On August 5, 1924 in Carteret, New Jersey, a young Italian-American Catholic girl, Adelaide Ida Casaleggi Cutter and her Presbyterian husband, Clifford Leslie Cutter welcomed the birth of their first child, Eileen Florence Cutter. Carteret is 16 miles from New York City and was at the time home to many immigrant and first generation factory workers. While Clifford’s family could be traced back to the American Revolution, Ida’s family was closer to its Genoese Italian roots.

Within a few months of her birth, Eileen was severely stricken with a case of Whooping Cough. The physician expected that she would not survive the coming night. He told Ida to place Eileen in a corner and “forget about her.” Annie Casaleggi, Ida’s mother, had lost her first three children to a New York tenement flu epidemic. She was not about to lose her first granddaughter. Ida and Annie set about a round-the-clock vigil, spelling one another, ministering to the infant: never putting her down for days on end, fearing that she would not be able to breath and would succumb to this terrible lung infection. They were successful and Eileen grew into a precocious and spirited girl, marrying Walton Hughes at 21 years of age, and eventually giving birth to six children of her own. 

The spirit, tenacity and family support that allowed Eileen to survive this early crisis is a testimony to the strong matriarchal lines that preceded her and is evidenced again and again as Eileen found the strength to meet the challenges of her life by constantly reinventing herself. From wife, mother and homemaker, to successful corporate assistant, to retired resident of a new state, North Carolina, to being a relatively young widow now completely in charge of her own destiny, Eileen moved from the demands of motherhood to the joys of independence and grandmotherly interactions with her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

This site is an attempt to take you on Eileen’s extended 96 year journey.

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