William Wallace Harvey
William W. Harvey was born on March 4, 1844, in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, to Orange and Martha Harvey. His father was a laborer. By 1860, Harvey was working as a farm laborer in St. Johnsbury. He began working as a painter in the early 1860s.
 
He enlisted in the Union army on November 2, 1863, and he mustered in as a private in Company H of the 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery on November 19, 1863. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 6 ¼ inches tall, with brown hair and blue eyes. He knew his family would "feal very bad to hear that I enlistad," but he believed "it is the best thing that I can do." In December 1863, he assured his family that he "like[d] to soldire first rait." He mailed home his bounty money, telling his parents to "pay my dets and then you take the rest and use it for to pay for the houcs." 
 
He was wounded on May 19, 1864, and he spent the next few months recovering. He was arrested as a deserter in the fall of 1864. Union officials transferred him to the 14th Company of the 2nd Battalion, Veteran Reserve Corps on March 18, 1865.
 
Harvey returned to St. Johnsbury after the war and resumed his work as a painter. He applied for a federal pension in October 1865 and eventually secured one. He married Elsie Knapp on July 5, 1870, and their daughter Elsie was born around 1873. They moved to Plainfield, New Hampshire, in the 1860s and then to Readfield, Maine, in the late 1800s. By 1900, he was working as a manufacturer in the wool industry. He died of “chronic valvular heart disease” on May 22, 1911, in Springfield, Massachusetts.
5101
DATABASE CONTENT
(5101)Harvey, William Wallace1844-03-041911-05-22
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: Private
  • Rank out: Private
  • Rank highest: Private
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 53

  • (14363) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Family, 4 November 1863
  • (14364) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 21 November 1863
  • (14365) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Martha Harvey and Orange Harvey, 8 December 1863
  • (14366) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 13 December 1863
  • (14367) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 19 December 1863
  • (14368) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey, 24 December 1863
  • (14369) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 26 December 1863
  • (14370) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 1 January 1864
  • (14371) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Family, 6 June 1864
  • (14372) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Family, 10 January 1864
  • (14373) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Martha Harvey, 20 January 1864
  • (14374) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., undated
  • (14375) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., undated
  • (14376) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Benjamin C. Harvey, undated
  • (14377) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Family, 3 February 1864
  • (14378) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 29 February 1864
  • (14379) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Martha Harvey and Sister, undated
  • (14380) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Martha J. Harvey et al., 1 March 1864
  • (14381) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 7 March 1864
  • (14382) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Benjamin C. Harvey, 23 March 1864
  • (14383) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Family, 2 April 1864
  • (14384) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 12 April 1864
  • (14385) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 1 May 1864
  • (14386) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Family, 15 May 1864
  • (14387) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Benjamin C. Harvey, 11 June 1864
  • (14388) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Family, 15 July 1864
  • (14389) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Mary H. Harvey, 8 August 1864
  • (14390) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 12 August 1864
  • (14391) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Mary H. Harvey, 13 August 1864
  • (14392) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 31 August 1864
  • (14393) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Martha J. Harvey et al., 15 September 1864
  • (14394) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Family, 26 September 1864
  • (14395) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Family, 5 October 1864
  • (14396) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Family, 11 October 1864
  • (14397) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Family, 2 November 1864
  • (14398) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Mary H. Harvey, 20 November 1864
  • (14399) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Family, 6 December 1864
  • (14400) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Martha Harvey, 26 December 1864
  • (14401) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Family, 22 January 1865
  • (14402) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Family, 4 March 1865
  • (14403) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Benjamin C. Harvey, 19 March 1865
  • (14404) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 15 April 1865
  • (14405) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Family, 21 April 1865
  • (14407) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 15 May 1865
  • (14408) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 26 May 1865
  • (14409) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Benjamin C. Harvey et al., 30 May 1865
  • (14410) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 6 June 1865
  • (14411) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 16 June 1865
  • (14412) [writer] ~ William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 19 July 1865
  • (14413) [recipient] ~ Martha J. Harvey et al. to William W. Harvey, 18 May 1863
  • (14424) [recipient] ~ Orange Harvey to Martha Harvey et al., 22 May 1856
  • (14438) [writer] ~ Elsie M. Knapp and William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey and Martha Harvey, 21 October 18XX
  • (14442) [writer] ~ Jason H. Barrett et al. to Martha Harvey et al., 7 August 186X

People - Records: 9

  • (5103) Harvey, Orange is the [parent of] (5101) Harvey, William Wallace
  • (5104) Harvey, Martha is the [parent of] (5101) Harvey, William Wallace
  • (5105) Harvey, Benjamin Carr is the [sibling of] (5101) Harvey, William Wallace
  • (5106) Harvey, Martha Jane is the [sibling of] (5101) Harvey, William Wallace
  • (5107) Harvey, Mary H. is the [sibling of] (5101) Harvey, William Wallace
  • (5130) Harvey, Ira Allen is the [sibling of] (5101) Harvey, William Wallace
  • (5135) Larned, Adah Louise is the [sibling-in-law of] (5101) Harvey, William Wallace
  • (5137) Knapp, Elsie M. is the [wife of] (5101) Harvey, William Wallace
  • (5138) (?), Jane is the [aunt/uncle of] (5101) Harvey, William Wallace

Places - Records: 2

  • (1687) [birth] ~ St. Johnsbury, Caledonia County, Vermont
  • (295) [death] ~ Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts

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Regiments - Records: 2

  • (984) [enlisted] [E] ~ 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery
  • (1107) [enlisted] [14th] ~ 2nd Veteran Reserve Corps Battalion
SOURCES

1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, and 1910 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Vermont Vital Records, 1720-1908, available from Ancestry.com; Military Service Records of William W. Harvey, available from Fold3.com; Massachusetts Death Records, 1841-1915, available from Ancestry.com; William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 21 November 1863, DL1942.002, Nau Collection; William W. Harvey to Orange Harvey et al., 13 December 1863, DL1942.004, Nau Collection