Cutler was born in Plainfield, New Hampshire, to Knight Cutler, a veteran of the American Revolution, and Elizabeth Boyd.
He married Lois Lathrop of Lebanon, New Hampshire, on November 17, 1808.
Lathrop was a descendant of Rev. John Lothropp (1584–1653), and thus a distant cousin of Latter Day Saint prophet Joseph Smith.
Cutler fought as a private in the War of 1812, serving in Cpt.
E. Smith's company of New York Militia from September to December 1812.
Although later Latter Day Saint sources would refer to Cutler as "Captain Alpheus Cutler" and say that he had fought at the battles of Chippewa Falls and Lundy's Lane, his service record does not support either assertion.

Cutler was a stonemason by occupation.
He stood over six feet tall, and was described by one biographer as being "heavy set," "powerfully built," "critical" and "sarcastic," while generally expressing himself in "an extremely candid, sharp and brusque manner."
Some of Cutler's contemporaries would later refer to him as having a "natural parabolical, allegorical, symbolical, mysterious, secretive way of telling things."
Cutler was born in Plainfield, New Hampshire, to Knight Cutler, a veteran of the American Revolution, and Elizabeth Boyd. He married Lois Lathrop of Lebanon, New Hampshire, on November 17, 1808. Lathrop was a descendant of Rev. John Lothropp (1584–1653), and thus a distant cousin of Latter Day Saint prophet Joseph Smith. Cutler fought as a private in the War of 1812, serving in Cpt. E. Smith's company of New York Militia from September to December 1812. Although later Latter Day Saint sources would refer to Cutler as "Captain Alpheus Cutler" and say that he had fought at the battles of Chippewa Falls and Lundy's Lane, his service record does not support either assertion.
Cutler was a stonemason by occupation. He stood over six feet tall, and was described by one biographer as being "heavy set," "powerfully built," "critical" and "sarcastic," while generally expressing himself in "an extremely candid, sharp and brusque manner." Some of Cutler's contemporaries would later refer to him as having a "natural parabolical, allegorical, symbolical, mysterious, secretive way of telling things."
Alpheus Cutler