Notes for Thomas H. Harvey: Lived in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas From the Harvey family web page: http://footprints.org/7h010000.htm
The Harvey Family of Early America
The Harvey name can be traced back in history to some extent. We know that John and Thomas (father and son) were the first and second Governors of North Carolina. Footprints has no information on this family or any other early American Harvey family. We have found information on a number of individuals in early American History and English History which you may want to visit. See Harvey in History. Hopefully one of our readers will be able to fill us in on the early family.
The following was taken from one of Max Reed's early letters on his research for the Thomas H Harvey family.
When and from where did the Harvy ancestry start their movement west? A common misconception is that poor workers in eastern cities, being unable to make a living in the eastern cities headed for the frontier. According to Westward Expansion, the cost of moving west was a barrier that few easterners could overcome. If a prospective pioneer wanted to begin life anew, he must move to the extreme edge of the frontier, appropriate government land, clear his fields and personally conquer the wilderness; this required technical knowledge acquired by prior experience.
When such skills were lacking, his only choice was to settle in a community already undergoing development. This was expensive. He would be forced to pay between $1.25 and $10.00 and acre for land, $5 to $20 and acre to have it cleared, $112 for a split-rail fence, from $100 to $375 for tools, $150 for draft animals, $50 for a long cabin, $25 for transportation and $100 for food to support his family until his own farm came into production.
Few eighty-acre farms were established that did not cost their owners at least $1,500 - a sum far beyond the reach of the average eastern workingman whose wages seldom rose above $1 a day. Even those who sought to become independent farmers by working first as hired hands in the West found the path difficult; they learned the needed skills but often found it impossible to save the money to buy a farm from their wages of $150 a year and keep. So most new areas were occupied by farmers from nearby regions who had either the frontier skills to begin life anew cheaply or the capital necessary to put land into production. Thus the west was settled in rolling waves; a farmer improving his land, selling at large profit and moving on to the frontier starting anew.
With shelter assured, the frontiersmen began clearing his land. Four or five years of back-breaking labor was needed to clear the ten or fifteen acres necessary to support a family. During this period the pioneer family lived on grain purchased from nearby farmers, but two good crops would pay for the farm and all improvements.
The settlement of Tennessee began between 1790 and 1795. The influx was so great that when a site was chosen for the new capital, a central site was chosen at Knoxville at the mouth of the French Broad river. It was said that during the summer of 1795 immigrants were so thick on the Old Walton Road that they crowded each other from the highway; 26,000 crossed the Cumberland in two months. By 1796, 77,000 people lived in Tennessee and the territory was ready to enter the Union as a state.
Monroe county was formed in 1819, and a large land distribution was make in 1820 with the Hiwassee purchase from the Cherokee. Thomas Harvy bought 310 acres at the land office in Knoxville and many Harvy families (presumably all related is some way) moved into Monroe. How these families are related and where they came from is now the subject of a continuing search.
More Family Remembrances
This next material was apparently submitted to Mrs. Pegues by Homer and/or Louis Harvey since they are the only Harvey's mentioned in the acknowledgments. It contains several errors.
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THOMAS HARVEY HIS EXPERIENCES WITH INDIANS
"Born in Missouri (I've never heard anything but Tennessee), it is believed that he came to Texas with the covered wagon caravan that arrived here on Durrett Creek, August 17, 1855. He preempted an acreage adjoining that of Dr. James E. Marshall on the south. Half of Mr. Harvey's preemption lay in Wise Count and the remainder in Tarrant County.
(To prove this, if he officially filed the preemption papers, there will be a record in Austin. Most of the settlements of Wise County were made under the law of February 13, 1854, which granted to the actual settler 160 acres, with provisions that a house must be built on the land and occupied for a term of three years. After three years the land was to be surveyed by the county or district surveyor. Field notes, accompanied by an affidavit of residence for the required time, was to be returned to the general land office at Austin, whereupon a patent would be made out, signed by the Governor, and sent to the settler or locator. The price was 50 cents per acre. (Cates-History of Wise County.)).
