David Archibald Harvey
David Archibald Harvey was the first delegate to the United States [House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives] from the Oklahoma Territory's at-large district.
Early life
Harvey was born in Stewiacke, Nova Scotia, on March 20, 1845. He moved with his parents to Clermont County, Ohio, in 1852, and attended public schools in Point Isabel in Washington [Township, Clermont County, Ohio|Washington Township].Career
When the American Civil War began in 1861, Harvey joined the Union army and enlisted in Company B of the 4th Ohio [Cavalry Regiment] in September 1861. Harvey served throughout the Civil War. He was enlisted as a private and rose to the rank of sergeant.Following the end of the war, Harvey attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he studied law. He was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1868 and commenced practice in Topeka, Kansas, in 1869. He served as city attorney in Topeka from 1871 to 1881, and as probate judge from 1881 to 1889.
With the opening of the Oklahoma Territory in 1889, Harvey moved to Wyandotte. He was elected as a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Oklahoma Territory's at-large district and served in the 51st [United States Congress|51st] and 52nd Congresses from November 4, 1890, to March 3, 1893. Harvey introduced the "Harvey Bill" in 1892 that called for Oklahoma statehood. The bill was blocked by the United States [House Committee on Territories|House Committee on Territories]. He was unsuccessful in his candidacy for reelection in 1892 to the 53rd Congress.
After leaving Congress, he resumed practicing law, and represented the Indian tribes of northeast Oklahoma and the Cayugas in New York. He resided in Miami, Oklahoma, and later lived on a farm that was part of the Wyandotte Nation in Oklahoma, near Seneca, Missouri on the Oklahoma-Missouri border, which had been given to him in consideration for representing their interests.