Joseph Lovering

(1759 – June 13, 1848) 

At the time of the Boston Tea Party, Joseph Mayo Lovering Jr. was a 15-year-old tallow chandler’s apprentice in the family’s successful candle and perfume business on the northeast corner of Hollis and Tremont Street, just opposite of fellow Boston Tea Party participants John Crane and Nathaniel Bradlee.

It is said that young Joseph held a lantern in John Crane’s carpenter shop as a handful of Sons of Liberty disguised themselves before heading to Griffin’s Wharf. According to Francis S. Drake’s Tea Leaves, Joseph was “reprimanded by his parents for staying out late that evening.” Nearly three weeks before, one Joseph Lovering had volunteered for the first night’s watch of the tea on the vessel Dartmouth after her arrival. It is believed that this was possibly Joseph’s father of the same name.  

Lovering was much involved with the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, the oldest militia in the Commonwealth. After joining the organization in 1788, he advanced to the rank of Ensign in 1797.  

As Lovering matured, he had a mind for business, and particularly the buying and selling of property, both residential and commercial, after the Revolutionary War. Lovering also parlayed his business success into a political career in his later years. He was elected as a Selectman for the town of Boston in 1815, 1816, 1819, and again in 1820. Additionally, he served in the House of Representatives in 1819 and 1821. The following year, when Boston officially became a city, Lovering was elected to the post of Alderman. Aside from political office, He was also a member of the Humane Society and served as treasurer of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association from 1808 to 1826. 

At the time of his death, Joseph Lovering’s real estate property consisted of an estate on Washington Street, five additional houses, two stores on State Street, all in Boston, Massachusetts, as well as a store in Baltimore, Maryland.  

Joseph Lovering died in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 13, 1848. He is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.