, and also about one 
 thousand additional acres of land valued by his appraisers, 
 with the six houses and five barns on it, at $20,450. He also 
 purchased the Pepperrell half of the saw-mill. 
 
 He had oxen, horses, and other stock on his farms, and some 
 were let at the halves. I have l)een told that one farmer's wife 
 brought him at one time two little kittens, lacing one-half of 
 the increase of farm stock. He owned many farms, and it was 
 said he could go to Canada with his own conveyances and sleep 
 in his own house every night. 
 
 His appraisers mention eightj^-four pieces of real estate, 
 appraised in all at $96,626. This valuation seems low. For 
 instance, the mansion house, etc. etc. (see inventory), is 
 appraised at only $6,000. In the list appear wharves and 
 
10 COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 
 
 docks and stores, sawmills, mill privileges, Hilton's Island (10 
 acres), 4 ■ 5ths of Stage Island, shares in Saco Boom, four pews 
 in the church, etc., etc. 
 
 He probal)!}^ built the large warehouse at the Ferry which 
 was afterwards used ])y the York Manufacturing Company for 
 storing cotton, and perhaps the warehouses and stores at the 
 Pool occupied by his son, Capt. Thomas Cutts. 
 
 The Colonel's personal property was appraised at $29,635.12. 
 Goods and chattels and notes, etc., amounted to about $15,000. 
 More were enumerated but not appraised. There wa;^ due 
 him on account of French claims $90,000. This, with the 
 money advanced to his childien and 7680 acres of land in Coos 
 County, New Hampshire, and one hundred and five shares in 
 the 10th New Hampshire Turnpike road (not in the Maine 
 appraisal), would make the Colonel a wealth}- man even in 
 these times. 
 
 He also left and gave his children pieces of silver, some of 
 which are treasured up by his descendants, among them being 
 a dozen porringers, a dozen silver cups or tumblers, etc. When 
 the British came in to the Pool, the Colonel had the silver 
 buried in the ground and a young girl, called later in life Nabby 
 Ridlon, was set to watch it. He also had fine mahogany furni- 
 ture, some of which his descendants still own, and a pair of his 
 brass andirons with his shovel and tongs are used in the fire- 
 place in the Charles C. G. Thornton jNIemorial Library. 
 
 Mr. Edward S. Moulton of Saco, clockmaker, said that for 
 many years Col. Cutt was the wealthy man of Saco and 
 wore the only watch in the town; that the case was worn out 
 by constant use, and that the watch was consulted as fre- 
 quently as if it had been the town clock. 
 
 The Colonel first added s to his name June 22, 1768, and he 
 was generally called Cutts after that time. Dr. Walter T. 
 Goodale has shown me a commission running to Thomas Cutts 
 as a Justice of the Peace dated July 1, 1789, which is signed by 
 John Hancock "Governour and Commander in Chief." 
 
 This commission directs him to keep the peace, cause it to 
 be kept by others, and to chastise and punish all offenders 
 against law. 
 
 Another commission runs as follows: 
 Colony of the 
 
 \ SEAL i ^oloi^y of the 
 
 ( ^ ) Massachusetts Bay 
 
 The Major Part of the Council of the Massachusetts Bay, in New 
 England. 
 
 To Thomas Cutt Esquire Greeting. 
 
 You being appointed first Major of the third Regiment of Militia in the 
 County of York whereof Tristram Jordan Esq. is Colonel, By virtue of 
 
COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 11 
 
 the Power vested in us, We do by these presents, (reposing special Trust 
 and confidence in your Loyalty, Courage, and good Conduct) Commission 
 you accordingly, [etc., etc.] and you are yourself to follow such Orders & 
 Instructions as you shall from time to time receive from the major part 
 of the Council or your superior officers. 
 
 Given under our hands and the seal of the said Colony, at Watertowne 
 the Fourteenth day of February in the sixteenth year of the Reign of his 
 Majesty King George the Third, Anno Domini, 1776. 
 
