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Jervis Cutler Dr. George A. Cutler A
TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF THE FOUNDERS OF OHIO BRIEF SKETCHES OF THE 48 PIONEERS WHO UNDER COMMAND OF GENERAL RUFUS PUTNAM, LANDED AT THE MOUTH OF THE MUSKINGUM KEYS ON APRIL 7, 1788 AND COMMENCED THE FIRST WHITE SETTLEMENT IN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY --- Published by: Robert Clark & Co. 1886 In the preparation of these sketches the author has freely used the excellent historical works of Dr. S. P. Hildreth, “Pioneer History” and “Lives of the Early Settlers of Ohio,” some from the “History of Danvers, Massachusetts,” and many from unpublished manuscripts. JERVIS CUTLER was the son of Dr. CUTLER, one of the Directors of the Ohio Company. Dr. CUTLER'S published journal says, “Monday, December 3, 1757. this morning a part of the men going to Ohio met here (at his house in Ipawiel, Hamlet). two hours before day. I went on with them to Danvers. The whole joined at Major White's. Twenty men employed by the Company, and four of five on their own expenses, marched at eleven o'clock. This party is commanded by Major White. Captain (Jethro) PUTNAM took the immediate charge of the men, wagons, etc. Jarvis went off in good spirits.” the Rev. G. W. KELLY, who for sixteen years filled the pulpit at Hamilton, formerly Ipswich Hamlet, in a recent letter, says: “An esteemed lady, Mrs. P. ROBERTS, often informed me about the company which left Hamilton an hundred years ago to make a settlement in the wilderness west of the Ohio river. A wagon appeared in the highway in front of Dr. Cutler's house, covered with black canvas, but it had on both sides of it painted in white letters, ‘For Ohio'. As the home of Mrs. R. was directly opposite that of Dr. CUTLER, she could see all that took place. The wagon was drawn by oxen, a team most likely to be useful when snow fell on the way.” Temple CUTLER stated his recollections thus: “The little band of pioneers assembled at Dr. CUTLER'S house, and there took an early breakfast. About the dawn of day, they paraded in front of the house, and after a short address from him, the men being armed, three rolleys were fired, and the party went forward cheered heartily by the by-standers. Dr. CUTLER accompanied them to Danvers.” Jervis CUTLER had, at the age of sixteen, made a voyage to France, and now, at nineteen, he joined this company of adventures, and was the first of the forty-eight who leaped on shore at the mouth of the Muskingum, April 7, 1788. He was one of the associates who begun the settlement at Waterford, in the spring of 1789, and remained in the west until 1790, when he returned to New England and married Miss Philadelphia CARGIKK; in 1802 he settled at Bainbridge, Ohio, as a fur-trader. He was chosen Major of Colonel McARTHUR'S Ohio regiment in 1806, and enlisted a company for active service of which he was appointed Captain. This company was ordered to New Orleans in the spring of 1809. Soon after his arrival there, he was prostrated by yellow fever, and the United States Senate having refused to confirm his appointment as Captain, because of a charge that he had made speeches attacking the administration, he returned to New England. In 1812. He published a book entitled “A Topographiecal Description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana.” with a “Concise Account of the Indian Tribes West of the Mississippi.” In 1818, he again came west, and settled as an engraver of plates for bank notes, in Nashville, Tennessee. His first wife died in 1822. In 1824, he married Mrs. Elizabeth CHANDLER, of Evansville, Indiana. He died in Evensville, in 1844. His only son, now living, is Dr. Georga A. Cutler, of Chicago. 
 George was the youngest son of Major Jervis Cutler, an early pioneer of Ohio. He was born in Nashville, Tennessee on Christmas day 1832. He studied medicine at the University Medical College in New York City graduating in 1853. Upon graduation, Dr. Cutler moved to Missouri and set up his first medical practice before moving to Kansas Territory in 1854, where he was active in the political arena of the area. During the early part of Lincoln's administration, Dr. Cutler was appointed United States Indian Agent for the Creeks, doing much to alleviate their wants and placing them in comfortable circumstances. Upon resignation from the Indian services in 1864, Dr. Cutler moved to Texas, settling in Sherman. When the M.K.&T. Railroad approached Texas, Dr. Cutler was induced to found a newspaper for the new town that the railroad company intended on building on the Red River; Dr. Cutler agreed and published his Red River Journal from a tent in the woods. Unusual for the times, Dr. Cutler printed his first issue of the Red River Journal with red headlines, which was the talk of paper across the country. Starting at zero population, the town [Denison] grew to 3,000 inhabitants in the first 100 days. It is said that as soon as the railroad crossed the Red River, a stream of settlers began arriving. Before Denison was established a tent city of sorts sprang up near Red River at a site that has never been definitely established. Some of the many stories about Red River City possibly are true and others probably are not. The tent city is believed to have been east of the railroad tracks and near the south banks of Red River. The frontier village was so temporary that five
years after its founding, nothing was left but one log cabin.
When Denison's location was announced, Cutler picked up his
operation and moved to the new town and began publishing the Denison
Journal. When the lots went on sale in Denison the
inhabitants of Red River City saw the handwriting on the wall and
realized the boom would be in Denison. So, they began moving en masse
to the new town. The move was a simple step for most, who only had to
take down their tents and pitch them a little farther south. Others
only had to roll up their bedrolls and move.
Dallas Weekly Herald March 27, 1875 pg. 3 
Denison Daily News March 15, 1879 pg. 4 
The San Francisco Call March 23, 1903 pg. 9 Dr. Cutler is buried in Olivet
Cemetery, Colma, California.
Dallas Public Library holdings
Sources
Denison History Biography Index Copyright © 2024, TXGenWeb. If you find any of Grayson County, TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |