from Biographical Sketches of the Members of the Forty-First General Assembly of the State of Indiana (Indianapolis: Indianapolis Journal Co., 1861)
He remained at Plymouth until August, 1843, when he removed to Danville, Hendricks county, and continued in the practice of law with a success that more than met his anticipations. In the years 1845-6-7 he was successively elected to the House of Representatives of Indiana, on the old Whig ticket; and in 1848 he was elected to the Senate from the same county, which position he held for three years, for which length of time Senators were chosen under the old Constitution.
In the year 1852, he removed to Indianapolis, and entered upon the practice of the law, remaining in this city until 1858, at which time he was elected President of the Branch at Jeffersonville, of the Bank of the State of Indiana, and removed to that city. On the 22nd of February, 1860, at the Republican State Convention, held at Indianapolis, he was put in nomination for State Treasurer, and elected, in opposition to Nathaniel F. Cunningham, Esq., one of the most popular Democrats in the State.
Being raised a Whig, Mr. Harvey acted with that party as long as it had an existence, and on the organization of the Republican party, attached himself to that organization, and became a zealous and working member. He was a delegate from the Indianapolis Congressional District to the Philadelphia National Convention in 1856, at which Col. John C. Fremont was nominated for the Presidency. Returning home, he entered into the campaign with vigor; and at the session of the General Assembly in 1857, was elected Principal Secretary of the Senate.
On the stump he is recognized as a good orator, and a close and logical reasoner. As a lawyer, he is well read, and has but few superiors in point of talent in the State, and as a citizen, he has ever enjoyed the confidence, respect and esteem of his fellow citizens wherever he has resided. Politically he is honest and candid in his views and is actuated by a love of principle above all other considerations.
When a Representative in the State Legislature, he always stood high, and was ever watchful of the interests of his constituents; and as Treasurer of State, his course is marked with the same degree of honest consistency and integrity that has rendered him so popular with the people of Indiana.
His education was principally obtained by his own exertions, but his industry, perseverance and ambition have made him a scholar of no mean attainments, and placed him in the highway to honor and distinction. Mr. Harvey's entire record as a public man is one that does him honor both as a citizen and statesman. He does not belong to that class who have obtained place and distinction through the influence of family or wealth, rather than merit. His fitness and qualifications for public position, blending with an untarnished reputation have recommended him to the people of Indiana as a gentleman to whom they could entrust with entire safety the interests of the State in the honorable and responsible position he now occupies.