 By the command of the Major Part of the Council. 
 [Signed on the margin by Perez Morton D. Secry 
 
 fifteen councillors.] 
 
 Major Cutt made oath March 6, 1776, that he would faithfully perform 
 the duties of his office before 
 
 Tristram Jordan ( Field 
 Joseph Storer \ Officers. 
 
 Another commission in similar form signed l)y fifteen of the 
 Council, dated June 9th, 1778 (at Watertown), appoints him 
 Colonel of the same regiment (the Third) of Militia. This 
 commission runs to Thomas Cutts. 
 
 The Colonel was about five feet, ten inches in height and was 
 fleshy. The silhouette in Mr. Owen's book is said to be a good 
 likeness. 
 
 Mr. Storer said, "He w^as a man of humor, pretty funny 
 with bis men, but had a queer way of showing it. He always 
 looked very serious indeed " 
 
 Col. Cutts, as we have seen, did an enormous business. He 
 had stores, vessels, saw and grist mills, toll bridges, farms, 
 etc., and gave employment to a large numl^er of men. To 
 facilitate all this business he, with others, organized Saco Bank 
 with a capital of $100,000. This bank was first located in the 
 office of Mai-shal Thomas G. Thornton (for whom Thornton 
 Academy was named), who was Col. Cutts' son-in-law, having 
 married his daughter Sarah, and remained there until the bank 
 building was erected on the corner of Main and Pleasant 
 Streets on the site now occupied by the Saco and Biddeford 
 Savings Institution. The Colonel was succeeded in 1811 as 
 President by Marshal Thornton, wiio held the office until his 
 death, which occurred March 4, 1824. The charter expired 
 in October, 1812, and a new charter was granted for $120,000. 
 This expired October 1, 1831. 
 
 At the time of the Colonel's death, he had one hundred and 
 eighty shares in Saco Bank. This seems to have been almost 
 a family bank, several members and connections of his famih^ 
 being directors at different times, among them being Thomas 
 Cutts, Thomas Cutts, Jr., T. G. Thornton, Foxwell Cutts, 
 Richard Cutts, Dominicus Cutts, James B. Thornton and 
 Moses Emery. 
 
12 COLONEL, THOMAS CUTTS 
 
 When the Colonel retired from the presidency of Saco Bank 
 in 1811, he entered into a co-partnership with Josiah Calef, a 
 young iron merchant of Boston, and formed the "Saco Iron 
 Works Company." This was the first manufacturinjo; com- 
 pany on the island. The company was to manufacture "Hoops, 
 Nail Plates, Nail and Spike Rods, Nails or Brads, Tacks and 
 such other Iron work as they might thereafter think proper 
 to engage in." The Colonel sold Mr. Calef one-half of a mill 
 privilege for $550, subject to restrictions, and they agreed "to 
 own halves and in that proportion to divide expenses, profits 
 and losses." The cost of buildings and machinery, up to 
 January 13, 1812, was $14,329.86. During the year imj^rove- 
 ments were made amounting to $1,517.44. On June 27, 1820, 
 Thomas Cutts, Josiah Calef and their associates were incor- 
 porated into a company to carry on the manufacture of nails 
 or any other manufacture of iron and steel in Saco, and were 
 authorized to hold real estate not exceeding $50,000 and per- 
 sonal not over $100,000. (Chapter 15, Special Laws of Maine 
 1820.) Before this only wrought iron nails were used, which 
 were made by blacksmiths antl of course were very expensive. 
 The compaiiy made what are called cut nails, making (Folsom 
 says) 3,500 pounds a day. This was afterward increased to 
 5,500 pounds. An old gentleman has told me that tiie old nail 
 factory made a great noise and clatter when running, and that 
 a team of four oxen — there were no horse teams then — was 
 used in carrying nails to the Ferry in the winter and ])ringing 
 back iron for the company. 
 
 It is remarkable that Col. Cutts' great-grandson should have 
 married the daughter of his partner, Mr. Calef. 
 
