California Biographies, Kern County
THOMAS NORMAN HARVEY

History of Kern County, California, with biographical sketches 
of the leading men and women of the county who have been 
identified with its growth and development from the early days 
to the present.

Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company, 1914
History by Morgan, Wallace Melvin

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


THOMAS NORMAN HARVEY.— The genealogy of the Harvey family 
is traced to England and includes the names of many men of sterling worth 
and patriotic spirit. During the progress of the Revolutionary struggle they 
became associated with Canadian affairs, and their intense sympathy with the 
cause of the Tories led to their being classed with the empire loyalists. Cul- 
tured endowments marked every generation of the past. Out of the traditions 
that lighten the obscurity of bygone ages their names emerge as educators of 
talent and as far back as the lineage can be traced their identification with 
pedagogy has been established and even at the present time their association 
with educational affairs is as pronounced as it is successful. After a lifetime 
of service in the Canadian schools, during which time he had the supervision 
of the schools at Sydenham and other Ontario towns, W. B. Harvey died at 
Toronto, Canada, January 10, 1913. One of his sons, J. F., is superintendent 
of the high schools at Peterboro, Ontario. A daughter, Catherine, married R. 
H. Cowley, who now holds the office of superintendent of education for the 
province of Ontario and resides at Toronto. The present identification of the 
family with educational work in Canada will thus be seen to be intimate and 
influential. 

The youngest child in the family of W. B. and Jean (Watt) Harvey, (the 
latter of Scotch extraction) was Thomas Norman Harvey, whose birth 
occurred in Ontario, Canada, December 9, 1878, and whose education was 
received in his native province. After he had graduated from the Sydenham 
high school in 1896 he matriculated in the Ottawa Normal School and took 
the regular course of study in that institution, graduating with the class of 
1900. Immediately after his graduation he took up the task of teaching and 
served successively as principal of the schools at Strathroy and Parry Sound, 
Ontario, while in addition for a short time he acted as proprietor and publisher 
of a weekly newspaper in the village of Wyoming, a small town in Ontario, 
directly east of Port Huron, Mich. During January of 1904 he came to Cali- 
fornia and settled in the Napa valley, where for six months he studied law in 
the office of W. F. Henning and then continued his studies in the Hastings 
Law School at San Francisco. During 1905, while still a student in the law 
school, he was admitted upon examination to the supreme court of California 
and since then he has devoted his attention to law practice. Coming to 
Bakersfield in July of 1910 he opened an office and has since made a specialty 
of oil and mining law, practicing before the United States land office. His 
office is located at No. 1667 Chester avenue and there much of his time is 
devoted to tireless and effective work in behalf of clients. Earnest in the 
preparation of cases, logical in reasoning faculties, well informed in the law, 
he has demonstrated his admirable qualifications for his chosen profession. 
One month before he came to Bakersfield he was united in marriage with Miss 
Violet Salter, daughter of J. W. Salter, who was a prominent pioneer and 
well-known druggist of San Francisco. Mr. Harvey is the father of a son who 
bears his name. In religion he was reared in the faith of the Church of Eng- 
land and has assisted in other movements for the general advancement