Cutler, Timothy

(May 31, 1684-Aug. 17, 1765). Participant in the “Yale Apostasy.” He was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard College in 1701. From 1710 to 1719, he was the Congregational minister at Stratford, Connecticut. He was chosen rector of Yale College in 1719. On Sept. 13, 1722, Cutler, tutor Daniel Brown, and several other Congregational ministers met with the trustees of Yale College and stated: “Some of us doubt of the validity, and the rest are more fully persuaded of the invalidity, of Presbyterian ordination, in opposition to Episcopal.” On Oct. 27, 1722, the trustees voted to “excuse the Rev. Mr. Cutler from all further service, as rector of Yale College.” This conversion to episcopacy was known as the “Yale Apostasy” or the “Dark Day” at Yale. Cutler, Brown, and Samuel Johnson went to England where they were re-baptized, and on Mar. 22, 1723, they were confirmed and ordained deacons. On Mar. 31, 1723, they were ordained priests. Cutler became the rector of the newly formed Christ Church, Boston, which opened on Dec. 29, 1723. He served there as a missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel until his death. He was a high churchman and an advocate for episcopacy in the colonies.