In Milford, New Hampshire, there’s a gravestone that just won’t shut up. It belongs to one Caroline Cutter, who died in the mid-1800s. It’s simple, white, and rectangular, and is crammed with about 150 words of painstakingly etched accusation, courtesy of her husband, Dr. Calvin Cutter.
Caroline H., Wife of Calvin Cutter, M.D.Murdered by the Baptist Ministry and BaptistChurches As follows: Sep’t. 28, 1838; aged 33She was accused of lying in church meeting by theRev. D. D. Pratt and Deacon Albert AdamsWas condemned by the church unheard.She was reduced to povertyby Deacon William WallaceWhen an exparte council was asked of the MilfordBaptist Church, by the advice of their committee,George Raymond, Calvin Averill,and Andrew HutchinsonThey voted not to receive any communication onthe subject. The Rev. Mark Carpenter said hethought as the good old Deacon said,“We’ve got Cutter down and it’s best tokeep him down.” The intentional and maliciousdestruction of her character And happiness asabove described destroyed her life. Her last wordsupon the subject were “Tell the Truth and TheIniquity will come out”
According to New Hampshire historian Fritz Wetherbee, the Cutters were kicked out of the church referenced on the gravestone because Calvin was bullying members into funding the construction of another church in town that he had pushed to be built, and had so far himself funded only on his own empty promises. Caroline apparently took the expulsion pretty hard.
The grave is located in Elm Street Cemetery, about 20 paces from the opening in the first row of graves. A large memorial boulder with a plaque sits on the plot a mere foot or so in front of Caroline’s headstone. The boulder is a memorial to Carrie Cutter, the daughter of Calvin and Caroline. The plaque states that Carrie was the “first female to enter the service of her country in the Civil War, the first that fell at her post, and the first to form organized efforts to supply the sick of the army.”
Adapted with Permission from: The New England Grimpendium by J.W. Ocker
Master_of_opinions on January 9th, 2020 at 15:21 UTC »
Knowing the historical cost of lettering, that must have been one expensive grievance.
Jnglmpera on January 9th, 2020 at 15:12 UTC »
Her grave on FindAGrave, if anyone is interested.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/69432581/caroline-h-cutter
ChillRedditMom on January 9th, 2020 at 14:02 UTC »
At the startup of the second church, several members did not buy the stock that was used to raise funds for the building. Dr. Cutter said that Pratt and others asked him to borrow money to pay their shares, with the promise that they would pay him in a year’s time.
By the time a year passed, the men refuse to pay. They said they never promised the funds in the first place. For Cutter, the loss was steep. His property was seized to pay the loans for the project and he and his wife were excommunicated from the church. The Second Baptist Church was sold to a Methodist congregation for less than half what it cost to build.
The First Baptist Church, which had taken in those members who had left for the Second, declared that both the Cutters had threatened that if they were not made whole, they would destroy the church. Further, they charged that Caroline Cutter had lied in church when she read out the charges against the men she said owed the money for the outstanding shares.
The Cutters also brought forth a somewhat more serious charge, as well. Pratt, they said, had bought shares in the church at a discount for himself and resold them at full price to mill girls.
The stress was too much for Caroline Cutter to handle, according to Dr. Cutter, and she died in 1841, only 33 years of age and leaving one young daughter behind.
The Milford Baptists were disinclined to intervene in a dispute with another church and they grew tired of Cutter pestering them and badmouthing the church. One church deacon declared, “they’ve got Cutter down. Best to keep him down.”
Dr. Cutter was not inclined to turn the other cheek, however. He published all the allegations in a pamphlet, Murder of Caroline H. Cutter by the Baptist Ministers and Baptist Churches:
In the case of Mrs. Cutter, Pratt and the church intentionally and maliciously destroyed her character and standing in the church and society — they with malicious intent destroyed her peace of mind, her happiness. They thus impaired her health, caused suffering and sickness, and destroyed her life. As their acts were deliberate and malicious, pursued without mitigation or relaxation while she lived, it is as clearly a case of murder as if ( had given arsenic to effect their purposes.)
Its a long source