John Lysander Cutler was born in Exeter, Maine on March 9, 1829 where he was educated in the public schools before going into business with his father at the age of sixteen under the firm name of John Cutler & Son.
Fifteen years later in 1859, he moved to Bangor and went into the lumber business with D.R. Stockwell and G.S. Chalmers under the firm name of D.R. Stockwell & Co.
In 1870 he formed a partnership with B.B. Thatcher and Darius Eddy under the name of Cutler, Thatcher & Co., which by 1888 became Stetson, Cutler & Co., of St. John, Bangor and Boston, one of the largest manufacturers of long and short lumber, shingles and lime in New England.
Always a staunch Republican, Cutler had helped carry the State for Fremont in the early 1850’s. He was a member of the Maine House from 1878 to 1880 and President of the Maine Senate during his first term from 1883 to 1884. He was reelected to the Senate in 1885.