Born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, Lovering moved with his parents to Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1837.
He attended the Cambridge High School and the Hopkins Classical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
He left school in 1859 for employment in his father's mill.
During the Civil War served as quartermaster of Engineers in the Second Massachusetts Brigade, consisting of the Second and Third Regiments.
He engaged in cotton manufacturing in Taunton at the Whittenton Mills.
First president of the Taunton Street Railway.
He served as president of the American Liability Insurance Co.
He was interested in several other business enterprises.
He served as president of the New England Cotton Manufacturers' Association (now the National Textile Association) for two years.
He served as member of the Massachusetts Senate in 1874 and 1875.
He served as delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1880.
Presided at the Republican State convention in 1892.