Louis Powell Harvey was an American politician, statesman and businessman. He was Secretary of State of Wisconsin from 1860 to 1862.
Background
Louis Powell Harvey was born on July 22, 1820, in East Haddam, Connecticut, United States, the son of David and Almira (Powell) Harvey and a descendant of Thomas Harvey who with his brother William emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1636, settling at Dorchester. When he was a lad of ten, the family moved to Strongsville, Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
Education
Louis prepared himself for college and entered Western Reserve at Hudson at the age of seventeen. His health and lack of money interrupted his college course, and in his junior year he was forced to leave.
Career
Louis Harvey taught school for a time and in 1841 went to Wisconsin, where at Southport (now Kenosha) he started an academy. About two years later, in addition to his teaching, he took editorial charge of the Southport American, a Whig paper established in 1841. After his marriage in 1847 he moved to Clinton, Wisconsin, where he opened a store. He made his first appearance in a public capacity in 1847 as a member of the convention that framed the constitution of the state of Wisconsin. Three years later he settled in Waterloo (now called Shopiere), a small village in Rock County, which was his home thereafter. Here, in accord with his temperance principles, he purchased a distillery, tore it down, and in its place built a flour mill and retail store. Largely through his efforts a small stone Congregational church was erected, his uncle, Rev. O. S. Powell, being the first pastor.
Elected state senator in 1853, Harvey became an able speaker in the legislature, winning the favor of all classes by his earnest, genial, and courteous manner. He was reelected for a second term in 1855, during which time he was chosen president pro tempore. After serving as secretary of state in 1860-1861 he was nominated for governor. In April 1862 he went South himself to visit the hospitals. At Savannah, Tennessee, about to embark on his steamer homeward bound, he made a misstep and fell between two boats into the river. In spite of every effort made to save him, the swift current drew him away and he was drowned. His body, found later some sixtyfive miles below, was taken to Madison and with fitting ceremony buried in Forest Hill Cemetery.
Achievements
Politics
Harvey was a Whig before the establishment of the Republican Party. He then became a Republican member of the Wisconsin State Senate, serving from 1854 to 1858.
Connections
In 1847, Harvey was married to Cordelia Adelaide Perrine of Barre, Orleans County, New York.