Alexander Miller Harvey (November 24, 1867 in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, Kentucky – March 9, 1928 in Topeka, Kansas) was an American lawyer, politician, and author.

Political career

A lawyer from Topeka admitted to the bar in 1893, Harvey was elected Lieutenant Governor of Kansas in 1896 on the Populist ticket along with John W. Leedy and served from 1897 to 1899. In 1900 Harvey was again a candidate for lieutenant governor, on a Populist/Democratic/Free Silver Republican fusion ticket with John W. Breidenthal for governor; Breidenthal lost to incumbent governor

William E. Stanley William Eugene Stanley Sr. (December 28, 1844 – October 13, 1910) was an American lawyer and the 15th Governor of Kansas. Biography Born in Danville, Ohio, Stanley was the son of a physician, reared on a farm, and educated in the common scho ...

by 164,793 votes to 181,893. In 1904 Harvey was the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

candidate for US representative from the First District of Kansas; he lost to the Republican Party candidate, future vice president Charles Curtis. In 1914 he lost again to Curtis, in the Republican US Senate primary (Harvey came in a poor fourth).

Legal career

Harvey was the president of the Topeka Bar Association from 1922 to 1923. Following the conviction of Industrial Workers of the World organizer Harold Fiske under the Kansas Criminal Syndicalism act in late 1923, Harvey was hired to handle the appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court and later to the United States Supreme Court. Harvey, working with his son Randal C. Harvey and Charles L. Carroll, obtained the 1927 ''

Fiske v. Kansas ''Fiske v. Kansas'', 274 U.S. 380 (1927), was a United States Supreme Court List of United States Supreme Court cases, Case that was first argued May 3, 1926 and finally decided May 16, 1927.. Background The case began when 26-year-old labor o ...

'' decision freeing Fiske and establishing that state laws must conform to federal freedom of speech rights. Another prominent case was the two bribery trials, on separate cases, of Governor

Jonathan M. Davis Jonathan McMillan Davis (April 27, 1871 – June 27, 1943) was an American politician and the List of Governors of Kansas, 22nd Governor of Kansas. Biography Davis was born in Bronson, Kansas, to Jonathan McMillan and Eve (Holeman) Davis. H ...

in 1925, in which Harvey, fellow Populist

Frank Doster Frank Doster (January 19, 1847 – February 25, 1933) was a chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from January 11, 1897, to January 12, 1903. Early life, education, and career Born in Morgan County, Virginia in 1847, Doster spent most of hi ...

, and John Addington obtained acquittals on all charges.

Other activities

In May 1898 Harvey joined the 22nd Kansas Infantry as a major; the regiment did not see action and was mustered out in November 1898. During his brief time in the service Harvey served in part as a military lawyer, defending a surgeon in his regiment against a charge of grave-robbing. He was active in the National Association of Spanish–American War Veterans, serving as Inspector General in 1903. In 1903 Harvey was one of the leaders of rescue efforts during severe flooding in Topeka, and wrote a short account of his experiences.History of Shawnee County, Kansas, James Levi King, 1905, Chapter XVII Harvey also wrote short stories, a collection with the title ''Tales and Trails of Wakarusa'' was published in 1917. Harvey was also a chess player and the Kansas state chess champion as of 1909. He also had played against Emanuel Lasker in

simultaneous exhibitions A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition (commonly chess or Go) in which one player (typically of high rank, such as a grandmaster or dan-level player) plays multiple games at a time with a number of other pl ...

, scoring one win and one draw.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Alexander Miller Lieutenant Governors of Kansas Kansas lawyers Kansas Populists People from Richmond, Kentucky Politicians from Topeka, Kansas American short story writers 1867 births 1928 deaths Kansas Republicans Writers from Topeka, Kansas Kansas Democrats 19th-century American lawyers American chess players