Edwin B. Harvey

While in Wilbraham, Harvey became friends with a local physician and became interested in medicine. He entered Harvard Medical School in 1864 and graduated two years later. In 1872, he studied at hospitals in Leipzig and Vienna.^[1]

Harvey established a practice in Waukegan, Illinois, but left after a short while and returned to Massachusetts. He settled in Westborough, where he became the town's leading physician and established a large consultation practice. He ceased actively practicing in 1895.^[1] He was a councilor of the Massachusetts Medical Society for over thirty years and was its president from 1898 to 1900.^[4]

Harvey was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1884 and 1885.^[1] During his first year, he introduced and helped pass legislation that provided free textbooks in public schools. He was a member of the committee on public charitable institutions both years and was chairman during the latter term.^[2]

Harvey was a member of the Massachusetts Senate in 1894 and 1895 and authored the bill that created the Massachusetts board of registration in medicine. He resigned near the end of the 1895 Massachusetts legislative session at the behest of Governor Frederic T. Greenhalge to become the board's secretary and executive officer. He held this position from June 20, 1895 to April 1, 1913, when he resigned due to ill health.^[1] He died on September 28, 1913 at his home in Westborough.^[5] A school in Westborough was named in his honor.^[6]