Charles Cutts

Charles Cutts (January 31, 1769 – January 25, 1846) was an attorney and politician from New Hampshire who rose to prominence in both state and national government. Over the course of his public career he served as Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, United States Senator from New Hampshire, and Secretary of the United States Senate. As a member of the Republican Party representing New Hampshire, he contributed to the legislative process during one term in Congress, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents during a significant period in American history.

Cutts was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on January 31, 1769, the son of Samuel Cutts and Anna Holyoke. Through his mother he was connected to a prominent New England family; she was the daughter of Edward Holyoke and the sister of the noted physician Edward Augustus Holyoke. Raised in Portsmouth, he received his early education there before attending Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He then entered Harvard University, from which he graduated in 1789. During his college years he was selected for membership in the Phi Beta Kappa Society, reflecting his academic distinction.

After completing his studies at Harvard, Cutts read law in the office of attorney John Pickering, a leading New Hampshire lawyer of the period. He was admitted to the bar in 1795 and established a legal practice in Portsmouth. His work as an attorney brought him into contact with the commercial and political life of the seaport, laying the foundation for his later political career. Active in public affairs from an early age, he aligned himself with the Federalist Party in New Hampshire politics, a common affiliation among New England professionals of his generation.

Cutts entered elective office as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, in which he served from 1803 to 1811. Within a few years he emerged as a legislative leader. He was chosen Speaker of the New Hampshire House from 1807 to 1809 and again from 1810 to 1811, presiding over the lower chamber during a period of growing national tension that preceded the War of 1812. Because congressional sessions began in December, when the state legislature was not in session, he was able to complete his final term in the New Hampshire House and his second tenure as Speaker, which concluded in early 1811, even after his election to the United States Senate.

In 1810, Cutts was elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Nahum Parker. He took his seat on June 21, 1810, and served until March 3, 1813. The New Hampshire General Court failed to elect a successor for the new term beginning March 4, 1813, and Governor William Plumer appointed Cutts to continue in office; he served under this appointment from April 2, 1813, to June 10, 1813, when a successor was finally chosen. His Senate service coincided with the War of 1812 and the immediate post-war period, when the federal government was preoccupied with military defense, wartime finance, foreign trade disruptions, and the beginnings of economic recovery. During his tenure he was appointed to several select committees dealing with finance and the economy, foreign trade, and military defense, and he frequently served as chairman, giving him a significant role in shaping legislative responses to wartime challenges.

After leaving the Senate, Cutts remained in Washington, D.C., and continued his service to the national legislature in an administrative capacity. On October 12, 1814, he was elected Secretary of the United States Senate, the chief administrative officer of the chamber, and he held this post until December 12, 1825. His term as Secretary spanned a critical period in the physical and institutional development of Congress. In the aftermath of the burning of the U.S. Capitol by British forces during the War of 1812, the Senate met in temporary quarters in the U.S. Patent Office in downtown Washington. Cutts oversaw the preparations for the Senate’s move from these temporary rooms to the hastily erected “Brick Capitol,” located on the site now occupied by the Supreme Court of the United States. He later directed the complex logistical arrangements for the Senate’s return to the restored Capitol, a move completed in 1819. His long tenure as Secretary provided continuity for the Senate during a period of rebuilding and expansion.

In his personal life, Cutts was connected by marriage to several prominent American families. In 1812 he married Lucy Henry Southall (d. 1868), a Virginian who was a descendant of Revolutionary orator Patrick Henry and the niece of Elizabeth Kortright Monroe, the wife of future President James Monroe. Their children included sons Stephen (born 1813) and Samuel (born 1815), and a daughter, Martha (born 1817). Another daughter, Priscilla Olive, died in infancy. Cutts was also part of a wider political and social network through his extended family. He was a cousin of Richard Cutts, who represented the District of Maine in Congress when it was still part of Massachusetts; Richard Cutts later married Anna Payne, the sister of Dolley Payne Todd Madison, wife of President James Madison, further linking the family to the national political elite.

In retirement, Cutts left Washington and settled in northern Virginia. He moved to Fairfax County and eventually made his home in the community of Lewinsville. There he lived quietly after more than two decades of continuous public service in legislative and administrative roles. He died in Lewinsville on January 25, 1846, a few days short of his seventy-seventh birthday, and was buried in a private cemetery near Lewinsville. He is one of approximately fifty former United States senators for whom the U.S. Senate’s photo historian has no known likeness on file, and repeated efforts to locate an image of him have been unsuccessful, leaving his public legacy preserved primarily in written records of his service rather than in visual form.