Joseph Burnett was born in Southboro, Mass., Nov. 11, 1820. He graduated from the Worcester, Mass. college of pharmacy in 1840 and immediately went to work for Theodore Metcalf, a Boston dealer of drugs and toilet articles. After a while he became a partner in the business and in 1847 he opened a similar business of his own.
Burnett started out as an Importer of Toilet Articles and Manufacturer of Flavoring Extracts. He was listed as an Apothecary on Tremont Street from 1846 to 1857. In 1857 he became partners with William G. Edmonds and the company became known as Joseph Burnett & Co. At that time it was moved to 27 Central Street and the products included Flavoring Extracts, an Asthma Remedy, a Perfume, a Freckle Remover, and The famous Burnett's Cocoaine for the hair.
An ad for H.T. Lovet's Wahpene in 1856 (see Lovet's) indicated that from around 1852, until at least 1853 Burnett was selling the Wahpene for Lovet. Burnett invented the Cocoaine in November of 1856. Burnett married Josephine Cutter in 1848. They had seven daughters and five sons. In 1873, two of his sons: Robert and Harry entered the business but he remained in control until his death. His listing in the City Directories was "Flavoring Extracts" from 1860 to 1879.
Burnett was a leading citizen in his home town of Southboro, Mass. and was held in very high esteem by his fellow townsmen. He was a devoted churchman, a cultured man, and a generous friend of every movement for civic betterment. He served a head of many local committees and councils and he built, at his own expense, the stone building of St. Mark's Episcopal Church of which he was a senior warden for 34 yrs. Burnett died at Southboro in August of 1894.
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