By Mary Carter
Eagle Times Correspondent
Ask around who NH’s first president was, and many will confidently reply, “Franklin Pierce.”
While that’s true for our independent United States, the Province of New Hampshire had a president in place 124 years before Pierce drew breath.
John Cutt was born in Wales. When young, John and his brothers Richard and Robert emigrated to the colonies. Brother Robert’s family eventually intermingled with the Jarvises of Weathersfield, VT. William Jarvis famously imported the first Merino sheep to America.
John Cutt became a merchant and mill owner in Portsmouth, NH. His wife, Hannah Starr, came from a prominent Boston family. Her father, Dr. Comfort Starr, was one of the five original founders of Harvard University. Hannah’s sister Mary, through her union with John Maynard, would become matriarch to Vermont born, US president Calvin Coolidge.
John and Hannah welcomed five children into the world. Hannah died at the age of 42, and John remarried a woman named Ursula.
In 1679, King Charles II separated the territory of New Hampshire from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Appointing a seven member royal council to preside over the 4,000 settlers of the NH seacoast area, the king designated John Cutt as its president.
Cutt took office on Jan. 21, 1680. Only one year later, Cutt became seriously ill. The Council and General Assembly declared March 17 “a day of public fasting and prayer” for their new president. The populace viewed Cutt’s illness and the sighting of a sizable comet to be omens of “divine displeasure.”
Whatever sacrifices and prayers were offered achieved nothing. John Cutt died on March 27, 1681.
When Cutt passed, he was one of the wealthiest men in the province. In his will, Cutt grappled with the task of making things fair for his present wife, with whom he had no children, and his offspring from his first marriage. Designating 500 euros for Ursula, Cutt requested that his firstborn son allow Ursula to fully occupy the family home until he, the son, came of age or married. Upon John Jr.’s inheritance, it was hoped that Ursula would have the use of “a couple of rooms in the house such as shall be judged convenient.”
As Cutt’s health diminished, so did his wealth. A codicil to Cutt’s will reduced Ursula’s bequeathment to a choice. She could have either 400 euros, or a third of the family home to use during her lifetime.
This January 1681 codicil was witnessed by Richard Waldron who, with Cutt’s passing, would become the second president of New Hampshire.
More than 100 years forward and after the Revolutionary War, colonial royal titles were either dismissed or substituted. Meshech Weare of Hampton Falls would become the state of New Hampshire’s first governor.
As for Ursula, her decision to take the money proved fatal. In 1694, Ursula was slain along with three others in the field of her home near present day Spinnaker Point and Osprey Landing. She was discovered by members of the Waldron family.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.