James D. Cutter Farm, c.1840
An early photo of the Cutter place. The Town Hall and the Gould House are to the left.
This house is located to the north and directly behind the Town Hall on Kings Highway. The house was built in c.1840 by Nathan Gould for his son, Alonzo. Alonzo never occupied this house.
The house is most known as the Cutter Farm. James Cutter (1844-1927) purchased the house and land in 1881. He was a "farmer and butcher" with 43 sheep and 23 hogs. Cutter served Stoddard over the years as a selectman, tax collector, and road agent. He was left a widower with six children in 1889 when his wife, Laurette, died. He then married Lilla Hunt and had one further child, a daughter Ruth. Ruth Cutter was the town librarian for many years.
Cutter built a large barn on the property in 1887 on the east side of King Street. This barn was a prominent feature in early photos of Stoddard (see the photo below). Cutler drove his flocks of sheep that had been in the outlying hill pastures all summer back into this barn late each fall.
Town Hall on the left and buildings to the east, including the Cutler farm and barn in the background. c. late 1800s.