Collect Day #23 JOHN G. CUTLER
O God, who welcomes and embraces us, we celebrate the life of John Cutler, whose life was one of hospitality. His work created opportunities for many to work and for others to rest, he welcomed the stranger, and he fought for his local community. Like John, may we use our freedoms to support our own communities. May we enjoy friendships with people from all walks of life. And may we create a warm welcome for all those who come to us for sustenance and shelter. We ask this in the name of Jesus, whose love embraces and nourishes and welcomes us. Amen.
DAY #23, April 1, 2019
EXETER & HAMPTON, NH
JOHN G. CUTLER (1833-1913)
Cheryl Lassiter/Deborah Knowlton
Back in an era when Republicans ruled the political roost in New Hampshire, John Garrison Cutler of Hampton Beach was one of the party’s leading bosses.
Born in Exeter in 1833 to free Blacks, Rufus E. and Anna Cilley Cutler, he began his working life at his father’s Water Street store. John and his Cutler relatives possessed at one time nearly three-quarters of the total Black wealth in Exeter in the form of a billiards parlor, two dry goods stores, two restaurants, a gaming establishment, a barbershop, and a restaurant. The billiards parlor burned in 1873 and John Cutler moved to Hampton and bought the Sea View Cottages which he converted to a hotel with dining facilities and stables.
After a fire in 1885, John rebuilt and expanded the property and by the early 1900s, Cutler’s Sea View was a renowned summer resort. For years, an ad ran in the Hampton paper declaring a warm welcome which thousands of visitors experienced. On its registers were the names of guests from every state in the Union and from almost every nation of Europe. All enjoyed the Sea View’s famous fish dinner. Among those who helped maintain this level of generous hospitality were a number of White employees.
From his early years, John was interested in politics. He followed the activities of Congressman Amos Tuck of Exeter, organizer of the Republican Party’s anti-slavery efforts. He was likely present when Abraham Lincoln gave his anti-slavery speech at Exeter Town Hall. Cutler never ran for public office himself, but those seeking office came to Hampton Beach to gain his support. Known by the nickname, “Bunkey,” he counted among his friends senators and congressmen. Despite his self-effacing claim that “I’m not the boss people would have you think I am,” John G. Cutler remained the Republican “party boss” to the end, having served in both Hampton and Exeter on the Republican town committees.
John died in 1913. After a well-attended service at the First Congregational Church at which pastors from both Exeter and Hampton officiated, John was laid to rest in the High Street Cemetery in Hampton, next to his two sons, George Garrison and Charles Sumner, who had died before him. Hattie Brewster Cutler, his wife, continued as proprietor of the Sea View until her death in 1921. Her will made provision for a Hattie Cutler fund that would serve the worthy and needy poor of Hampton. The Sea View eventually became the Rock Harbor Inn, which burned down in 1985 and was never rebuilt.