"He married Dianna Honeycut. No definite dates can be given on this family record wince the census records have been unavailable. Their children were Katherine, Martha, John, Tom, who died young, Alice, Charlie, Laura and Betty. (Of course Dianna was his first wife. My grandmother Laura (Harvey) Nelson use to tell of how her father destroyed his wagon to make Dianna a coffin, there being no other source of lumber in the area. Catherine was of course his second wife, their children being Alice, Charlie, Laura and Betty.) [These four were listed above]
"With a wife and seven children to support (it would have been three at this time) Mr. Harvey did not share the patriotic attitude of some of his neighbors when a state of war existed between the North and South. Letting other men volunteer their services, he chose to stay at home with his family. (My Grandmother would often tell this ball-and-chain story. She always introduced the story by stating her father was adamantly opposed to slavery and although most of their neighbors were of the souther persuasion, he steadfastly refused to serve the cause of the confederacy) To evade conscription, he pretended to be deaf and dumb when the officials came for him. His shenanigan worked for that time, but his deceit was finally discovered and he was taken into the service. He was being used as a guard in the army. This duty he reasoned, was a useless function compared to his duty to his large family. Therefore, he took advantage of the first opportunity to desert and return to his home. But again he was picked up and returned to camp. This time the army took the precaution to prevent further desertion by placing him in ball-and-chain. Despite his disloyalty, he had loyal friends who helped him dispose of the encumbrances which he threw in the West Fork of the Trinity River on his way back to his family. He was given a dishonorable discharge and allowed to remain with his family. (Texas entered the war on February 23, 1861, the war ended April 1865. Therefore Thomas Harvey was in Wise County before 1861.)
"Mr. Harvey had many unpleasant encounters with Comanches. On one occasion he was in the timber cutting a supply of fire wood. His gun, which was his constant companion, had been emptied and before he could reload it a band of fifteen Indians on horses appeared. His adaptability at working shenanigans was a great advantage in this predicament. The Indians were unaware he held an empty gun when he raised it in defiance. With this bold stand he held the Indians back for what seemed an eternity, but in reality was only one hour and thirty minutes, before two of his neighbors came riding by with loaded guns and frightened the Indians away.
"Another time a band of Indians appeared suddenly in his yard. He stood at the door with his head sticking out, his gun barrel pointed directly at the marauders. The Indians decided to leave.
"A third encounter occurred one day when he and his son, John were out riding. A band of Comanches, also on horses, overtook them at the head of Indian Creek. Father and son gave their horses the spur, the Indians in hot pursuit. The Harveys were riding westward and when they reached the West Fork of the Trinity River near the settlement of Body the pursuers decided it safer for them to abandon the chase. (This sounds like a version of the Huffs account below.).
"Mrs. Harvey had a most distasteful, terrifying experience one day when her husband was away from home. When she saw a band of twelve Indians riding toward her log cabin she hastily gathered the children together and hid in the corn field nearby. The Indians went in the house ransacking it. She watched disgustedly when the intruders came out with the beautiful coverlets she had lovingly made and had packed away, one each as an heirloom for her children. She could hardly contain her abhorrence, wanting to cry out in protest, but dared not, when they spread the quilts on the wet ground, sprawled themselves out thereon and took a nap in the warm spring sunshine. When they had rested sufficiently they gathered up the prized coverlets and spread them across the backs of their horses, mounted and road away with them. However, before their departure the Indians went to the horse lot and stole the family's favorite horse, Old Smoky, who was a racer. In exactly a year Old Smoky came wandering home, poor as a rail. How terrible had been his experience, how insufferable his treatment, or how much territory he had to cover to return to his beloved master, no one knows.
"In 1880, when an Indian claim loss was passed, Mr. Harvey filed a suit for damages, and finally was repaid ten years later.
"Mr. Thomas Harvey moved to Bonham, Texas, where he passed away August 4, 1900. He was laid to rest in the Brown Cemetery there. One of his grandsons, Homer Harvey still is a resident of Newark."
According to other accounts:
Thomas Harvey and second wife Catherine came to Wise county from Illinois in 1867. Their first child, Sarah Alice was born on the wagon train in Bentonville, Arkansas on October 4, 1867. Other families on the wagon train were McClain, Meads, Daniels, and Christin. (Information from old family records) We do not know where in Illinois they came from but there is very strong suggestion that it was Jefferson Co.
