William Hope "Coin" Harvey (August 16, 1851 – February 11, 1936) was an American lawyer, author, politician, and health resort owner best remembered as a prominent public intellectual advancing the idea of monetary

bimetallism Bimetallism, also known as the bimetallic standard, is a monetary standard in which the value of the monetary unit is defined as equivalent to certain quantities of two metals, typically gold and silver, creating a fixed rate of exchange betwee ...

. His enthusiasm for the use of silver as legal tender was later incorporated into the platforms of both the People's Party and 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 ...

in the early 1890s. Harvey was also the founder of the short-lived Liberty Party and that party's nominee for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

in 1932.

Biography

Early years

William Hope Harvey was born on August 16, 1851 on a farm near the small town of Buffalo, Virginia (later West Virginia).Gaye, Bland
"'Coin' Harvey (1851–1936), aka: William Hope Harvey,"
''Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture,'' 2012. He was the fifth of six children born to Robert and Anna Harvey. His father, Robert Trigg Harvey, was a Virginian of Scottish and English ancestry, and his mother, who had Virginian ancestors traceable to colonial times, was descended from French ancestors who had long since peopled the territory around nearby

Gallipolis, Ohio Gallipolis ( ) is a chartered village in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Gallia County. The municipality is located in Southeast Ohio along the Ohio River about 55 miles southeast of Chillicothe and 44 miles northwest of Charlesto ...

. Harvey was educated in local public schools before attending the Buffalo Academy from 1865 to 1867. At the end of his time there, still just 16 years old, he taught school for three months before enrolling at Marshall College in Guyandotte, Virginia. He remained there only three months before leaving to briefly teach school again. This ended his formal education, although he continued to study law, ultimately managing to gain admission to the

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

state bar.

Legal career

After gaining his license to practice law, Harvey opened up a law practice in

Barboursville, West Virginia Barboursville is a village in Cabell County, West Virginia. It is located near the second largest city in the state, Huntington. The population was 4,258 in the 2019 census estimate. Barboursville is a part of the Huntington–Ashland metropolit ...

, which proved to be a relatively successful operation. He had a good court appearance being slender, five foot ten, erect bearing and penetrating blue eyes. He was soon practicing law in Illinois and Ohio. Early in his career, he took a case that no other attorney would. He defended a

white man White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

who married an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

woman, which was against the law in West Virginia. To close his defense Harvey asked, "Can anyone in this courtroom prove that this man has not a drop of colored blood in his veins." The case was dismissed. Three years after opening his law practice, Harvey moved to

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A h ...

and became law partners with his brother Thomas. Then in 1873 he moved forty miles to

Gallipolis Gallipolis ( ) is a chartered village (United States)#Ohio, village in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Gallia County, Ohio, Gallia County. The municipality is located in Southeast Ohio along the Ohio River about 55 miles southeast of ...

. Here he met Anna Halliday and they were married June 26, 1876. Later that year they moved to

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. While they were living there they had two children. In 1879 the family moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

where they had a third child. Finally in 1881 the Harveys returned to Gallipolis, where W.H. worked as an attorney for several wholesale firms in the area."William Hope ('Coin') Harvey," ''National Cyclopaedia of National Biography: Volume 18.'' n.c.: James T. White and Co., 1922; pp. 16-17. Harvey left the legal profession in 1884, ostensibly for reasons of health, and moved west to

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

to work as a miner and buy and sell real estate.

Populist political activist

William Hope Harvey in the June 1895 Edition of The Bookman

It was during his time in Colorado that Harvey became exposed to the idea that the demonetization of

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

through passage of the

Coinage Act of 1873 The Coinage Act of 1873 or Mint Act of 1873, was a general revision of laws relating to the Mint of the United States. By ending the right of holders of silver bullion to have it coined into standard silver dollars, while allowing holders of go ...

had extremely deleterious economic effects on the American economy, including the multiyear Long Depression of 1873 to 1879, the Depression of 1882 to 1885, recessions in 1887 and 1890, and the

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...

