EDWIN A. HARVEY
Edwin Augustus Harvey was the only child of Ambrose and Sophronia (Brace) Harvey and was born in the town of Vienna, Oneida County, January 27, 1842.
He descended from an old Connecticut family whose members for several
generations were honored citizens of East Haddam, and from a family which
has furnished governors of the States of Wisconsin, Kansas, and New
Hampshire, a general of the U. S. Army, and several justices of the State
Supreme Court. Thomas and Jane (Hungerford) Harvey lived and died in East
Haddam. Their fourth child was Robert, who was born there December 26,
1731, and who had by his wife Rachel a son Jonathan, born January 28, 1761,
who enlisted in the Revolutionary army at the age of sixteen, rose to the
rank of sergeant and afterwards became a Baptist minister. Jonathan married
Fannah Burdick and had children as follows: Jonathan jr., born December 18,
1798; Sylvanus born June 17, 1795; Sila born October 30, 1805; Elnathan born
May 9, 1801; Asa born April 30, 1806; Ambrose born October 30, 1805; Robert
born April 16, 1809; and Morris born July 20, 1810. Of these Jonathan jr.,
Elnathan, Robert and Ambrose came to the town of Vienna when young men and
spent the remainder of their lives as farmers in Oneida county. Ambrose
Harvey was a native of Frankfort, N. Y. and died in Camden, Oneida County,
February 18, 1876. July 15, 1840, he married Sophronia, daughter of Rial
Brace, an early settler from Connecticut on Preston Hill in the town of
Camden. She was born here February 16, 1810, and died January 16, 1886.
Edwin A. Harvey was reared on his father’s farm in Vienna, and spent his summers in agricultural pursuits and his winters in attending the district school. In these alternating occupations he acquired not only a robust physique and a sturdy constitution, but habits of thrift and a fund of practical knowledge which proved indispensable in after life.
These elements, combined with inherited characteristics of a high order, enabled him to engage in business enterprises of more than ordinary importance. He left school at the age of eleven years, but remained on the farm until he was fifteen, with the exception of a short period spent in the employ of Rev. Elijah Gaylord, at that time a manufacturer of hand rakes in Camden.
From that time and until 1864 he was engaged in various occupations, including three years in a shingle mill. In 1864 he came to Camden and with L. S. Sanford engaged in the produce and grocery business. Twelve months later he purchased Mr. Sanford’s interest and successfully continued the business alone until 1894, when he sold out and retired to private life largely on account of ill health.
To his stock of groceries Mr. Harvey soon added a complete line of drugs and combined the two with success and profit. Mr. Harvey was a licensed pharmacist and during one year was elected president of the Oneida County Druggists’ Association. Mr. Harvey started in business with comparatively no capital, but by industry and careful management he succeeded in accumulating a competency. He was emphatically a self-made man. From a farmer’s boy with limited advantages he became one of the largest real estate owners in Camden, and several handsome blocks and dwellings, mainly erected by him, are the result of his enterprise.
In politics he was an ardent Democrat, but his varied business interests generally prevented him from accepting public office, though often urged to do so by his fellow-citizens. Locally, however, his public spirit led him into several positions of honor. He was for eight terms a trustee of the village of Camden and for several years a valuable member of the Board of Education. He was for four years a member of the Board of Water Commissioners and during the whole of that period acted as treasurer of the board. He was also for a number of years treasurer of the village and for some time was a trustee of the M. E. church, of which he became a member in 1872. He was at one time actively engaged in the manufacture of canned goods in Camden, being a member of the firms of Harvey & Newland and Harvey & Godfrey.
He was a prominent member of Philanthropic Lodge, N. 164, F. & A. M. and for fourteen years was its treasurer.
He was also for a number of years a trustee of the Camden Cemetery Association. Mr. Harvey was elected vice-president of the First National Bank of Camden January 12, 1885, to which office he was annually re-elected and filled at the time of his death. In the welfare and prosperity of the village, in educational, religious, and all moral movements, Mr. Harvey always took a deep and frequently an active interest.
He was public spirited, enterprising, and liberally encouraged every worthy project. As a citizen he took a just pride in the advancement of the community, and as a large property owner he generously supported those enterprises which promise the largest amount of good. His loyalty to home interests was most commendable. He died in Camden, July 6, 1896. The Utica Daily Press of July 7 said of him: “Mr. Harvey was a man of the strictest integrity and honesty, of a kind and generous disposition, a s many who have received substantial aid from him in their necessity will remember. To those in his employ he was firm, but courteous, and he always treated them as though they were his equals and deserving of his respect. To his family he was the kindest of husbands and most affectionate of fathers. He was of a jovial disposition and an interesting conversationalist.”
Mr. Harvey was married on the 30th of March, 1861, to Miss Caroline P., daughter of Artemus and Parthenia (Cain) Peck, of Camden, and they had five children: Clara August ( Mrs. William I. Stoddard), Mary Sophronia (Mrs. Selden L. Harding), Edwin Clinton (a law student with Jones, Townsend & Rudd of Utica) Mildred Edwina, and Chester Danforth, all residents of Camden.
Pages 92-93 (Contributed by Linda)