Rupert Cutler retires from Greenfield Historic site Advisory Council

For years historian Rupert Cutler has pursued the history of Greenfield and Colonel William Preston in Botetourt County. Preston was a ley figure in the formation of Botetourt County, Western Virginia, the early Commonwealth of Virginia and the budding American nation.

Cutler was a primary participant in successfully getting the William Peston Memorial at Greenfield Training and Eduacation Center now referred to as the Botetourt County Administratio Center.

Cutler has been serving on the Historic Greenfield Advisory Council to preserve the property (which once belonged to the county but was donated to the Botetourt Economic Development Authority last year and is the site of several corporations.)

After the historic slave cabins were moved from the Greenfield historic home site, the county began a historic preservation committee to attempt to save the cabins. The cabins now sit on a hill across from their former location. A cemetary and Native American sites on the property have also been a source of study.

The Council has raised some money over the past few years but as of yet nothing has been done to restore the slave cabins. However that is not for the lack of effort from the Historic Greenfild Advisory Council.

Cutler stated this about his service.

“Last Tuesday ( Feb 15) I said goodbye, as a full-time member, to my friends on Botetourt County’s Historic Greenfield Advisory Council. For 14 years I have enjoyed participating in the creation of the Col. William Preston Memorial and the protection of the Historic Greenfield slave quarters, summer kitchen, cemeteries, and Jeffersonian terraced garden on that site while the rest of the area is being developed. Thanks to Botetourt County Supervisor Steve Clinton for his leadership of the Council and his determination to save and interpret the historic structures at Greenfield. Thanks to Danny Kyle for his determination to save the numerous ancient Native America occupation sites there.”

Cutler was awarded a medal for his service. Thanks and best wishes to Cutler for his history knowledge and willingness to preserve the past.

Cathy Benson with Rupert Cutler, photos courtesy of Ruper Cutler