Thomas Harvey was born in Perquimans County on July 31, 1746. A delegate to the North Carolina Provincial Congress, Harvey also served as a colonel of the Perquimans County Regiment of the North Carolina Militia from 1776 to 1783. In 1783 Harvey signed a petition in support of James, a local African American man who was trying to maintain his freedom. Harvey died in Perquimans on January 13, 1788.