 In all I have written, I have spoken only of the Colonel's 
 business ability. He was more than a superior business man, 
 he was a good citizen. He was Selectman from 1707 to 1769, 
 chairman of the board in 1771, and Town Treasurer from 1772 
 to 1794. He was Representative to the Ceneral Court in 1780 
 and was Councillor of Massachusetts in 1810. (It is highly 
 probable that while in Boston, attending to his official duties, 
 he met Josiah Calef and arranged to start the Iron Works.) 
 To fill these various offices must have been a great sacrifice to 
 the Colonel, as he had without them more business than one 
 man ought to assume. 
 
 When the first parish meeting house was built, Col. Cutts in 
 1805 gave a bell made l)y Paul Revere and which weighed one 
 thousand pounds. This church, which was dedicated Feb. 12, 
 1806, was for a long time considered the largest and most 
 elegant in Maine, being ninety feet long and fifty-four feet 
 
COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 
 From a portrait in York Institute 
 
COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 13 
 
 broad, with a spire one hundred and twentj^-six feet in height 
 and costing al^out .$18,000, with massive timbers and so in- 
 tricately framed that it was said no one Ijut the architect could 
 put it together. Inside, it was adorned with elaborate carvings 
 all done with a common pocket-knife. 
 
 Three sides were surrounded with galleries containing pews. 
 Singing seats were in a circle around and above the pulpit, 
 which stood out a little in the body of the church and over 
 which hung the old-fashioned sounding board suspended by 
 an iron rod. In front and around the pulpit were arranged 
 high panelled pews, the particular pride and comfort of the 
 fathers. There was an organ, and a church clock on the wall, 
 and Mr. Owen says that, best of all, in the belfry swung a 
 grand bell given by Col, Cutts. In the spire of this church 
 was the lantern, a room surrounded with glass. From this 
 lookout could be seen Portland, the beach, and the White 
 Mountains. 
 
 The former Treasurer of Bowdoin College, Mr. McKeen, 
 told me that people came long distances to see this meeting- 
 house and that it was considered the finest piece of architecture 
 in Maine. 
 
 Parson Elihu Whitcomb in his dedication sermon on Febru- 
 ary 12, 1806, says: 
 
 It is a laudable desire in man to wish to live (if I may so speak) after 
 he is dead ; and to perpetuate his existence in the minds of posterity by 
 noble and generous deeds. So long then as this society shall here as- 
 semble, so long as posterity shall here assemble, at the tone of that bell, 
 the name of Cutis ought to be held in honorable remembrance. 
 
 The church was burned on Sunday, July 8, 1860, and the 
 bell melted and was destroyed, but I see no reason why the 
 name of Col. Thomas Cutts should not still be held in honor- 
 able remembrance. 
 
 The bell was used on all public occasions and was tolled at 
 funerals. When General Cyrus King, Senator John Fairfield, 
 and other good people of Saco died, this bell announced the 
 fact, and my aunt said that when Col. Cutts died it tolled all 
 day. She was a little girl but remembered the long funeral 
 procession. The tongue was preserved and is in York Insti- 
 tute now. 
 
 At the time of the fire Oliver Batts, the sexton, did not hear 
 the alarm, and when he was told the next day that the church 
 was burned, he said, "Why, no, it hasn't; I've got the key 
 right in my pocket." 
 
 Col. Cutts believed in education and petitioned, with others, 
 the General Court for an Academy in Saco. He was the first 
 
14 COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 
 
 petitioner, and the first incorporator in the charter, which was 
 granted February 16, 1811. He was so well known and so 
 highly respected that his name 
 carried great weight in the Gen- /"^ -v /? 
 
 eral Court. He was the first /J/) r^^^^'^f~/ ~ 
 
 President of the Board of Trus- ^/j ^ (MX06 
 tees and was one of the first ^ 7«^ 
 
 and largest contributors to the 
 
 funds. In the history of Bowdoin College at the head of 
 the charter list of overseers, stand the names of the brothers 
 Edward Cutts of Kittery and Thomas Cutts of Saco, "names 
 at that time eminently aristocratic" as the history states. He 
 was also a corporator of the Massachusetts General Hospital. 
 
