| James C. Loving | |
| Birth Date: | June 6, 1836 |
| Birth Place: | Hopkins County, Kentucky |
| Death Place: | Tarrant County, Texas |
| Occupation: | Rancher |
| Parents: | Oliver Loving Susan Daggett Morgan Loving |
James C. Loving (1836 - 1902) was an American cattleman and rancher in Texas. He raised "the largest purebred shorthorn herd" in the United States by the end of the nineteenth century. He was a co-founder of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and served as its secretary for twenty-seven years.
James Carrol Loving was born on June 6, 1836, in Hopkins County, Kentucky.[1] His father, Oliver Loving (1812–1867), was a cattleman and drover, and his mother was Susan Daggett Morgan Loving (1809–1884).[2] In 1845, they moved to Texas, eventually settling down in Palo Pinto County, Texas.[1]
During the American Civil War of 1861–1865, he served in the Confederate States Army.[1] He became First Lieutenant, mostly by keeping Native Americans away from European settlers like himself in Texas.[1]
Shortly after the war, he opened a general store in Weatherford, Parker County, Texas.[1] In 1867, when his father died, he inherited his cattle holdings.[1] [3] In June 1868, together with Charles Goodnight, he drove 2,300 cattle to Colorado over a period of six months.[1] [2] Together with C.L. Carter, he owned a ranch near C.C. Slaughter's ranch called Dillingham Prairie Ranch.[2]
In 1873, he established a ranch in Jermyn, Jack County in the Lost Valley.[1] [4] It was located 25 miles away from Graham and 15 miles away from Jacksboro, Texas.[4] [5] He reportedly raised "the largest purebred shorthorn herd in the nation."[1]
However, much of his cattle was stolen by Native Americans and cattle raiders.[1] As a result, in 1877, he became a co-founder of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, together with forty other ranchers from Palo Pinto County, Young County, Parker County, and Shackelford County, including C.C. Slaughter.[1] [3] [6] He served as its secretary for twenty-seven years, until his death in 1902.[1] [3] He also became its treasurer in 1879.[1] The following year, in 1880, he published an almanac about the main herds of Texas and their owners.[1] Four years later, in 1884, he moved the office of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Associations to Jacksboro; three years later, in 1887, he moved it again, this time to Fort Worth, Texas.[1]
He married Mary Ellen Willett Loving in 1857.[1] They had two children.
He died on November 24, 1902, in Tarrant County, Texas.[1]