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Robert Fulton Cutting

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Robert Fulton Cutting
Born(1852-06-27)June 27, 1852
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedSeptember 21, 1934(1934-09-21) (aged 82)
Tuxedo Park, New York, U.S.
Alma materColumbia University
Occupation(s)Real estate developer, sugar beet refiner
Spouses
Nathalie Charlotte Pendelton Schenck
​
​
(m. 1874; died 1875)​
Helen Suydam
​
​
(m. 1883; died 1919)​
Children7
Parent(s)Fulton Cutting
Elise Justine Bayard
RelativesWilliam Bayard Cutting (brother)
Francis B. Cutting (uncle)

Robert Fulton Cutting (June 27, 1852 – September 21, 1934), was an American financier and philanthropist known as "the first citizen of New York." Cutting and his brother William started the sugar beet industry in the United States in 1888.[1]

During his life he was known for his fight against Tammany Hall and Republican party bosses.[2] In 1897, he formed the Citizens Union, an organization that studied political issues, developed policies, and presented them to the public to influence politics, particularly around elections. This later became the Bureau of Municipal Research.[3] He was also a vestryman at St. George's Church in Stuyvesant Square.[4] He became President of the Cooper Union in 1914, and served in that position until his death in 1934.[5]

Early life

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Cutting was born in New York City on January 12, 1850. He was the second son of Fulton Cutting (1816–1875) and Elise Justine (née Bayard) Cutting (1823–1852).[6] He was the younger brother of William Bayard Cutting, also a financier.[7] Both brothers, through their mother, were direct descendants of William Bayard Jr, a close friend of Alexander Hamilton. The fireplace mantle beside which Hamilton supposedly died is now in the Mayor of New York City’s Mansion.

His paternal grandparents were William Cutting (1773–1820) and Gertrude Livingston (1778–1864),[8] the sister of Henry Walter Livingston, a U.S. Representative from New York, and the daughter of Walter Livingston, the 1st Speaker of the New York State Assembly.[6] He was the nephew of Francis Brockholst Cutting,[6] also a U.S. Representative from New York.[9] His maternal grandfather, Robert Bayard, was Robert Fulton's partner. Cutting and Fulton were brothers-in-law who had married Livingston sisters. Cutting direct ancestors included members from the Stuyvesant, Bayard, Schuyler and Van Cortlandt families of colonial New York.[10]

Cutting graduated from Columbia University.[1]

Career

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In 1888, Cutting and his brother William started the sugar beet industry in the United States.[1]

In 1895, Cutting and his brother laid out a golf course at Westbrook, known to be the first private golf course in the United States.[11]

Society life and philanthropy

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Cutting was a member of the Century Club, City Club of New York, and the Tuxedo Club, among others.[12] He also served as president of Cooper Union, the Society for the Improvement Condition of the Poor, and the Metropolitan Opera and Real Estate Company.[13]

However, one of his biggest contributions was after the death of his wife Helen Suydam Cutting from Cancer. As stated by an article in TIME magazine, “Financier Robert Fulton Cutting modestly stayed away from last week's meeting of the American Society for the Control of Cancer in Manhattan…Contributions have been slow and from too few people. Financier Cutting knew that, but instead of coming to the cancer society meeting last week, he sent a letter. Financier Thomas W. Lament, who was there, read the letter aloud: "I write to say that I will contribute the last $250,000 of the $1,000,000 endowment fund which your society is endeavoring to raise, if the whole amount is subscribed by Oct. 1. When $750,000 is paid or subscribed, I will pay the $250,000 of my pledge."

Tragically, one of his own daughters, Ruth Hunter Cutting Auchincloss would succumb to the same fate as her mother.

His society life, along with his brother, was prominent one as both brothers were considered founding members of the Jekyll Island Club and through his aunt-in-law (Caroline Astor) by marriage[14] was a member of the highly prestigious “400.”

Personal life

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Cutting's home at 24 East 67th Street (demolished in 1962)

Cutting was married twice. His first marriage was to Nathalie Charlotte Pendleton Schenck (1852–1875) on June 9, 1874.[15] She was the daughter of Noah Hunt Schenck and Anna Pierce (née Pendleton) Schenck, and the sister of Anna Pendleton Schenck, who established the first female architectural firm in New York City along with Marcia Mead.[16] She died a year after their marriage, and they were the parents of one son:[17]

After her death, he married secondly to Helen Suydam (1858–1919), the daughter of Charles Suydam and Anna White (née Schermerhorn) Suydam,[19] on January 25, 1883.[20] His wife was the sister of Walter Lispenard Suydam, the granddaughter of Abraham Schermerhorn, and the niece of Caroline Schermerhorn, who was married to William Backhouse Astor Jr.[21] Together, they were the parents of:

In 1884, he purchased 724 Fifth Avenue along "Vanderbilt Row" as a home for his family in Manhattan. In 1895, however, Cutting purchased property further uptown and hired Ernest Flagg to design a new residence located at 24 East 67th Street, at the corner of Madison Avenue.[17] He also acquired a home in 1889 in the exclusive Tuxedo Park community,[12] a large residence designed by Bruce Price in 1887 and located on Tower Hill Road at the intersection of Clubhouse Road and Serpentine Road.[30]

