Background
James Goold Cutler was born on April 24, 1848 in Albany, New York, United States. He was the son of John Nathan and Mary E. (Goold) Cutler, of English-Dutch descent, where his father and grandfather had a carriage manufactory.
James Goold Cutler was born on April 24, 1848 in Albany, New York, United States. He was the son of John Nathan and Mary E. (Goold) Cutler, of English-Dutch descent, where his father and grandfather had a carriage manufactory.
Cutler attended the local city schools and completed his education in Albany Academy.
Cutler began work in his grandfather’s carriage factory but soon took up the study of architecture with a local firm of architects in Albany.
He went to work as a draftsman for a local architect. His progress was rapid and in a few years he became a partner of his first employer. He continued to practise his profession for a total of twenty-two years, his architectural work including residences, office and bank buildings, and factories.
He obtained his patent, Cutler, with his brother J. Warren Cutler, formed the Cutler Manufacturing Company, to build and install letter-chutes. The business grew at a prodigious rate and its products were sold throughout the world. In 1908 the company built its own factory and continued, with Cutler as president, until 1915 when the firm was reorganized and he resigned the presidency. He was interested in municipal and civic affairs and as early as 1895 was appointed a member of the White Charter Commission of New York State to draft a uniform charter for second-class cities. He was a presidential elector in 1896 and in 1916.
In 1897 he served as consulting architect for the New York state capitol, in 1900 he was commissioner of public safety for Rochester, and in 1903 he was elected mayor, being reelected two years later. For more than thirty years prior to his death he was prominently connected with several banks in Rochester.
Cutler devised and patented the familiar mail chutes observed in modern office buildings and extending from the highest to the first floor. His invention was known as a “letter box connection, ” for which Patent Number 284, 951 was granted him. He was one of the first presidents of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Rochester City Planning Advisory Board from the time of its organization until his resignation two years before his death. He was an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects and served three terms as president of the Western New York State Association of Architects. He was a trustee of the University of Rochester and of the Municipal Art Commission and a member of many clubs.
On September 27, 1871, he married Anna K. Abbey of Kingston, New York.
