History of Carrie Cutter

One of the historical plaques on the Colonel John Shepard Bridge commemorates the life of Carrie Cutter, 1842-1863, Nurse & Heroine.

This is her story, as briefly noted in Ramsdell’s 1901 History of Milford N.H. on page 227, Chapter XV, The Year 1862:

"March 24, died, Miss Carrie E. Cutter, daughter of Calvin Cutter, M. D. She was born in Milford July 28, 1842. Her mother was the daughter of Nathan Hall. She was educated at Professor Russell’s school at Lancaster, Mass., at Mt. Holyoke seminary, and at a private German school in Pennsylvania. Dr. Cutter was surgeon of the Twenty-first Massachusetts Volunteers. In October, 1861, at her earnest, repeated request, she was permitted to join her father at Annapolis, and when the Burnside expedition sailed she was allowed to continue on the steamship Northerner, on board which vessel she was during the action at Roanoke Island, caring for the wounded. After the action she went ashore and labored untiringly in the care of the sick and wounded. Being able to speak German, she took charge of three young German soldiers, who in their delirium had forgotten the English language."

"The severity of this experience brought on fever of which she died in the cabin of the Northerner, before she had reached her twentieth birthday. By order of General Burnside she was buried with military honors, usually observed at the burial of a colonel. When the National cemetery was established at New Berne, by order of the secretary of war, her remains were removed to that place. Her name is inscribed in enduring bronze on the soldiers’ monument in Warren, Mass., the residence of her father. The United States has furnished her with a soldier’s headstone."

I did some additional google searching on her history, and found that she was part of the abolitionist movement that had a very strong element in Milford in the mid part of the nineteenth century. Her father was a noted doctor, medical author, and abolitionist. Her boyfriend Charles Plummer Tidd was an active abolitionist who was a Lieutenant in John Brown's ill-fated army. He was with John Brown during the attack on Harpers Ferry, but he was about a mile away and was able to escape capture.

This is an excerpt from a posting about him on Genealogy.com.

1. CHARLES PLUMMER TIDD was born 1834 in Palermo, Waldo Co, ME, and died February 8, 1862 in "Northerner" near Roanoke Island, NC.

Notes for CHARLES PLUMMER TIDD:
Ancestry: Am CW Soldiers:
State served: Mass Enlisted: under Plummer 19 July 1861 Rank: Pvt Age: 27

There are copies of his siblings' letters to him in, "Calendar of VA Papers," vol. 11, p. 293 and others.

1856 moved to MA. From "Origin of the town of Clinton [MA] 1653-1865," p. 538 "Although other members of his family settled in Clinton, he could not have stopped here long as he joined Dr. Cutler's party of emigrants for Kansas. In 1857, we find his name in the letters of John Brown, by whom he was sent as a trusted agent for securing funds."...."October 16, 1859, when Brown led his eighteen followers to Harper's Ferry, Tidd and Cook were at the head of the line. After the place was taken, Tidd, as his most trusted officer, was put on duty at the school-house about a mile from Harper's Ferry to receive recruits and supplies. Thus, he was not present when his leader was captured, and he escaped."

Dropped last name in order to enlist in Civil War. Died in Civil War in MA unit
This MA unit apparently from Warren as there is a Civil War monument there with the name Charles P. Tidd and also Surg. Calvin Cutter who was the father of Carrie Cutter.

"Calendar of State Papers for VA," vol 11, p. 293, 294, 90-101, 289-349, 347, 294, 344 and "VA Magazine of History and Biography," vol 10, p. 24, 274, 276, 277:
His brothers Alanson and William P. and his sisters Elizabeth, Julia, and Susan all wrote to him, worried about his involvement with John Brown and his cause.

Carrie Cutter/Cutler was his romance and served as a nurse on the same ship, dying of typhoid 24 March and was buried next to him. Her father was a leader in the abolitionist movement.

More About CHARLES PLUMMER TIDD:
Occupation: Maine woodsman;
Personality/Intrst: good singer and loved family; Loyalist ancestry
Endnotes
1. histories of John Brown of Harper's Ferry
2. Buried grave #40 in the New Berne, NC National Cemetery

Here is another bit of information about Tidd as found on The University of Virgina web site.
Charles Plummer Tidd, known as Charles Plummer, was a captain in Brown's army. He was born in Palermo, Maine, in 1834, and changed his name after the raid in order to avoid possible arrest and trial as a Harper's Ferry raider--a precaution of greater importance when he entered the army in 1861. He emigrated to Kansas with the party of Dr. Calvin Cutter, of Worcester, in 1856. He joined John Brown's party at Tabor, in 1857, and thereafter, in Canada and elsewhere, was one of Brown's closest associates, returning to Kansas in 1858 as a follower of "Shubel Morgan." He took part in the raid into Missouri. He and Cook were particularly warm friends. Tidd opposed the attack on Harper's Ferry. After his escape from Virginia, he visited Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Canada, and was freely consulted in the plans for rescue of Stevens and Hazlett. "Tidd," wrote Mrs. Annie Brown Adams, "had not much education, but good common sense. After the raid he began to study, and tried to repair his deficiencies. He was by no means handsome. He had a quick temper, but was kind-hearted. His rages soon passed and then he tried all he could to repair damages. He was a fine singer and of strong family affections." He died of fever, on the transport Northerner, as a first sergeant of the Twenty-first Massachusetts Volunteers, on February 8, 1862, with the roar of the battle of Roanoke Island in his ears. This he had particularly wished to take part in, for ex-Governor Henry A. Wise was in com- mand of the Confederates, his son, O. Jennings Wise, being killed in the engagement. Tidd had enlisted July 19, 1861, as a private. His grave is No. 40 in the New Berne, N. C., National Cemetery.

Here is a brief bio of her father, Calvin Cutter, as found on the Famous Americans web site.

CUTTER, Calvin, physician, born in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, in 1807; died in Greene, Maine, 25 March 1872. He was a pupil at the New Ipswich academy, and afterward taught in Wilton, New Hampshire, and Ashby, Massachusetts. In 1829 he studied medicine, and practiced his profession in Rochester, New Hampshire, from 1831 till 1833. in Nashua from 1834 till 1837, and in Dover from 1838 till 1841. Between 1842 and 1856 Dr. Cutter visited twenty-nine states of the Union, delivering medical lectures. In 1847 he began the compilation of "Cutter's Physiology," a Textbook for schools and Colleges, of which, prior to 1871, about 500,000 copies had been sold. It has been translated into several oriental languages. In 1856 Dr. Cutter was chosen to convey a supply of Sharpe's rifles to Kansas, a hazardous task, which was successfully performed. Later in the same year he led into Kansas the Worcester armed company of sixty men and also the force known as "Jim Lane's army," which he commanded for nearly a year. He was president of the military council in Kansas, and instrumental in the capture of Colonel Titus. In 1861 Dr. Cutter became surgeon of the 21st Massachusetts infantry, and served in the national army nearly three years. He was twice wounded, and made prisoner at Bull Run. During most of his term of service he had charge of the medical depot of the 9th army corps as surgeon-in-chief.

Shown to the left is an image from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina Civil War Image Portfolio. This image shows Dare County, Roanoke Island, N.C. "Landing of troops on Roanoke Island. Burnside Expedition, 1862." William Momberger Del., George E. Perine, Engraver. Hurlbut, Williams, & Co. Neg. 83-654. P1-28-R62-C582w. You can see paddlewheel steamboats in the picture - perhaps one of them is the Northerner that carried Charles Tidd and Carrie Cutter.

Finally, here is a link to Wikipedia's article on the battle of Roanoke Island on February 7th and 8th, 1862.