Cutting died, aged 82, at his home in Tuxedo Park on September 21, 1934.[13][31] His funeral was attended by over 500 people and was held at St. Georges, and he was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.[23] Following his death, Dr. William Jay Schieffelin paid tribute to Cutting during a radio address, stating "Robert Fulton Cutting devoted his life to advance social justice; he early saw that voters should disregard national parties in selecting city officers. New York owes much to his leadership in creating a prevailing public opinion in favor of non-partisan government. He have his devoted service and generous support to the Committee of Seventy, the City Club, the Bureau of Municipal Research and the Citizens Union--of which he was the first chairman."[32]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c "The "Father" of the Research Bureau The "Father" Of The Research Bureau". An Adventure in Democracy. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  2. ^ Hutto, Richard Jay (2005). The Jekyll Island Club Members. Indigo Custom Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 9780977091225. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  3. ^ "The "Father" of the Research Bureau The "Father" Of The Research Bureau". An Adventure in Democracy. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  4. ^ "DIED. CUTTING--Robert Fulton" (PDF). The New York Times. 23 September 1934. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  5. ^ Lynch, Mary (December 2016). "Presidents of the Cooper Union". Cooper Union Alumni Association. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c Bergen, Tunis Garret (1915). Genealogies of the State of New York: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  7. ^ "W.B. CUTTING DIES ON TRAIN" (PDF). The New York Times. 2 Mar 1912. p. 1. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
  8. ^ Livingston, Edwin Brockholst (1901). The Livingstons of Livingston manor; being the history of that branch of the Scottish house of Callendar which settled in the English province of New York during the reign of Charles the Second; and also including an account of Robert Livingston of Albany, "The nephew," a settler in the same province and his principal descendants. New York: The Knickerbocker Press. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  9. ^ "CUTTING, Francis Brockholst - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  10. ^ Columbia University Quarterly Volume 14, 1912, Page 286
  11. ^ Lynn Beebe Weaver (September 1973). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Bayard Cutting Estate". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2010-02-20. See also: "Accompanying six photos".
  12. ^ a b Who's Who in the World, 1912. International Who's Who Publishing Company. 1912. p. 342. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  13. ^ a b "FULTON CUTTING, N.Y. REAL ESTATE HEAD, DIES AT 82 -- Noted for Philanthropic Activities". Chicago Tribune. September 22, 1934. p. 16. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  14. ^ a b Hutto, Richard Jay (2005). The Jekyll Island Club Members. Indigo Custom Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 9780977091225. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  15. ^ "Married. Cutting-Schenck" (PDF). The New York Times. 11 June 1874. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  16. ^ "Miss Anna P. Schenck, Architect, Dies" (PDF). New York Times. April 30, 1915. Retrieved 2014-01-20.
  17. ^ a b Miller, Tom (26 March 2012). "Daytonian in Manhattan: The Lost 1899 R. Fulton Cutting Mansion -- No. 24 East 67th Street". Daytonian in Manhattan. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  18. ^ "R.B. CUTTING DIES IN FRANCE; New Yorker Was a Y.M.C.A. Officer Worker in War Service" (PDF). The New York Times. 5 April 1918. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  19. ^ "DIED. Cutting" (PDF). The New York Times. June 20, 1919. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  20. ^ "MARRIED. Cutting--Suydam" (PDF). The New York Times. January 27, 1883. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  21. ^ "William Astor Is Dead; Stricken Suddenly at the Hotel Liverpool, Paris. He Leaves a Fortune of Many Mill- Ions -- John Jacob Astor Will Inherit It -- the Body Will Be Brought Home for Burial" (PDF). The New York Times. April 27, 1892. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  22. ^ "Mrs. Wilmerding". The New York Times. 25 March 1971. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  23. ^ a b c "NOTABLES MOURN FOR R.F. CUTTING; Funeral of Philanthropist and Financier Held at St. George's Church" (PDF). The New York Times. 25 September 1934. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  24. ^ "L. WILMERDING, 69, STOCKBROKER HERE; Banker, Former Limited Partner in Harris, Upham & Co. Dies.---Aided Philanthropies" (PDF). The New York Times. 16 July 1949. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  25. ^ a b c Moffat, R. Burnham (1904). The Barclays of New York: who They are and who They are Not,-and Some Other Barclays. R. G. Cooke. p. 205. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  26. ^ "MARRIED. McLean--Cutting" (PDF). The New York Times. 16 June 1916. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  27. ^ "Neville Booker Will Probated". The Courier-News. July 23, 1953. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  28. ^ "MISS AMORY, BRIDE OF FULTON CUTTING; Society Attends Nuptials of New Yorker and Daughter of Francis I. Amory of Boston. IN ST. PETER'S, BEVERLY Bishop Lawrence Officiates -- Suydam Cutting His Brother's Best Man -- Couple to Live in Tuxedo" (PDF). The New York Times. 23 June 1914. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  29. ^ "C. Suydam Cutting, Who Made Historic Visit to Tibet, Is Dead" (PDF). The New York Times. 25 August 1972. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  30. ^ "Building-structure inventory form: Robert Fulton Cutting :: Tuxedo Park Library". www.hrvh.org. Village of Tuxedo Park National Register of Historic Places Inventory. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  31. ^ Dunn, Elwood D.; Beyan, Amos J.; Burrowes, Carl Patrick (December 20, 2000). Historical Dictionary of Liberia. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9781461659310. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  32. ^ "SCHIEFFELIN PAYS TRIBUTE TO CUTTING; Cites, in Radio Talk, Civic Worker's Activities in Behalf of Good Government" (PDF). The New York Times. 2 October 1934. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
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Academic offices
Preceded by President of Cooper Union
1914 — 1934 		Succeeded by
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