Harvey S. Alexander was born on December 10, 1845, in present-day Westfield, Ohio, to Leonard and Polly Alexander. His father was a farmer who owned $4,000 of real estate by 1850. He grew up and attended school in Westfield, and his father probably died in the 1850s.
He enlisted in the Union army on May 2, 1864, and he mustered in as a private in Company D of the 166th Ohio Infantry on May 15. The regiment spent the next four months in the forts around Washington, D.C., and Alexander mustered out on September 9, 1864.
He settled in Hardin, Iowa, after the war. He married Emma Wolcott around 1871, and they had at least three children: Mary, born around 1872; Edna, born around 1876; and Jay, born around 1879. He earned a living as a farmer. The family moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa, in the early 1900s. He joined the local chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic, and by March 1909, he was serving as post commander.
He applied for a federal pension in February 1901, and he received on the following year. His wife died on May 20, 1928. He remained in Council Bluffs, living with a domestic servant, and by 1930, he owned a house valued at $4,000. He died of chronic myocarditis in Council Bluffs on October 30, 1936.
Image: Harvey S. Alexander (Council Bluffs Nonpareil, 31 October 1936)