Deming Jarves

Jarves was born in 1790 in Boston, Massachusetts to a "prosperous cabinetmaker."

Jarves entered the glass industry in 1809 when he, with a group of investors, gained control of the window glass company Boston Crown Glass. During the War of 1812, American glass manufacturers lost access to high–quality sand and red lead, which was an essential ingredient for high–quality glass. After the war, British manufacturers began dumping low–priced glass in the United States. This caused many American glass manufacturers, including Boston Crown Glass, to go out of business.

Around 1814, he partnered with Joseph B. Henshaw to form the Boston china and glass firm Henshaw and Jarves, which imported crockery from England. The firm ceased operations in 1818.

In 1818, Jarves and a group of investors founded the New England Glass Company, where Jarves researched ways to produce red lead using domestic sources. He worked for the company between 1818 and 1825. He conducted business from offices in Boston, and the company's factory was located in East Cambridge. By 1819 he was producing red lead, which enabled the production of better quality glass.