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A Newsletter by the City of Saco, Maine	February, 2007	Return to newsletter index

Cutts Family Wraps Up Extended Vacation: Historic Couple Return to Saco

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Colonel Thomas and Mrs. Elizabeth Scammon Cutts left Saco in early 2005. They were joined on this long vacation by Mr. and Mrs Foxwell Cutts, William Temple Cutts, Mary Warren Bryant and Sarah Cogswell Thornton, all also of this city. Since that time they have traveled extensively on the east coast, spending most of the first year of their journey in Cooperstown, New York. (They failed to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown during that sojourn.) They then wintered in Orlando–and surprisingly!–failed to visit Disney World, as well. The following spring brought them to Old Lyme, Ct where they spent the summer of 2006. Yearning for something more cosmopolitan, they traveled on to New York City, where they spent this past autumn.

The Cutts portrait will be returning to Saco.

They are now enjoying the last weeks of their vacation in Portland, taking in some of the cultural events of the city. We are thrilled to announce that in April they will at last return to Saco, their cherished home of many, many years!

We plan to welcome them back with a big party, of course! We hope you'll be able to join us, so please mark the date and time on your calendars now: Thursday, April 19th from 5-7:30 p.m. at the Saco Museum. We will be announcing more details as they become available. (Until then the portraits are on exhibition with other Brewster works at the Portland Museum of Art.)

Since you may not personally know any of these travelers, let us provide you with just a bit more information about them. All of these local citizens' portraits were painted by highly regarded artist John Brewster, Jr. (1766-1854) in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Not only was Brewster an accomplished portrait artist, he was also profoundly Deaf at a time when Deaf culture was in its infancy, and American Sign Language was just a dream. He successfully traveled and worked in the hearing world his entire adult life. From 1817-1820 he was a member of the first class at the first school for the Deaf in America, so he also had strong ties to the beginning of Deaf culture. His paintings are well known for their detailed and sensitive depictions of their subjects. He is considered to be among the greatest of American portrait artists.

The Saco Museum – yes, your Saco Museum owns what is believed to be the world's largest collection of paintings by Brewster! This is an incredible treasure. Brewster was able to capture the look and feel of life in the early years of our country, beyond just the inherent beauty of his captivating work. Come in and welcome home the travelers, and enjoy these remarkable gems!