The offspring of Quaker parents, and bred in the lessons impressively inculcated by the members of that faith, Rev. Harvey D. Crumly, of Mesa county, living on a good ranch six miles northwest of Grand Junction, has exemplified in his life the principles of peaceful industry, fair dealing and considerate interest in the welfare of mankind which distinguish the sect. He was born in Jefferson county, Iowa, near the village of Pleasant Plain, on February 2, 1868, and is the son of Isaac H. and Rachel (Beals) Crumly, natives of eastern Tennessee, where they were reared and educated. From there they accompanied their parents, respectively, to Jasper county, Iowa, and there, soon after reaching years of maturity, they were married. In a short time after their marriage they settled on a farm in Jefferson county, that state, where the father died in 1896. The mother is still living there on the old homestead. The father was held in high esteem in the county and was chosen to administer some of its official duties from time to time, serving as county surveyor for twelve years. He had been previously married and had four children by the first union. Of the second marriage there were seven children, six of whom are living, the Rev. Harvey being the fifth born. He was reared in his native county and attended the public schools there, afterward taking a course at the Pleasant Plain Academy, being graduated there in 1890. He then entered Penn College at Oskaloosa, from which he was graduated in 1895. For three years thereafter he was principal of the Haviland (Kansas) Academy, and to the duties of this position he brought the wisdom gained in teaching two years previously during the vacations in Iowa. In October, 1898, he came to Colorado and located in Mesa county where he taught school two years. He then bought the farm of thirty-one acres on which he now lives, making the purchase in December, 1898. Two years before, in the fall of 1896, he had been ordained minister in the Friends church, and in 1903 he served the church at Glenwood, Iowa, as its pastor. With the exception of that year, he has resided on his ranch ever since purchasing it. But his interest in the church has never waned, and he has devoted his energies to its welfare in the section of his present home, helping to organize a mission of the Friends at Pomona schoolhouse, of which he is now pastor. His ranch is devoted principally to fruit. He has eighteen acres of apple and peach trees, nearly all in good bearing order, and a considerable space in strawberries. His business is prosperous and its returns are commensurate with his efforts and intelligence in conducting it. On August 5, 1897, he was united in marriage with Miss Olive Folger, a native of Illinois, but reared and educated in Kansas. She is the daughter of the Rev. Thomas and Josephine (Cutler) Folger, natives of Illinois, the father being a minister in the Friends church. They reside near Carthage, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Crumly have one son, Lorenzo T., now five years old. In politics Mr. Crumly is independent, a Prohibitionist in principles. He and his wife have passed many of their winters in evangelistic work, devoting their summers to their ranch, on which they have recently completed and now occupy a comfortable and convenient residence.
Source: Bowen, A. W. Progressive Men of Western Colorado. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co., Publishers. 1905.