Henry Eugene Cutting, born on May 26, 1851, in Woodstock, Illinois, was the son of Henry P. and Laurensy E. (Newell) Cutting. After graduating from Presbyterian College in 1869, he moved to Sioux City, Iowa, and later worked in various roles, including the grocery business and on Missouri River steamboats. In 1875, he relocated to Yankton, Dakota Territory, and later to Pierre in 1880. Cutting held numerous positions, including city treasurer of Pierre, treasurer of Hughes County, and receiver of the U.S. Land Office in Pierre. He married Josephine A. Dawson in 1878, and they had three children.
Henry Eugene Cutting was born in Woodstock, McHenry County, Illinois, on the 26th of May, 1851, being a son of Henry P. and Laurensy E. (Newell) Cutting, both of whom were natives of New Hampshire. The father of the subject was one of the pioneers of Illinois, and there followed the vocation of wagon manufacturing, his death occurring while in the army in 1863, while his wife passed away in 1884 in Sioux City, Iowa. The subject received the advantages of the public schools of his native town and later attended the Presbyterian College in that place, being graduated as a member of the class of 1869. In the same year he came west to Sioux City, Iowa, which was then a small village, and there remained until the fall of 1873 in the employ of H. D. Booge & Company, engaged in the wholesale and retail grocery business, when he went to Chicago, Illinois, and there passed one year as cashier in the Brown-Delmonico restaurant. He then returned to Sioux City, and during two seasons thereafter was clerk on a Missouri river steamboat. In 1875 he came to Yankton, which was then the capital of the great undivided territory of Dakota, and there engaged in the grocery business, forming a partnership with John B. Cloudas, and in the early days the firm was commonly known as Gene & Jack, the two partners enjoying marked popularity and building up an excellent trade. In 1878 Mr. Cutting disposed of his interests in this enterprise, and during the year 1879 served as city clerk of Yankton, while during the following year he was identified with newspaper work, in the employ of the Press and Dakotian Publishing Company, of Yankton. In July, 1880, Mr. Cutting came to Pierre, where he entered the employ of the Merchants’ Transportation Company, engaging in freighting to the Black Hills, where the gold excitement was then at its height. Later he was in charge of the freight department of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad in Pierre, resigning his position in 1886, while in October, 1886, he was appointed agent for the quartermaster’s department of the garrison then located in Fort Sully and Bennett, retaining this position until 1894, when the troops were removed from the fort, after which he was made custodian of the Fort Sully reservation, in which capacity he served two years. In the meanwhile, in 1889, he had established himself in the real-estate and insurance business, and he has ever since continued in this enterprise, in which he controls an excellent business.
Mr. Cutting has always been a stalwart advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and in 1889 he was elected city treasurer of Pierre, retaining this office for seven years, and at the expiration of this time, in 1896, he was elected treasurer of Hughes County, serving four years and giving a most satisfactory administration of the fiscal affairs of the County. In 1890 he was made chairman of the Hughes County Republican central committee, and this important party office he has still continued to hold, having shown much tact and ability in the marshaling of his forces in the various campaigns and having done much to further the cause of the “grand old party” in the state. On the 1st of January, 1900, Mr. Cutting was appointed by President McKinley as receiver of the United States land office in Pierre, and still holds office, being appointed for four years. Mr. Cutting has been identified with the Masonic fraternity since 1876, when he became an entered apprentice in St. John’s Lodge No. 1, Free and Accepted Masons, in Yankton, being duly raised to the master’s degree and being now affiliated with Pierre Lodge No. 27, in Pierre, while he is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, which he likewise joined in the centennial year. The subject is one of the state’s most loyal and public-spirited citizens, has taken a most lively interest in its development and material advancement, and has long been a power in the political fields, while he is well known throughout the state and has hosts of staunch friends.
On the 21st of February, 1878, Mr. Cutting was united in marriage to Miss Josephine A. Dawson, who was born in the state of Minnesota, being a daughter of Richard and Amanda M. Dawson, who were numbered among the pioneers of the state, having been residents of Yankton at the time of their daughter’s marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Cutting have three children, Mabel W., who is now the wife of B. C. Thayer, of Peru; Helen E., who is at All Saints’ School, Sioux Falls, and Henry Newell, who is at home.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.