. This entire era was marked by general deflation, tight money supply, mass bankruptcies, and unemployment, which many attributed to a lack of sufficient circulating currency to support the needs of industry and commerce. Harvey became a leading advocate of a return to the unlimited coinage of silver into money, and in 1894 authored a popular pamphlet to advance this policy, ''

Coin's Financial School ''Coin's Financial School'' was an 1894 pamphlet written by lawyer, politician and resort founder William Hope Harvey (1851–1936). It advocated a return to bimetallism, where the value of a monetary unit is defined as a certain amount of two d ...

,'' which became an important ideological document of the nascent

Populist movement Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

. The massive circulation of this work made Harvey a public figure as one of the leading free silver advocates in America. Other populist writings followed, including the books ''A Tale of Two Nations'' (1894), ''The Money of the People'' (1895), ''The Patriots of America'' (1895) and a sequel to his popular 1894 work, ''Coin on Money, Trusts, and Imperialism'' (1899). Harvey also appeared in public debates, assuming a leading place as public advocate for the idea of a return to

. In 1895 Harvey formed his own political organization, an agitational society known as the

Patriots of America A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution * Patriot ...

."United States Politics: The Patriots of America," ''Cyclopedic Review of Current History,'' vol. 5 (4th Quarter 1895), pp. 865-866. The Chicago-based organization was dedicated to advancing the ideas of

direct legislation Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the electorate decides on policy initiatives without elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently established democracies, which are represe ...

and free coinage of silver through the supplying of inserts and stereographic plates on the topic to newspapers around the country."The Signs of the Times," ''Money,'' vol. 1, no. 7 (Nov. 1897), pg. 2. Harvey took for himself the title of "First National Patriot" as the leader of the Patriots of America organization.George H. Strobell, "A Voluntary Referendum," ''Direct Legislation Record'' ewark, NJvol. 5, no. 1 (March 1898), pg. 6. In 1898 group claimed an implausibly large network of 250 local lodges and a circulation of 30,000 for its official organ, ''The Patriots' Bulletin,'' a weekly which was originally published as ''The National Bimetallist.'' Harvey was also active in campaigning for staunch free silver advocate

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

in Arkansas in the

election of 1896 The following elections occurred in 1896: {{TOC right North America Canada * 1896 Canadian federal election * December 1896 Edmonton municipal election * January 1896 Edmonton municipal election * 1896 Manitoba general election United States * ...

. The 1896 campaign, which involved fusion of the People's Party with the

proved catastrophic to the former organization, resulting in its widespread disintegration in the wake of Bryan's defeat.

Resort founder

In 1900, Harvey turned away from politics to the world of business, purchasing land five miles outside of

Rogers, Arkansas Rogers is a city in Benton County, Arkansas, United States. Located in the Ozarks, it is part of the Northwest Arkansas region, one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country. Rogers was the location of the first Walmart store, whose corpo ...

with a view to building a health resort on the site. Harvey named the site "

Monte Ne Monte Ne was a community in the Ozark mountains of the White River valley east of Rogers, on the edge of Beaver Lake, in the US state of Arkansas. From 1901 until the mid-1930s the area was a health resort and ambitious planned community. It was ...

," which he claimed derived from the Spanish and Native American words for "mountain" and "water." He built a hotel there in May 1901, expanding the operation to include two additional hotels, a tennis court, and the first indoor swimming pool in Arkansas in succeeding years. Harvey constructed a railroad spur line to connect his resort with line of the

St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies Suicidal Tendencies is an American crossover thrash band formed in 1980 in Venice in Los Angeles, California by vocalist Mike Muir. Muir is the ...

. In 1913 he also established the Ozark Trails Association to promote good roads, highway markers, and maps throughout the southwest. In his later years, as Monte Ne began to sink into debt and his health began deteriorating, he believed that human civilization was on the verge of collapse. He began making plans to build a giant

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

, although he referred to it as 'The

Pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

'. It was to serve as a time capsule for future humans to see what society had been like at its peak. Although some preliminary work on the Pyramid was done, Harvey became preoccupied with building an amphitheater which used up most of his funds and after the stock market crash of 1929 all work at Monte Ne ceased and the Pyramid was never constructed.

