Joseph Brewster Maccabe was born on November 19, 1858 in Manchester, New Hampshire.

His father, James D., enlisted in Co. K, 10th New York Heavy Artillery.

Joseph was a member of the Lt. Nathaniel Bowditch Camp 4, Dorchester, Massachusetts; joined the Adjutant Dehon Camp 4, Boston as a chartered member on October 27, 1886; and on August 15, 1900 joined the Gen. Nelson A. Miles Camp 46, Roxbury, Massachusetts. During June 1883, he was appointed Colonel and Vice Lt.-Commander of the First Grand Division with the goal of organizing camps in and around Boston. He became Colonel of the Massachusetts Division in 1884.

He was a Captain in the Service Corps of the U.S. Army from May 1, 1918 to November 1, 1921. During WWI, he was assigned to Puerto Rico to look after the physical condition of 20,000 resident draftees.

Politically, Joseph was a member of the Common Council of Boston, a State Senator for East Boston (1st Suffolk District) during 1894, President of the Republican City Committee, Chairman of the Bath and Park Commission, and on the Board of Examiners for the State Agricultural College.

After studying law at Harvard University he became interested in newspaper work. He was proprietor of the East Boston Argus Advocate and Winthrop Tribune newspapers. He was a member of the Boston Press Club, Massachusetts Press Association, New England Press Association, and was on the Executive Committee of the National Press Association.

Joseph was very involved in athletics later in life. He was one of the organizers of the International Amateur Athletic Association (I.A.A.A.), a member of the Amateur Athletic Union and being President of both the New England and National A.A.U., and the American Olympic Association (A.O.A.).

He was on the Board of Trustees at the Chelsea Soldiers Home and a member of the Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and Red Men.

He married Emma Plummer and they had a son and a daughter.

Brother Maccabe died on November 17, 1930 in Washington, D.C. while attending an A.O.A. Convention. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Everett, Massachusetts.