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Ralph William Cutler, son of Eben and
Carrie Elizabeth (Holman) Cutler, was
born in Newton, Massachusetts, February
21, 1853. and died in Hartford, Connecticut,
.November 7, 1917. His boyhood
was spent in Boston, where he graduated
from the English High School in 1869, as
a "Franklin Medal Scholar." In his earlyyouth
he showed a tendency for athletics,
and without doubt his fondness for physical
as well as mental exertion had much
to do with the physical vigor he enjoyed
throughout life. For a few years after
leaving school, Mr. Cutler was employed
in a wholesale grocery house, and during
this period he gained a knowledge of bus-
iness methods and of men which was to
prove of great value to him in his later
years as a banker. In 1880 Mr. Cutler
removed to Hartford, where he had
accepted a position as treasurer of the
Hartford Trust Company. He gave the
performance of his daily duties the best
that was in him, and used his keen powers
of observation, neglected no opportunity
to gain knowledge concerning the bank-
ing business, with the result that within
a short space of seven years he was
elected president of the company. At that
time he was only twenty-seven years of
age and had the distinction of being the
youngest bank president in Connecticut.
Mr. Cutler was interested in other important
financial interests of which we
may mention : Director of the Hartford
Electric Light Company, the Hartford
Morris Plan Company and of the Taylor
& Fenn Company. In politics Mr. Cutler
was a Republican. He served as a member
of the Common Council in 1883 and
1884, and in 1896 was appointed fire com-
missioner, which position he served in
continuously for six years. In 1905 he
was appointed commissioner of the Board
of Finance, and his counsel proved of
much value in matters involving the ex-
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
43
penditure of the city's money. At the
time of its organization, in 1880, Mr. Cutler
was elected treasurer of the Connec-
ticut Humane Society and continued in
that capacity until 1910. He had been a
director since the formation and was for
many years a member of its executive
committee. For a long period he was a
member of important committees of the
American Bankers' Association and was
widely known among the bankers of the
country. He was made president of the
Trust Company section of the American
Bankers' Association in 1914, and later
made a member of the executive commit-
tee.
In the midst of a busy and varied life,
Mr. Cutler had found time to take part
in the activities of a number of patriotic
and social organizations. He was commissary
of the First Company, Governor's
Foot Guard, 1907 to 1916, with
the rank of captain. On May 23, 1916,
he was transferred to the honorary staff
at his own request by Major Slocum, re-
taining his rank as captain. He was reappointed
on the honorary staff by Major
Charles A. Stedman, the present commandant
(1917). Mr. Cutler was "Gentleman
of the Council" at the organiza-
tion of the Society of Colonial Wars in
1893, and served continuously as its treas-
urer. He was a member of the Jeremiah
Wadsworth Branch, Connecticut Society,
Sons of the American Revolution, and of
the Citizens Corps of Robert O. Tyler
Post, Grand Army of the Republic. His
clubs were the Twentieth Century, Hartford,
Republican and Hartford Golf. Mr.
Cutler was a member of the Center Con-
gregational Church of Hartford.
On January 6, 1880, Mr. Cutler married
Grace Dennis, daughter of Rodney Den-
nis, a founder and for some years secretary
of the Travelers Insurance Company.
Mr. and Mrs. Cutler were the parents of