 He was very kind to the unfortunate, and when he laid 
 down a barrel of beef or pork for himself, he laid down another 
 for the poor. 
 
 Mr. Seth Storer said that his boy Henry, when six or seven 
 years old, saw Col. Cutts in his father's office one day. He 
 afterwards asked his father if he, Col. Cutts, "was not a very 
 good man. I thought he looked like a good man." The boy 
 was right; he was a good man in every sense of the word. 
 
 In a letter to his son, Capt. Thos. Cutts, Jr., March 7, 1792, 
 the Colonel concludes, "I hope this will find you and your 
 crew in a good state of health, and that your conduct will be 
 such as to meet the approbation of your Divine Master." 
 
 The Colonel was fortunate in having a good wife, and their 
 children in having an affectionate mother. 
 
 If the Academy had been chartered and the admirable 
 public school system we have today in Saco had been estab- 
 lished, I have no doubt that the Colonel, using the same good 
 judgment he showed all through his life, woukl have educated 
 his children at home. 
 
 But there were no such schools in the (Colonel's day. In- 
 deed, as late as 1809, the Kennel)unk Gazette has a standing 
 advertisement, "Teacher wanted," etc., showing that it was 
 difficult to secure an instructor. So the Colonel and his wife 
 sent their boys to Andover Academy, and his son Richard 
 (afterwards Member of Congress) then went to Harvard 
 College, and their daughters were educated in Boston. 
 
 Among Mr. Benjamin N. Goodale's treasures is a letter 
 from Mrs. Cutts to her son Thomas which is as follows: 
 
 " Poiiperrello Jaiiy. IS, 1785. 
 Dear Thos. 
 
 I am favored with an opportunity to write you, by Mr. Gray. I wish 
 you to write nie particularly on Mr. Gray's return. Your papa, brothers, 
 
MADAM ELIZABETH CUTTS 
 From a portrait in York Institute 
 
COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS , 15 
 
 sisters & all friends here are well. I hope you, your brother & all ac- 
 quaintances at Andover ar(> the same. 
 
 You may enquire of Mr. Gray, the particulars respecting an addition 
 of a new elder brother who has taken your second sister and is to carry her 
 soon to Berwick to reside where you will call and put up as you come home 
 in j'our vacation. Bring us accounts of how it fareth with them — in the 
 mean time improve yoiu- mind by a careful attention to yoiu- studies — 
 and dare to excel in Learning that when your papa and I do see you we 
 may have the comfort to behold part of a promising offspring. My 
 respects to your Preceptor, regards to Mr. & Mrs. Abbott. Love to you, 
 well wishes to all. I remain 
 
 Your tender & affectionate 
 
 mama, Eliz'i Cutts. 
 
 Mr. Goodale also has a receipt which reads as follows: 
 
 Received of Mr. Cutts fourteen pounds fovn-teen shillings in full for 
 one Quarter's board & Instruction of Miss Eunice ended the loth ult. 
 including 6£ Stationery 12£ cash lent and a rise of 4£ per week on the 
 board occasioned by great advances on rent etc. etc. 
 
 Eleanor Druitt. 
 
 The young ladies wrote a beautiful hand, and showed great 
 respect for their parents, as the following letters from the 
 Colonel's daughteis show: 
 
 Honrfi Papa, 
 
 I have so much anticipated the felicity of seeing my D"" Mama & your- 
 self on your return home, that being deprived that pleasure, I call it a 
 great disappointment. I am exceedingly anxious to know how you sir 
 & mama got home & whether the cancer is got better, as I hope it is 
 entirely eradicated. 
 
