Orange Harvey was born around 1813 in Vermont. He married Martha Carr on January 15, 1839, and they had at least five children: Mary, born around 1841; Ira, born around 1842; William, born on March 4, 1844; Benjamin, born around 1848; and Martha, born around 1851. They lived in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and Harvey worked as a laborer.
Harvey supported the Whig Party, and he helped organize a “Young Men’s Convention” in support of William Henry Harrison in February 1840. He was “opposed to further experiments with the business and currency of the country—in favor of a retrenchment in the National expenditures—of electing a President for one term only—of Constitutional Liberty—in favor of a reform of the present cruelly hard times.”
By 1860, he owned $300 of real estate and $200 of personal property. By 1870, he was working as a brick mason, and he owned $2,000 of real estate and $200 of personal property. His wife died of pneumonia in April 1887, and he died of pneumonia near St. Johnsbury on March 21, 1888.