[3][4] He moved to Arizona in 1887, settling in Phoenix, where he planted the first orange grove in the Salt River Valley.
[5] In addition to his main residence in Kingman, Arizona, Lovin also owned an alfalfa ranch in southern California.
The bride's name was Ora R. Thompson, who had arrived from Louisiana five years earlier, and was working as a clerk of the county board of supervisors.
[18][19] In 1906, Lovin, with another group of investors, incorporated the Scott's Lucky Boy Consolidated Mining Company.
The company was formed to further develop the Lucky Boy Group of mines, which had been being worked for several years, and was expected to be one of the best in the United States.
[4] In 1906 he entered into an agreement with the Hercules Mercantile Company to open stores in Kelvin and Ray, Arizona.
[26][27][28] In addition to his mining and mercantile interests, Lovin was also into cattle ranching, where he had a large spread in the Big Sandy area.
[38] He selected to represent the Democrats in the primary that year,[39] and won by a large margin over his Republican opponent in the November general election.
Since the Republicans did not nominate anyone from Mohave County, it was expected that Lovin would be the delegate, even though there were two other nominees, one each from Labor and Socialist parties.
[51] Lovin beat his Democratic opponent, Dan Angius, in the September primary 629–420,[52] and he won in November's general election, besting the Republican candidate, W. H. Bucher, by a count of 905 to 473.