 I have been to get the Coat Arms prepared for working, and Mr. Gore 
 shewed me two Arms by the name Cutts, the one belonging to a Family 
 from London, and the other from Chelsey, both Arms different; and 
 Papa as j'ou chuse I should work your Arms, I should be fond of making 
 no mistake (t of working the right, if your business permitted your letting 
 me know by name the right one, it would be sufficient, without fiu'ther 
 trouble, as my utmost abilities shall be exerted to please Mama & yoiu'self 
 sir in the working. I am surprised at Sister's silence I shall only add that 
 if her sentiments correspond with mine, I should not want the addition 
 of a partial affection, to give weight to what I say — It will always give 
 me unsjx'akable delight to hear from all the family as I shall ever be 
 interested in what concerns them. 
 
 Be pleased sir to offer my dutiful compliments to Mama and accept 
 the same yourself — with love to Brothers & Sisters — Believe me to be 
 
 Your dutiful Daughter, 
 Boston Elizabeth Cutts. 
 
 April 22nd 1783. 
 
 [The Cutts Coat of Arms worked in silk, in York Institute, 
 was doubtless made by Miss Elizabeth. Her husband Rich- 
 ard was a long-time member of General Court.] 
 
16 COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 
 
 Hoard Papa & M ama, 
 
 I imbrace this favorable opportunity of acquainting you I am perfectly 
 well & very happily situated. 
 
 Give me leave to assure my dear Papa & Mama it shall be my constant 
 study to make improvements sufficient to compensate for all the touble 
 <S^ expenses I am sensible I put you both to. I shall be extremelv obliged 
 to my dear Mama to be so kind as to send me a skirt & some stockiiitis, 
 anything from Mama will be gratefully received from her loving daughter. 
 
 I have nothing more to add but to request my love to brothers and 
 sisters. Mr. & Mrs. Druitt desires their most respectful compliments 
 to you both. 
 
 Believe me to be with the greatest respect & esteem, 
 
 Your ever dutiful and obedient daughter 
 
 Newburyport, Mary Cutts. 
 
 Novr 9, 1779. 
 
 [Mary Cutis married Samuel Abbott.] 
 
 Honrd & Dear Mama, 
 
 I never was much happier than as I was sitting thinking of you, my Dr 
 Papa and the family to be agreeably surprised by Capn Tarbox who gave 
 me every information of the dearest family on earth, and presented me 
 with one pair blankets, some green baize & some money. Likewise in- 
 formed Mrs. Druitt (who desires most respectful compliments to Papa 
 and yourself Madam) of Coffee and Sugar for her. I work and mean to 
 exert my utmost industry early and late, to accomplish my work with 
 other things to sit and enjoy the pleasure of my dear parents company the 
 greatest pleasure this world can afTord. 
 
 Mama be pleased to present my most dutiful respects to my dear Papa 
 & thank him for all his kind attention to his absent daughter & be pleased 
 Madam to accept my most grateful thanks for all yours. 
 
 Be so good as to make my love to my brothers and sisters & Believe me 
 Honrd Mama 
 
 Your most Obliged and 
 Obedient Daughter 
 to Command, 
 Boston, Jan. 14, 1792. Sarah Cutts. 
 
 [Sarah married Dr. Thos. G. Thornton, Marshal of Maine.] 
 Mrs. Cutts made a pall for the town. This was a large 
 black cloth used to cover a coffin at funerals. A table was 
 covered with a white cloth which reached to the floor. The 
 coffin was placed upon thi.^, and the pall covered the coffin. 
 The bier was just outside the door. Sometimes they had four 
 honorary pall l^earers holding the four corners of the pall — 
 one at each corner, and the under bearers carried the bier. 
 They had no hearses in those days. The remains were borne 
 by the bearers to the grave, the grave filled and the bier left on 
 top of the grave till the next funeral. 
 
 Col. Cutts however had a tomb in the old burying ground 
 in the rear of the Unitarian Meeting House. 
 
