Biographical Sketch (1882):2387 "R. Harvey, surveyor and draughtsman, first came to Omaha, Nebraska, in 1869, and engaged in surveying, which business he has since followed; has been United States Deputy Surveyor for twelve years; two years in Omaha; Located at St. Paul, Neb., in April, 1877. Was County Surveyor of Howard County in 1872, '73 and '76. Born in Ashland County, Ohio, January 4, 1845; lived in native state eight years; lived in Noble County, Indiana, ten years; Adrian, Michigan, four years. He entered the Adrian College and there gained a knowledge of surveying. Enlisted August 1862, in Company D, Seventy-fourth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry; participated in the battle of Perryville. Mustered out in Gallatin, Tenn., 1863. Married in Indiana, 1868, to Miss E. H. Ames, of Coldwater, Michigan. Had four children, Flora E., is living, Adella M., Frank L., and Bertha E. have recently died. Mr. Harvey is a member of Canby Post, No. 8, Grand Army of the Republic."

1881 Newspaper Sale:1321 "On September 4, 1873, the first newspaper was established, by Seth P. and Mrs. Maggie T. G. Mobley, of Grand Island. This paper was called the St. Paul Advocate, and was afterward sold to J. N. Paul who published it for some time, and then to Robert Harvey, who sold it in the spring of 1881, when it was consolidated with another paper."

1882 Death of Children:1320 Mr. and Mrs. Robert Harvey were grievously afflicted having lost two children by scarlet fever within three days.

1920 U.S. Census:1197
Lancaster County, Nebraska, (Lincoln Township)
Enumerated 12 January 1920
328 South 19th Street
Robert Harvey •• head, home owned free of mortgage, male, white, age 73, married, able to read, able to write, born in Ohio, father born in Scotland, father’s mother tongue Scotch, mother born in Scotland, mother tongue Scotch, able to speak English, surveyor in state house
Helen E. •• wife, female, white, age 67, married, able to read, able to write, born in Michigan, father born in New York, mother born in Pennsylvania, able to speak English
James A. •• son, male, age 24, single, able to read, able to write, born in Nebraska, father born in Ohio, mother born in Michigan, able to speak English, cashier in clothing store.

1923 Death Certificate:1345 Robert Harvey; date of dath, 1 November 1923; Lincoln, Lancaster County; residence, 328 So. 17; male, white, married; wife, Emma H. Ames Harvey; born Jan. 4, 1844; age 79 years 9 months 27 days; occupation, state surveyor and draftsman; born, Savanna, Ohio; father, George Harvey, born Aberdeen, Scotland; maiden name of mother, Mary Bremner, born in Scotland; informant, James A. Harvey, Lincoln, Nebraska.

1923 Obituary:1317 Honored and Respected Pioneer Passes Away. Robert Harvey, 79, one of the earliest settlers in Nebraska and state surveyor for twenty-one years, under the land commissioner's office, died at 7 a.m., Thursday at his home, 328 South Seventeenth street, after a short illness. Mr. Harvey had done surveying work in every county in the state of Nebraska and probably knew more about the topography of Nebraska than any other man in the state. Addison E. Sheldon, head of the state historical department, with whom he had worked for the past twenty years, stated Thursday morning that Mr. Harvey had done more for the state of Nebraska than thousands of Nebraskan's who are better known. He was a member of the governing board of the Nebraska State Historical Society.

Because of the many years that he spent in surveying in every corner of the state, Mr. Harvey was considered Nebraska’s foremost authority when it came to locating boundaries and settling boundary disputes. He had surveyed in many parts of the state long before he became connected with the state government.

Mr. Harvey had an intense interest in history. He was the historian of Howard county, writing the first historical sketch of that county for the Centennial celebration of 1876 and was one of the founders of the Howard County Historical Society. He became a member of the Nebraska State Historical Society Board in 1905 and remained in that position until the time of his death. During the years 1921 and 1922 he was president of that society. Since 1911 he had been president of the Oregon Trail Commission and under his direction were located fifty-five monuments on that trail throughout Nebraska.

His contributions to historical literature included a history of Howard County, a history of the Battle of Blue Water, or Ash Hollow, and a history of Fort Grattan.

At the time of his death, Mr. Harvey was engaged in association withe colleagues of the historical society, in the preparation of the historical report upon the Oregon Trail across Nebraska, which included most careful surveys of the location of every monument, sketches of historical events which took place in each locality of the trail in the state. This book will be published in the near future and will be a monument to the pioneer surveyor of Nebraska, Robert Harvey. All of his work as a surveyor and historian was marked with painstaking care and accuracy, it is declared by those who are informed.

He was a pioneer homesteader of Nebraska, taking a soldier's homestead April 16, 1871, near St. Paul in Howard County. He was a member of the county convention which organized Howard County and its first county surveyor. He was a charter member of the Canby Post No. 8, of the Grand Army of the Republic at St. Paul, and was also an early member of the Masonic Lodge of that place. For the past twenty years his temporary residence had been in Lincoln, that he might dispatch his duties as state surveyor. He entered the service of the government, doing surveying work, shortly after he came to Nebraska in 1869 and during the fifty-four years since that time he had been constantly employed in some phase of surveying or engineering. Most of his work was done in Nebraska, but he had been engaged in mining surveys in the Black Hills, in 1877 and United States surveys in new Mexico another time.

Mr. Harvey's speciality in Nebraska surveys was in the fundamental work of running guide meridians and standard parallels. This work, he delighted in, as it gave room for original and independent action. Many of the guide meridians and standard parallels in the western part of the state were located by him. He surveyed Boyd and Keya Paha counties at the time they came to Nebraska from the big Sioux reservation. In later years he became expert in relocating the lost government corners in the original surveys, finding them where other surveyors had repeatedly failed.

He was author of a pamphlet on finding lost corners which was adopted by the United States land office.

In 1902 he was appointed state surveyor and draftsman by Land Commissioner Follmer, and had remained continuously in that position under both democrat and republican administrations. He was considered the best informed man in Nebraska on the subject of surveys and his services as a expert were called for frequently in lawsuits involving land titles. He had also been in the service of the Union Pacific for some years as appraiser of its land grant lands.

Robert Harvey was born in Ashland County, Ohio, January 4, 1844. Both his parents came from Scotland to Ohio in 1836. In April, 1853, his parents moved to a farm in Noble County, Indiana, where Robert grew up as a farm boy and attended country school. In August 1862, Mr. Harvey enlisted in Company D, 74th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He accompanied the regiment south and was in the battle of Perryville and other campaigns. When mustered out of the United States service he became a student in Adrian and Albion colleges, Michigan, specializing in surveying and engineering. James Laird, afterwards congressman from Nebraska, was a fellow student and close friend.

Mr. Harvey was married to Miss E. H. Ames of Coldwater, Michigan, in 1868. In 1868 he moved to Nebraska. Mr. Harvey is survived by his wife and the following children: Floran E. Harvey, Chicago; Mrs. Maybelle G. Sowerwine, Calpella, Calif.; and James A. Harvey of Lincoln.

Funeral services will be held at 9:45 a.m., Friday at Hodgman's chapel. The services will be conducted by Colonel J. H. Presson, an old friend of civil war days. The local post of the G. A. R. will also take part in the services. The body will be taken to St. Paul, his old home, where interment will be made after services held there Saturday by the Knights Templar. — Daily Star.