{{Short description|American politician (1769–1846)}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Charles Cutts |image = 150px|Silhouette of Senator Charles Cutts |office1 = 2nd Secretary of the United States Senate |term_start1 = October 12, 1814 |term_end1 = December 12, 1825 |predecessor1 = Samuel Allyne Otis |successor1 = Walter Lowrie |jr/sr2 = United States Senator |state2 = New Hampshire |term_start2 = April 2, 1813 |term_end2 = June 15, 1813 |predecessor2 = Himself |successor2 = Jeremiah Mason |term_start3 = June 21, 1810 |term_end3 = March 3, 1813 |predecessor3 = Nahum Parker |successor3 = Himself |office4 = Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives |term_start4 = 1810 |term_end4 = 1811 |predecessor4 = George B. Upham |successor4 = Clement Storer |term_start5 = 1807 |term_end5 = 1809 |predecessor5 = Samuel Bell |successor5 = George B. Upham |office6 = Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives |term6 = 1803–1811 |birth_date = {{birth date|1769|1|31}} |birth_place = Portsmouth, New Hampshire |death_date = {{death date and age|1846|1|25|1769|1|31}} |death_place = Lewinsville, Virginia |party = Federalist }} '''Charles Cutts''' (January 31, 1769{{spaced ndash}}January 25, 1846) was an attorney and politician from New Hampshire. Among the offices in which he served were Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, United States Senator and Secretary of the United States Senate.
==Early life== Cutts was born in Portsmouth on January 31, 1769, the son of Samuel Cutts and Anna Holyoke.{{sfn|''Genealogy of the Cutts Family in America''|pages=42-43, 80-81}} He was educated in Portsmouth and Phillips Academy, Andover, MA, and attended Harvard University, from which he graduated in 1789.{{sfn|''A Catalogue of the Fraternity of Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha of Massachusetts''|page=8}} During his college years, Cutts was selected for membership in Phi Beta Kappa.{{sfn|''A Catalogue of the Fraternity of Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha of Massachusetts''|page=8}} After graduating, Cutts studied law with attorney John Pickering, was admitted to the bar in 1795, and practiced in Portsmouth.{{sfn|''The Bench and Bar of New Hampshire''|page=300}}
Active in politics as a Federalist, Cutts was a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1803 to 1811.{{sfn|''The Bench and Bar of New Hampshire''|page=300}} He served as Speaker of the House from 1807 to 1809, and again from 1810 to 1811.{{sfn|''The Bench and Bar of New Hampshire''|page=300}}
==U.S. Senator== In 1810, Cutts was elected to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Nahum Parker, and he served from June 21, 1810, to March 3, 1813.{{sfn|''The Bench and Bar of New Hampshire''|page=300}} Because Congressional sessions began in December, when the state legislature was not in session, Cutts completed his final New Hampshire House term and term as Speaker, which ended in early 1811. The New Hampshire General Court failed to elect a successor for the term that began on March 4, 1813, so Governor William Plumer appointed Cutts, who served from April 2, 1813, to June 10, 1813, when a successor was elected.{{sfn|''The Bench and Bar of New Hampshire''|page=300}}
While Cutts served in the Senate, the federal government was concerned with prosecuting the War of 1812 and then beginning the post-war recovery.{{sfn|"Charles Cutts, Secretary of the Senate, 1814-1825"}} Cutts was appointed to several select committees concerned with the finance and the economy, foreign trade, and military defense, and frequently served as chairman.{{sfn|"Charles Cutts, Secretary of the Senate, 1814-1825"}}
==Later life== Cutts remained in Washington, D.C. after leaving office.{{sfn|''The Bench and Bar of New Hampshire''|page=300}} In 1814 he was elected to serve as Secretary of the United States Senate, and he held the position from October 12, 1814, to December 12, 1825.{{sfn|''The Bench and Bar of New Hampshire''|page=300}} As Secretary, Cutts oversaw preparations for the Senate's move from its temporary downtown quarters in the Patent Office, which had been necessitated by the burning of the US Capitol during the War of 1812 to the hastily erected "Brick Capitol", a building which was located on the site of the current US Supreme Court Building.{{sfn|"Charles Cutts, Secretary of the Senate, 1814-1825"}} Following that move, Cutts planned the move of the Senate back into the Capitol, which took place in 1819.{{sfn|"Charles Cutts, Secretary of the Senate, 1814-1825"}}
In retirement, Cutts moved to Fairfax County, Virginia, and eventually settled in Lewinsville.{{sfn|"Charles Cutts, Secretary of the Senate, 1814-1825"}} He died in Lewinsville on January 25, 1846, and was buried in a private cemetery near Lewinsville.{{sfn|"Charles Cutts, Secretary of the Senate, 1814-1825"}}
==Family== Cutts' mother was the daughter of Edward Holyoke and the sister of Edward Augustus Holyoke.{{sfn|''Genealogy of the Cutts Family in America''|pages=42-43}}