CUTTS ARMS 
 Original, embroidered in colors, is in Yorl< Institute 
 
COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 17 
 
 Benjamin Simpson in his Journal Nov. 24, 1796, says, 
 "Thursda}' digging tomb for Col° Cutt." Then a number of 
 entries till Saturday, October 28, 1797, "Laid Bricks Col. 
 Cutts tomb." "Monday to Falls took up the remains of 
 Samuel Abbott & his wife, and a child of Dr. Thornton's and 
 deposited them in a tomb of Col. Cutts." 
 
 After Mrs. Cutts died, a queer letter was sent to their 
 daughter. Miss Eunice Cutts. On account of the quaintness 
 and the evident sincerity of the writer, a copy of the letter 
 follows : 
 
 To Col. Cutts Family, 
 
 Please to accept an imperfect tho' sincere tribute of Respect to the 
 memory of the deceased who was placed in the Golden Candlestick in this 
 family and whose light hath shone to Distant Climes. 
 
 As sympathy is a tender love in the Human Breast we weep with those 
 that weep. 
 
 Please to wink at imperfection and except the sincerity of a Friend to 
 this family. 
 
 Freeman Harvey. 
 
 As I have intimated, Mrs. Cutts was a model wife and 
 mother, and her death was a great loss to her husband and 
 family. 
 
 After their l)oys had been educated, the Colonel took them 
 into partnership, and they went to sea as captains in his 
 vessels, and he assisted them in other ways. 
 
 April 18, 1814, he sent word to his son, Capt. Thomas, at 
 the Pool that he should move his vessels up river out of danger, 
 but the captain l)elieved there was no danger, until the English 
 frigate Bulwark came into the Pool, set fire to the hull of a new 
 ship valued at S8,000, cut a second worth $7,000 to pieces, and 
 carried away another, which Capt. Cutts ransomed for $6,000 
 but which was afterwards lost at sea. 
 
 Foxwell Cutts, Esq., the oldest son of Col. Cutts, was 
 largely engaged in navigation for several years previous to the 
 war. His large and costly ships were profitably employed in 
 freighting large cargoes to various parts of the world. 
 
 Mr. Cutts built at that period the large mansion-house after- 
 wards occupied l)y Marshal Thornton. 
 
 The reception to Lafayette was in this house, as was prob- 
 ably the one to President Monroe. It was at the corner of 
 Main Street and Thornton Avenue and was afterwards a 
 hotel called the Thornton House. It was l:)urned January, 
 1851. 
 
 This son, Foxwell, afterwards failed in business and died 
 June 6, 1816, aged fifty-one years. 
 
18 COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 
 
 The Colonel bought and gave his widow the house and lot 
 on High Street now owned by Charles H. Hanson. 
 
 Foxwell's first wife was Sarah Scamman. After her death, 
 he married Hannah D. Page. 
 
 The second son, Thomas Cutts, Jr., was a sea captain and 
 a successful merchant at the Pool. He married Elizabeth 
 Hight and afterwards Mary, the daughter of Hon. Orchard 
 Cook, M.C., who was called "the belle of the East," on account 
 of her beauty and accomplishments. 
 
 Richard was a member of Congress and married Anna 
 Payne, a sister of President Madison's wife. 
 
 Dominicus was a sea captain and married Polly Chadbourne. 
 
 Maiy married Samuel Abbott. 
 
 Elizabeth married R. F. Cutts. 
 
 Eunice married Major Samuel Nye. 
 
 Sarah married Marshal Thomas G. Thornton. 
 
 Although the Colonel had eight children and all, as I have 
 stated, were married, no direct descendants by the name of 
 Cutts on the male side now live in Saco. 
 
 "Nothing remains of the old time but the mansion of Col. 
 Cutts on the crest of the hill, which has defied the storms of 
 twelve decades and promises to stand a long time yet. It was 
 built to stay, as anyone may see from its massive timbers. 
 
 "Like his other property it has passed from the family 
 possession, but is regarded with a pride which is shared by 
 every old citizen who holds antiquities and solid work in 
 respect." 
 