Liberty Party and 1932 presidential election

In 1932 Harvey formed the Liberty Party based on his financial theories and headed that party's ticket as candidate for

in the election of 1932. Harvey was only on the ballot in ten states and polled around 53,000 votes to finish fifth overall, with 0.13 percent of the national tally or 0.80 percent of on-ballot votes. However, 30,000 of his votes came in the

state of Washington Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

alone, where he finished in third place with 4.93 percent of the statewide vote.

Death and legacy

W.H. Harvey died February 11, 1936 at Monte Ne in

Benton County, Arkansas Benton County is a county within the Northwest Arkansas region with a culture, economy, and history that have transitioned from rural and agricultural to suburban and white collar since the growth of Walmart, which is headquartered in Benton C ...

. He was 84 years old at the time of his death. Harvey's home in

, commonly known as the Coin Harvey House, is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Notes

References

Works

''Coin's Financial School.''

893 __FORCETOC__ Year 893 ( DCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Vladimir, ruler (''khan'') of the Bulgarian Empire, is dethroned by his fat ...

Chicago: Coin Publishing Co., 1894.
''A Tale of Two Nations.''
Chicago: Coin Publishing Co., 1894. * ''The Elementary Principles of Money and Statistics on Gold and Silver.'' Chicago: Coin Publishing Co., 1894.
''Coin's Financial School Up to Date.''
Chicago: Coin Publishing Co., 1895.
"''Coin's Financial School'' and Its Censors,"
''North American Review,'' vol. 161 (July 1, 1895), pp. 71–79.
''The Money of the People.''
Chicago: Charles H. Seegal Co., 1895.
''The Great Debate on the Financial Question between Hon. Roswell G. Horr, of New York, and William H. Harvey, of Illinois: The Six chapters of "Coin's Financial School" the Subject of the Debate.''
Chicago: Debate Publishing Co., n.d.

895 ' __NOTOC__ Year 895 (Roman numerals, DCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * The Hungarians, Magyars are expelled from southern Russia, and ...

* ''The Crime of 1873 and the Harvey-Laughlin Joint Debate.'' Chicago: Coin Publishing Co., 1895. * ''The Patriots of America.'' Chicago: Coin Publishing Co., 1895.
''A Common Sense Speech: Delivered at Nashville, Tennessee, December 9, 1895.''
Chicago: Debate Publishing Co., Dec. 1895.
''Coin on Money, Trusts, and Imperialism.''
Chicago: Coin Publishing Co., 1899. * ''Character Building; A Book for Use in Schools.'' Monte Ne, AR: Herald Publishing Co., 1904.
''The Remedy.''
Chicago: Mundus Publishing Co., 1915. * ''Report of a Conference on Character Building at Monte Né, Arkansas, in the Ozark Mountains, July 24–29, 1916.'' Monte Né, AR: National Committee Promoting Character Building, n.d.

916 __NOTOC__ Year 916 ( CMXVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Sicilian Berbers in Agrigento revolt and depose the independent Emir Ahmed ibn Kh ...

* ''Common Sense, or, The Clot On The Brain Of The Body Politic.'' Monte Ne, AR: William H. (Coin) Harvey, 1920. * ''Paul's School of Statesmanship.'' Chicago: Mundus Publishing Co., 1924. * ''The Remedy That Will Bring Prosperity Quickly to Pomona, California.'' Monte Ne, AR: Mundus Publishing Co., n.d. * ''The Pyramid Booklet: With Ten Illustrations.'' Monte Ne, AR: Pyramid Association, 1928. * ''The Book.'' Rogers, AR: Mundus Publishing Co., 1930.

External links

Restoring the Historic Coin Harvey House of Huntington, West Virginia
at coinharvey.com
AmericanHeritage.com / William Hope Harvey
at www.americanheritage.com Entry at AmericanHeritage.com
Article on William Hope Harvey in the June 1895 edition of ''The Bookman'' (New York)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, William Hope 1851 births 1936 deaths Activists from West Virginia American economics writers American pamphleteers American male non-fiction writers People from Barboursville, West Virginia People from Benton County, Arkansas Politicians from Huntington, West Virginia People from Buffalo, West Virginia West Virginia lawyers Writers from Huntington, West Virginia Candidates in the 1932 United States presidential election 20th-century American politicians Deaths from peritonitis Lawyers from Huntington, West Virginia