My Life as Ephraim Cutler

Photo above: House and botanical garden of Judge Ephraim Cutler, just east of Marietta, OH. The Ohio River is visible in the background.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Please welcome guest author C. Richard Dean. Dr. Dean is a retired Ohio University professor who has studied and reenacted early Ohio pioneer Ephraim Cutler for over 15 years.

Ephraim Cutler came to Ohio in 1795 soon after the Northwest Territory was established. Throughout his life he worked to benefit Southeast Ohio and Ohio University. For seven years he and his family lived in what is now Amesville, OH, which is also my childhood home.

I knew of Cutler’s presence and influence in my community from an early age; Cutler had been one of the organizers of the famed Coonskin Library established there in 1804 by area residents who craved printed materials on the then US frontier. Cutler was the first secretary of the Western Library, the real name of that subscription library. School children of the town frequently presented a play portraying the creation of this library.

While an active professor in communication disorders I learned of the book The Life and Times of Ephraim Cutler, by his daughter, Julia Cutler. I soon became aware how much more Ephraim had done for SE Ohio, Ohio University and the State of Ohio than his father, Manasseh, the man credited for the establishment of Ohio University, although he was never there and only spent 7 days visiting early Marietta.

I was a Boy Scout leader who participated in many scouting events including annual district campouts at Burr Oak State Park. Each year there was a featured area – History Hill – where Civil War skirmishes and Native American life styles were reenacted. For many years I set up a small tent and interacted with scouts and their leaders portraying Ephraim. These were my first Cutler portrayals, motivated primarily because I felt Cutler was an important unknown historical figure.

My presentations featured speaking with a New England accent and requesting ages of those visiting my tent so that I could relate what Cutler was doing at the same age as the scouts. Generally their ages enabled me to share knowledge of events leading up to and during the American Revolution. For example, at age 8 Cutler was awakened by his grandfather preparing to march from Killingly, CT to Lexington, MA to repel the British, who had just attacked there.

Over the 15 year period of reenacting I have spoken at many historical groups. Most have been in the Marietta, OH area where Cutler lived most of his life, and where many local events are dedicated to the history of Marietta, the first established community in the Northwest Territory.

This was area north and west of the Ohio River, which ultimately became the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. My presentations always include Cutler’s participation in the establishment of the State of Ohio. He was one of the youngest representatives at the 2nd Territorial Convention (1801) and the Ohio Constitutional Convention (1802).

He represented Washington County as a minority party Federalist. Opponents at the time were the Thomas Jefferson Democrats who settled the Virginia Military District in Southwest Ohio, generally the Chillicothe and Cincinnati areas. They were the majority party. The main issues of the time were the nature of government (strong or weak) and slavery.

These conventions took place in Chillicothe, a frontier town of the time. They were frequently boisterous and violent. Cutler’s claim to fame was his success in defeating the Jefferson plan for eliminating slavery in the new state; it would have allowed slavery, but provided for a prolonged process to eliminate it.

A common belief in Southeastern Ohio and described in some college and university Ohio history texts is that Cutler defeated slavery in a last minute vote in which he was brought from a sick bed to cast a tying vote and convince a young colleague to change a vote in order to defeat an amendment to the finale draft of the Ohio constitution that would permit slavery in the new state of Ohio. In reality there was no major opposition to Article preventing slavery; the last minute defeat of an amendment was one that would only have limited the rights of black citizens. Cutler had worked earlier in committee work on Article 8 to change committee opinions to prevent slavery in Ohio. So he is credited with preventing slavery but not in the dramatic way frequently described. To honor his work to prevent slavery in Ohio his home north of Belpre, OH was named Constitution and a nearby community was called Veto. A historic marker commemorates his efforts.

Over the years I have presented at museums, local historical celebrations, community groups, elementary and high schools and universities to name the more frequent ones. I adapt each to include information about, or of interest to, the sponsoring group.

When in Marietta I include Cutler’s role in preserving local history and successfully lobbying to bring railroads to the area. When speaking to a Prisoner of War group I include information about treatment of POWs during the Revolution. Speaking at the Underground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati was a bit of a challenge; there is no documentation of his ever being there.

However, he was invited to accompany former president, then congressman, John Quincy Adams on his return trip up the Ohio River to Pittsburgh from Cincinnati where he dedicated the National Observatory on Mt. Ida (later named Mt. Adams.) He joined Adams at his home on the river near Belpre.

Over the years I’ve become more accustomed to speaking in dialect and to include a Q and A period to allow me to step out of character to analyze Cutler’s influence and to make comparisons to current society. For example, children frequently want to know why Cutler did or didn’t do something, because they have difficulty relating something I discussed to their own life (e.g. why didn’t his very ill children go the doctor?) I cannot answer this while in character, restricted to Cutler’s lifetime.

Ephraim Cutler was born a British citizen and lived to witness the establishment of 18 states and the election of 14 presidents. You can learn more of him HERE.

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