In 1812, Cutts married Lucy Henry Southall (d. 1868), a descendant of Patrick Henry and the niece of James Monroe's wife Elizabeth.{{sfn|''Genealogy of the Cutts Family in America''|pages=80-81}} Their children included Stephen (b. 1813), Samuel (b. 1815), and Martha (b. 1817).{{sfn|''Genealogy of the Cutts Family in America''|pages=80-81}} Another daughter, Priscilla Olive, died as an infant.{{sfn|"Southall Family of Virginia"}}
Charles Cutts was the cousin of Richard Cutts, who served in Congress from the portion of Massachusetts that later became the state of Maine.{{sfn|"A Guide to the Papers of Richard Cutts, 1753-1886: Correspondence"}} Richard Cutts was the husband of Dolley Madison's sister Anna.{{sfn|"A Guide to the Papers of Richard Cutts, 1753-1886: Correspondence"}}
==Attempts to locate portrait== Cutts is one of approximately 50 former senators for whom the U.S. Senate's photo historian has no likeness on file.{{sfn|"Senators Not Represented in Senate Historical Office Photo Collection"}} Attempts to locate one have proved unsuccessful.{{sfn|"Senators Not Represented in Senate Historical Office Photo Collection"}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources== ===Books=== *{{cite book |last=Bell |first=Charles Henry |date=1894 |title=The Bench and Bar of New Hampshire |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924018765929/page/n321 |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Houghton, Mifflin and Company |ref={{sfnRef|''The Bench and Bar of New Hampshire''}}}} *{{cite book |last=Howard |first=Cecil Hampden Cutts |date=1892 |title=Genealogy of the Cutts Family in America |url=https://archive.org/details/genealogyofcutts00howa/page/80 |location=Albany, NY |publisher=J. Munsell's Sons |ref={{sfnRef|''Genealogy of the Cutts Family in America''}}}} *{{cite book |last=Phi Beta Kappa Society of Massachusetts |date=1839 |title=A Catalogue of the Fraternity of Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha of Massachusetts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M3UBP4hbOrUC&pg=PA8 |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Folson, Wells, and Thurston |page=8 |ref={{sfnRef|''A Catalogue of the Fraternity of Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha of Massachusetts''}}}}
===Internet=== *{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/SOS_Charles_Cutts.htm |title=Charles Cutts, Secretary of the Senate, 1814-1825 |website=U.S. Senate Historical Office |publisher=United States Senate |access-date=April 26, 2016 |ref={{sfnRef|"Charles Cutts, Secretary of the Senate, 1814-1825"}}}} *{{cite web |url=https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=uva-sc/viu01995.xml |title=A Guide to the Papers of Richard Cutts, 1753-1886: Correspondence |last=University of Virginia Library |website=Virginia Heritage |publisher=University of Virginia |location=Charlottesville, VA |access-date=December 30, 2018 |ref={{sfnRef|"A Guide to the Papers of Richard Cutts, 1753-1886: Correspondence"}}}} *{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/Missing_Images.htm |title=Senators Not Represented in Senate Historical Office Photo Collection |last=US Senate Photo Historian |website=Senate.gov |publisher=Historian of the United States Senate |location=Washington, DC |access-date=December 31, 2018 |ref={{sfnRef|"Senators Not Represented in Senate Historical Office Photo Collection"}}}}
===Newspapers=== *{{cite news |date=October 9, 1880 |title=Southall Family of Virginia |url=https://sites.rootsweb.com/~sassytazzy/southall/docs/southallstandardarticle1880.html |work=Richmond Journal |location=Richmond, VA |access-date=December 30, 2018 |via=Sassytazzy's Online Genealogy Research Library |ref={{sfnRef|"Southall Family of Virginia"}}}}
==External links== {{CongBio|C001031}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |title=Secretary of the United States Senate | before=Samuel Allyne Otis | after=Walter Lowrie | years=October 12, 1814 – December 12, 1825}} {{s-par|us-sen}} {{U.S. Senator box|class=3|state=New Hampshire| before = Nahum Parker| after = Jeremiah Mason | years = June 21, 1810 – March 3, 1813<br/>April 2, 1813 – June 10, 1813| alongside=Nicholas Gilman}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |title=Speaker of the <br>New Hampshire House of Representatives | before=Samuel Bell | after=George Upham | years=1807-1809}} {{succession box |title=Speaker of the <br>New Hampshire House of Representatives | before=George Upham | after=Clement Storer | years=1810-1811}} {{s-end}} {{USSenNH}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cutts, Charles}} Category:1769 births Category:1846 deaths Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Category:United States senators from New Hampshire Category:Speakers of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Category:Secretaries of the United States Senate Category:New Hampshire Democratic-Republicans Category:New Hampshire Federalists Category:Democratic-Republican Party United States senators Category:People from colonial New Hampshire Category:People from Portsmouth, New Hampshire Category:19th-century United States senators Category:19th-century members of the New Hampshire General Court