William Cutting

William Cutting (1832 – March 26, 1897) was an American lawyer and soldier who "was one of the best known society leaders and a recognized authority on all matters of etiquette and affairs of honor."

Early life Willy Cutting was born in 1832 in New York City. He was the eldest son of New York State Assemblyman and U.S. Representative Francis Brockholst Cutting (1804–1870) and Anne Markoe (née Heyward) Cutting (1807–1885) of South Carolina. Among his siblings was Francis Brockholst Cutting (who married Marion Ramsay and was the father of F. Brockholst Cutting) and Heyward Cutting.

Cutting was the grandson of William Cutting and Gertrude (née Livingston) Cutting. Through his paternal grandmother, he was a direct descendant of Walter Livingston (the first Speaker of the New York State Assembly) and Robert Livingston (the third and last Lord of Livingston Manor). His maternal grandparents were William Heyward and Sarah (née Cruger) Heyward. Through his uncle Fulton Cutting and aunt Elise Bayard Cutting, he was a first cousin of attorney and merchant William Bayard Cutting and financier Robert Fulton Cutting.

He studied at Columbia University in New York City followed by Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Career After graduation, he practiced law for a short time in New York City with his father.

In 1870, Cutting was among the founders of the Knickerbocker Club, including August Belmont, John Jacob Astor III, Philip Schuyler and William Watts Sherman.

Personal life Cutting died on March 26, 1897, at the home of his cousin, Walter L. Cutting at 30 West 20th Street in New York City. After a funeral at Grace Church in Manhattan conducted by the Rev. Dr. William Reed Huntington (the pallbearers were J. Bower Lee, Alfred Grimes, Peter Marie, Clement C. Hand, Oliver A. C. Morrison, and J. W. Clendenning),

Cutting estate Upon his father's death in 1870, his estate was worth over $4,000,000, with personal property totaling $1,230,767.96, and around $1,300,000 in bonds for Wabash Railroad, the estate was finally settled, and William was excused as executor in 1888.