88 



enumerate New Englatfd plants ; John Josselyn, pre- 

 viously referred to, gives an account of the native and 

 introduced species ; and other early writers, including 

 John Winthrop, speak of the excellent quality of the 

 native fruits and the beauty of the flowers, particularly 

 dwelling on the superiority and abundance of the wild 

 strawberries. 



None of these can, however, be spoken of or claimed 

 as Essex County botanists, and it is not until after the 

 close of the American Revolution that we find any serious 

 or scientific study of the plants of the county. 



Dr. Manasseh Cutler was born at Killingly, Connecti- 

 cut, May 3, 1742, graduated at Yale College in 1765, 

 afterward studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 

 1767. He soon studied for the ministry and was settled 

 at the Hamlet Parish in Ipswich, which was set apart from 

 that town and named Hamilton for Alexander Hamilton 

 whom Dr. Cutler greatly admired. He served as a chap- 

 lain during the war of the revolution and on his return 

 studied medicine which he afterwards practised among his 

 parishioners. The efforts of Dr. Cutler secured the pas- 

 sage, in 1787, of the famous ordinance by which freedom 

 was declared in the northwestern territories and he soon 

 after organized the first band of pioneers that emigrated 

 from the east to Ohio. The next year he followed 

 them driving himself the entire distance in a sulky, being 

 accompanied by a few friends. Upon his return from 

 the west, or in 1800, he was chosen to represent old Essex 

 in Congress where he served two terms. While in Phil- 

 adelphia in 1787, he visited at the house of Benjamin 

 Franklin, and afterward wrote an account of the great 

 statesman which was considered as one of the best, being 

 copied by Sparks in his life of Franklin. Dr. Cutler 

 prepared, in 1783, "An account of some of the vegetable 



