[1] He moved with his parents to Clermont County, Ohio, in 1852, and attended public schools in Point Isabel, a part of Washington Township.

[2] When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, Harvey joined the Union army and enlisted in Company B of the 4th Ohio Cavalry Regiment in September 1861.

Following the end of the war, Harvey attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he studied law.

[1] He was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1868 and commenced practice in Topeka, Kansas, in 1869.

After leaving Congress, he resumed practicing law, and represented the Indian tribes of northeast Oklahoma and the Cayugas in New York.