John G. Utterback

Who was John G. Utterback?

John Gregg Utterback was a U.S. Representative from Maine, and cousin of Hubert Utterback.

Born in Franklin, Indiana, Utterback attended the public schools of his native city. He was employed in a carriage factory 1889-1892. He engaged as a traveling salesman 1892-1905, during which time he resided in Jackson, Michigan, Rochester, New York, and Winchester, Massachusetts. He finally settled in Bangor, Maine, in 1905, where he engaged in the retail sale of carriages, and later automobiles.

Utterback served as a Bangor city councilman in 1912-1913, alderman in 1913-1914, and as Mayor of Bangor in 1914-1915. He was Chairman of the Maine Motor Vehicle Conference Committee in 1930, and served as delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1932.

Utterback was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third United States Congress, defeating Republican Owen Brewster by only 324 votes. Brewster bitterly contested the result following his defeat, claiming voter fraud in the French-Canadian districts of Aroostook County, but Utterback prevailed. Utterback was helped by a lack of sympathy for Brewster among the Republican 'old guard'.