Additional census records of the Thomas H. Harvey family have recently been discovered. "Uncle Jake" and "uncle Pleas" have been found, as well as previously unknown family members. Many of the census records are very difficult to read because of the extreme age, because of the hand writing of the census taker, or both. This may have resulted in errors in names, spelling or ages appearing in this report. If the uncertainty was very great, a question mark has been appended to the item. Perhaps the archives available to other researchers could clarify some of these uncertainties.
These discoveries correct several errors in previously reported events. For example, in the History of Newark book, quoted previously, it was suggested that Thomas H. Harvey came to Wise County in 1855 with the Marion Co, ILL. Wagon train. Actually, Thomas was still in Missouri as late as 1860.
The census record showing Thomas in Texas Co, Missouri in 1850 has been previously displayed in Footprints.
1850 TEXAS COUNTY MISSOURI CENSUS
Texas County. Family #50, House #50, Stamped Page Number 3004, Line Nos #29-31, Enumerated 14 September 1850.
NAME AGE SEX BIRTHPLACE Est YOB
Thomas Harvey 29 M Tennessee 1821 Dianna Harvey 26 F Tennessee 1824 Martha Jane Harvey 3 F Missouri 1847
Lists Thomas Harvey as a laborer. Owens no real estate. Cannot read or write. Dianna can read and write. Date of birth estimated by author.
Thomas has now been located in 1860. At that time, he and Dianah have moved about forty miles west of their Texas Co, location to Union Township in Webster Co, Missouri. The nearest post office to them is Bristol, MO. The census shows John Harvey as seven years of age and Thomas Harvey Jr. as age 5.
1860 WEBSTER COUNTY MISSOURI CENSUS
WEBSTER County Union Township family #751, House #755, Page #114, Stamped Page #812, Line 31-35, Enumerated 11 Day of August, 1860 By Samuel Jones Ass't Marshal, Post Office - Bristol
NAME AGE SEX BIRTHPLACE Est YOB
Thomas Harvey 39 M Tenn 1821 Dianah Harvey 36 F NC 1824 Martha J. Harvey 12 F MO 1848 John Harvey 7 M MO 1853 Thomas Harvey 5 M MO 1855
Thomas Harvey is listed as a farm laborer. He owns no real estate and personal property is valued at $410. He and Dianah are listed as unable to read or write. John and Martha are listed as having attended school during the year. Estimate of date of birth by author.
In giving the year of birth the age of the individual was simply subtracted from the census year. Therefore the birth could be off by one year. For example if Thomas Harvey were born after the census date, his birth year could actually be 1820 and not 1821.
Union Township, Webster Co, is about 25-30 miles Northeast of Springfield. We now know that Thomas was in Webster Co, as early as January 8, 1853. The cryptic note at right states that John Washington Harvey was born in or near Springfield, MO, January 8, 1853.
John Washington Harvey had two wives. The 2nd wife was Iva Harvey. Ed was her son. This note was found in Iva Harvey's papers by Ed's wife. "C" in the note is Cletus Obra, son of John Harvey. The reference to Mitchell County, Colorado is actually referring to Colorado City, Mitchell Co, Texas which is just west of Abilene. Readers of Footprints will recall that the Letters written by John Washington to his sister Laura Francis were written from Buford, Texas. Buford is about two miles north of Colorado City.
It is believed that this note was sent to Sharlottie ("Lottie") Rozella (Nelson) Milson, oldest daughter of Laura Francis (Harvey) Nelson by Thelma Harvey and subsequently to Wanda Gayle (Nelson) Reed and then the author. However, its source is uncertain.
Children of Thomas H. Harvey and Diane Honeycut are:
+Martha Jane Harvey, b. 31 December 1848, Tennessee, d. 19 September 1901.
John Washington Harvey, b. 12 January 1853, Arkansas, d. 31 December 1916, Briar, Wise, Texas.
Thomas H. Harvey (b. 1826, d. 04 August 1900)
Notes for Thomas H. Harvey: