The Village of Harvey was incorporated in 1969, but the settlement of Harvey has been around a lot longer than that. The family names that are found in Harvey today have their roots going back to yesteryear. Embletons, Thompsons, Piercys and many others helped to shape a fledgling community as labourers, carpenters and schoolmasters. They have come a long way since that day in 1837 when the immigrants from Scotland first landed on the shores of Saint John.
The Stanley Land Company had begun to circulate advertisements in Scotland in 1837, encouraging young men and families to come to a new land that offered prosperity. Many were eager to improve their standard of living. Approximately 160 people originating from the Wooler area departed from Berwick-on-Tweed, which was the border of Scotland and England. Several families and young men who arrived in Saint John aboard the "Cornelius of Sunderland" were legally English, although they considered themselves Scottish.
Twenty-six families carried on to Fredericton on the steamboat, the "Waterwitch", a small night steamer. On arriving in Fredericton, the immigrants learned that the Stanley Land Company had run out of funds, and had stopped their work. The wearied travellers were put up in the New Hospital by a young man, Lemuel A. Wilmot. The following day, the young man and Lieutenant-Governor Sir John Harvey met with the immigrants. It was clear that they wanted to settle on one tract of land together. A piece of land was suggested that lay on the new road between Fredericton and St. Andrews. The House of Assembly granted 200 pounds that would allow 50 acres per settler. The other 50 acres they acquired were paid off by working on the new road. There were 2364 acres granted. The new settlement was to be named Harvey Settlement after the Lieutenant-Governor. Twenty-four persons drew lots from a hat, leaving some to be set aside for the young, single men of the community.
The land was cleared, and in April of 1838, sixteen families moved to their new home. Many others would follow in the next three years. Living conditions were extremely difficult. There was no road that could accommodate wagons. Provisions and supplies were carried in on men's backs, and diseases such as diphtheria and typhus took several lives. Many of the first years was spent building the Great Road that ran from Fredericton to St. Andrews. By working on the road, men earned wages to pay for their supplies. Slowly farms and industries began to take shape.
The first death occurred the same year as the birth of the Harvey Settlement. Andrew Hay had come with his family from Scotland. He was struck by a searing pain in his abdomen. It is believed he died of acute appendicitis. The family buried Andrew there on their property, and for many years the grave marker was observed by the early settlers. It was later moved to the Harvey Community Cemetery, across from the Presbyterian Church.
Despite these families' trials, the Harvey settlers went on to prosper and develop a self-sufficient community. In the early years it could even boast of a grist mill, a sawmill, and a woollen mill. Smaller settlements sprang up around what was the core of Harvey and formed such areas as Cork, Tweedside and others.
Reference - Excerpt from Harvey and Area 1968 to 1992, published by the Harvey Improvement Association, 1992.
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