Harvey G. Eastman

Born in Marshall, New York, Eastman was the son of Horace Haveland Eastman and Mary A. Gridley. Eastman began his professional career teaching at Eastman Commercial College in Rochester, New York, which had been founded by his uncle, George Washington Eastman. In December 1855, he founded a school of his own in Oswego. He married Mary Minerva Clark on June 5, 1857.

He moved his school to St. Louis, Missouri in spring of 1858, but due to unfortunate hiring of abolitionist teachers in pro-slavery Missouri, was forced to move again, ultimately establishing the Eastman Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York, on November 3, 1859. Through Eastman's tireless promotion, the school eventually became one of the largest commercial schools in the United States.

The school made him rich, and he became one of the leading citizens of Poughkeepsie. He was Mayor of Poughkeepsie, New York from 1871 to 1874, and again from 1877 until his death. His tenure as mayor is most notable in his ensuring the construction of a water filtration plant that eliminated Poughkeepsie's reputation as "The Sickly City."

Eastman was a member of the New York State Assembly (Dutchess Co., 2nd D.) in 1872 and 1874, his primary mission there being to secure funding for a bridge across the Hudson River.

Suffering from ill health, Eastman traveled to Denver, Colorado and died there. Eastman was a first cousin of George Washington Eastman's son George Eastman, of Eastman-Kodak fame.

"Harvey Gridley Eastman." Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936.