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Rock County, Wisconsin

Biographies

"Enoch W. B. Harvey"

ENOCH W. B. HARVEY, who fills a responsible position at Le Clair, Douglas Co.. Wis.,
springs from an old New England family famous for patriotism, physical vigor and longevity. He was born in the town of Atkinson, Piscataquis county, Maine, June 1, 1831, and is the only surviving son of Rev. Nathaniel and Sarah (BURNHAM) HARVEY, natives of Nottingham, New Hampshire.
An ancestor of the HARVEY family came from England in the colonial days, settling at
Nottingham, where members of that family still live, and all of that name in the United States who spell it "HARVEY," are supposed to belong to the posterity of this one immigrant. Several members of the family served in the Revolutionary War, as well as in every war since in which the nation has been engaged.
Nathaniel HARVEY, Sr., grandfather of E. W. B. HARVEY, reached the age of 105 years,
sprightly and vigorous to the last. He lived and died in Nottingham, N.H. He had eighteen children, one of whom was Levi HARVEY, grandfather of Prof. L. D. HARVEY, at one time superintendent of public instruction in Wisconsin. His son, Nathaniel HARVEY, went to Maine when a young man and settled on a farm. Educated chiefly by home study, he yet accomplished so much that about 1810 he was ordained a Baptist minister and preached many years in Piscataquis and other counties throughout the State of Maine. In 1845 he went to Wisconsin, settling at Fulton, Rock county, where he lived on a farm and preached in adjacent places until his death, which occurred in 1870, in the eighty-fourth year of his age.
His wife, Sarah B. HARVEY, died in 1854, aged sixty-four years. Her father died in Burnham,
N.H.; his brothers, Asa and Jesse, were Baptist ministers, and the latter died in Rock county, Wis. Both were able men, though their early advantages were quite limited.
Nathaniel and Sarah HARVEY had seven sons and three daughters, viz.: Jonathan, a tanner, who
died in Sebee, Maine; Ebenezer B., who died at Brodhead, Wis., a tanner and teacher as well as a farmer; John, a farmer by occupation, who with two sons served throughout the Civil war, was a member of a Wisconsin Cavalry regiment, served under Gen. Curtis, and died in Nebraska; Israel, whose death occurred at Fulton, Wis.; Betsy, who is Mrs. J. F. BEAN, of Princeton, Maine; William A., deceased, a physician in Chicago; Nathaniel, who died at Fulton, Wis.; Sarah, the wife of P. F. CUTTS, of St. Paul. Minn.; Enoch W. B.; Melissa J., Mrs. Horatio HOULTON, who died at Elk River, Minnesota.
E. W. B. HARVEY after leaving the district school went to Milton College at Milton, Wis., where
he finished the scientific course at the age of twenty-four years; he had previously taught, and after graduation he continued in that profession about twenty years. In 1862 he went to Minneapolis, where he was made principal of the East Side schools, a position in which he was maintained ten years. In 1873 he gave up the profession of teaching and took a position as bookkeeper and cashier at his brother-in-law's mill in Elk River, Minn. After some ten years there he went to Glendive, Mont, where he dealt in general merchandise about ten years more. Since then Mr. HARVEY has been employed by the Lake Superior Piling Company at Le Clair and has charge of the camp and general store of the company at that place.
From the foundation of the Republican party Mr. HARVEY has been an enthusiastic supporter
of its principles, though he takes an independent stand in local affairs. For six years he served as a member of the board of education in Minneapolis, and has always been interested in educational affairs.
In 1860 Mr. HARVEY was married to Caroline HILTON, of Minneapolis, a daughter of William
and Mary HILTON. Mr. HILTON came to Minneapolis in 1855 with his family, and only lived seven years after the change. Mrs. Caroline HARVEY died in Montana in 1889, aged fifty-eight years, leaving no children.
Mr. HARVEY is a member of the Masonic fraternity, which he joined in 1863. Since 1870 he
has also belonged to the Knights of Pythias. In 1881 he was grand chancellor of Wisconsin; the next year he was made delegate to the Supreme Lodge, K.P., of the World, which was held at Detroit. He is a man popular not only in these societies, but among his acquaintances, who respect and admire him greatly.
 
[Taken from "Commemorative Biographical Record of the Upper Lake Region" (c)1905 J. H. Beers & Co., Chicago; pp. 208-209]

This page last updated December 24, 2007
 
©2007 WIBiographies-Rock County
 
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