Reverend Manasseh Cutler

Reverend Manasseh Cutler was an idealistic man who, alongside General Rufus Putnam, lobbied across the country for the passing of the Northwest Ordinance which would allow for American expansion westward towards the Ohio River. His ethical stance on slavery led to him specifically including the prohibition of slavery as a tenet of the Ordinance itself. He was a religious and loving man who wrote often to his children and his wife, though McCullough writes that he was often strict on his son, Ephraim, while trying to encourage the young man to be successful in his pursuits in Marietta. The Reverend was well-known in Ohio and revered for his wisdom and kindness. His strong conviction that education was crucial in shaping young generations to be industrious and moral led to his son Ephraim taking up the case of public education in Washington later on, when the...