John HARVIE
Biography

John was the son of John Harvie, Sr. and Margaret Kay Harvie of Stirlingshire, Scotland. John settled in Albemarle County, Virginia about 1727. John lived on an estate called “Belmont” near Keswick, Virginia, a place he bought from Matthew Graves. He bought the land, about 2,500 acres in 1730. John and his neighbors, William Randolph and Peter Jefferson were close friends, as were their children.
John married Martha Gaines in Albemarle County, Virginia on October 10, 1742. When William Randolph died in 1745, Peter was made guardian of his estate for seven years. When Peter Jefferson died in 1757, leaving no male heirs of age, John Harvie Jr. was appointed "active executor" of the estate and guardian of Peter's eldest son Thomas (then 14) until he could assume ownership of his portion of the estate at age 21. The earliest of Thomas Jefferson’s surviving letters was penned on January 14, 1760 to John Harvie, then living at the Shadwell estate. Thomas enquired whether his guardian thought it best for him to study independently or go to college, expressing that he himself thought college would be best. Apparently John Harvie agreed, and Thomas enrolled at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA on March 24, 1760 at age 16. John Harvie, Jr must have been proud when Thomas passed the bar exam and was admitted to practice law in the General Court of Virginia in October 1767. John Harvie died without knowing he had befriended a future president of a country not yet formed.
John was buried on his Belmont Estate, and Martha moved to Georgia to live with their daughter Elizabeth and her husband John Marks.

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