 The two houses this side of the mansion were the Colonel's 
 smoke house and wash house which have been converted into 
 dwelling houses. 
 
 In concluding, I will copy a portion of the Colonel's will, 
 which is characteristic of the man. He gave bis children 
 $81,341 in his life-time, as you may see. 
 
 Whereas I Thomas Cutis of Saco, Esquire, have heretofore advanced to 
 my children sums of money, hinds and other property which it was my 
 intention should be considered, computed, and charged to them and to 
 the heirs of such of my children as should die before me as part of their 
 respective shares in my estate on the final adjustment and settlement 
 thereof after my decease and it being my desire to do equal and exact 
 justice to all mj- children and to the heirs of such as are dead without 
 favour or partiality and as far as in my power to j^revent all uncnisiness 
 and controversies among my heirs in the division of my estate, as well as 
 to promote peace and harmony among them, I therefore do will and 
 ordain that the somes hereinafter mentioned shall be deemed and taken 
 as advancements by settlement made by me in my lifetime to my 
 children respectively and to tlie heirs of such of my children as are now 
 deceased . 
 
COLONEL THOMAS CUTTS 19 
 
 Firstly, I have advanced to my daughter Mary Abbott in her Ufetime 
 and to her children and heirs since her decease money and personal estate 
 to the full and just value of Eleven Thousand One Hundred and Seventy- 
 two Dollars ($11,172). 
 
 Secondly, I have advanced to my sone Foxwell Cutts in his lifetime, 
 mone>, personal estate and paid debts for him to the full and just value 
 of Thirty Thousand One Hundred and Sixty Dollars not including my 
 indorsements for him at Saco Bank ($30,160). 
 
 Thirdly, I have advanced to my daughter Elizabeth Cutts in her 
 lifetime Two Thousand Dollars viz : — ■ Eight Hundred Dollars in Furni- 
 ture and Twelve Hundred Dollars in cash ($2,000). 
 
 Fourthly, I have advanced to my son Thomas Cutts Jr. money and 
 personal & real estate to the full and just value of $6,807, viz: in vessels 
 and money $6,807. 
 
 Fifthly, I have advanced to my son Richard Cutts money «fe personal 
 & real estate to the full and just value of $7,257, in vessels, lands & money. 
 
 Sixthly, I have advanced to my daughter Sally Thornton money and 
 personal and real estate to the full and just value of $7,800 — ($7,800). 
 
 Sennthly, I have advanced to my son Dominicus Cutts money & 
 personal & real estate to the full and just value of $3,167 — (in the Her- 
 cules & in money, $3,167). 
 
 Eightly, I have advanced to my daughter Eunice Nye money & 
 personal & real estate to the full and just value of $14,878, viz: in Furni- 
 ture, House & Money $14,878. 
 
 Now therefore for the purpose of fulfilling my said intention as herein- 
 before expressed I do give, devise and bequeath after my decease, my just 
 debts etc. being first paid, all my estate real, personal & mixed to my 
 children and their heirs, and to the children and heirs of such as are 
 deceased to have & to hold to them and their respective heirs for their own 
 use forever in the same shares and proportions as they respectively would 
 bj' law have been entitled to in case I had died intestate. Subject how- 
 ever to the before mentioned several advancements, and to such further 
 advancements, as I may hereafter make to them or either of them and 
 
 charge them with. 
 
 Thomas Cutts. 
 
 [Dated July 6, 1816. Witnessed by Wm. P. Preble, I. Lane, Daniel 
 Granger.] 
 
 Colonel Cutts died Jantiary 10, 1821. 
 
 His remains antl those of his wife have been removed from 
 his tomb and buried on the lot of his grandson, Hon. Joseph T. 
 Nye, on Pine Avenue, Laurel Hill Cemetery', Saco, and stones 
 to their memory have been erected by Mrs. Caroline Augusta 
 (Thornton) Batchelder, his granddaughter. 
 
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