Death certificate identifies his parents as Adam Grim and Hannah Syphers. Informant was his son, Reese Cooper Grim.

Harvey Grim was a Civil War veteran, having served in the First WV Cavalry from Oct. 1, 1861 — Feb. 6, 1863. He resided at White Cottage, Greene County, PA according to the 1890 Civil War Veteran’s Census, and suffered from heart disease.811

Harvey was six feet tall, with a fair complexion, dark hair, and grey eyes. Several people in his time described him and being noted for his physical strength. The family doctor, William M. Parry said that he had heard that Harvey had been “addicted to drink,” especially before the war.

Harvey was 40 when he enlisted in the Civil War. He enlisted in the army on Octover 4, 1861 in Wheeling, VA (now WV). He was assigned to the 1st West Virgnina Cavalry, Company I, and was sent to Clarksburg, WV for training.

From Minerd.com:
“In a drilling exercise at Strasburg in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, in November 1862, Harvey and his comrades were training their horses to jump ditches. Harvey's mount failed in the maneuver, and slipped backward into the ditch, falling hard on Harvey. The top of the saddle horn punched into his back, severely damaging his kidneys. 

Friend Jacob Staley, who was with Harvey at the time of the incident, noted that "he had to be carried off the field" and "could not straighten up without assistance." He laid on the ground for about two hours, and then got up and rode a horse back to camp. With the regiment's surgeons not providing any treatment, Staley stayed with him for a few days to obtain meals and water. The injury plagued Harvey for the rest of his life.

A day or two following the incident, Harvey's company marched to Front Royal, VA to meet up with another detachment of their regiment. Together, they proceeded to Alexandria, VA to rejoin the rest of the 1st West Virginia. With his pain worsening, Harvey was sent for treatment to Odd Fellows Hall General Hospital in the District of Columbia. Upon arrival, he was marked as having "remittent fever." Later that month, he was transferred to a Philadelphia hospital at Broad & Cherry Street. There, he showed evidence of a contusion. After about 18 days, in January 1863, he was sent away to Mower General Hospital in Philadelphia's Chestnut Hill. A physician at Mower diagnosed a condition of phthisis pulononalis (general wasting away due to tubercular deposits in both lungs). 

Not recovering fully, he received an honorable discharge on Feb. 6, 1863 in Philadelphia, and returned home to Ryerson's Station, along Hart's Run. Adult son Lawrence was at home when Harvey arrived, calling him "very much reduced." A little more than a year later, the son enlisted to serve in the war with the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry.
Pain and heartache shook this family over the years. In mid-January 1872, one of their sons "purchased a pistol a few days ago, and concluded to have some fun," said the Washington (PA) Reporter. "He loaded it heavily, and while handling it, by some mishap it went off, the load tearing one of his fingers. He went to a physician who tied it up, but in a few days he had to have the finger taken off, and it is now feared he will lose his hand." Even worse, in about 1879, their married daughter Experience "Perie" Hinerman died unexpectedly, leaving behind a husband and four young children. None of the children is known to have been taken in to the Grim household.
As he aged, Harvey began to suffer from rheumatism in addition to his old kidney ailments, experienced deafness in both ears and increasingly was unable to work. He said he felt pain when frequently urinating and complained to a neighbor about blood mixed in his urine. He regularly used a cane when walking. At times he spent a day or two in bed due to "spells." He obtained medicines from druggist W.B. Rogers in Waynesburg during periodic trips to the town.
Friend Roseberry Hughes, of White Cottage, Greene County, testified that "[I] have lived clost by him for 6 years. I have saw him try to worke and he can't do eny thing. He hast to hire his fire wood cut." Other friends providing testimony on his behalf were boyhood friend Thomas Chess of Ryerson's Station; John Messenger of Cameron, WV; Jacob Staley of Deep Valley, PA; Dr. F.M. Hull of Bristoria, PA; Samuel Stall of Bristoria; John Yoders of Bristoria; son in law James Parkson of Ryerson's Station, PA; Dr. A.G. Cross of Waynesburg; and brother in law Job H. Ross of Bristoria. 
Stall recalled that he had employed Harvey at times for work thrashing crops and during harvest, but only for "a piece of a day." William Filby of Bristoria hired him to help hoe and husk corn but added that in two years' time, he had only worked for him for 10 days. 
Friend Yoders said: 
I have known him to refuse work lots of times because he said he wasn't able to do anything.... Well, he was at my house, attending a gathering; the neighbors were at my house gathering wood for me and he came, and attempted to help. He slipped and hurt himself, and had to quit; he slipped and fell very near down, but some of the boys catched him; he was complaining when he come, and I told him he had better not do anything.
But Harvey also had his detractors. His son Lawrence told a government agent that before the war, "there would be spells that [Harvey] would tinker around at some little things, but I never knowed him to do any work of any account until after I came back from the army, and he has done very little since." The son said that he and his siblings provided financial support for their father's well being.

The postmaster of Deep Valley asked around about Harvey's claims of kidney disease, and received a reply from one citizen that "it was a common thing to hear men of claimant's age who were always found about houses of ill fame and in company with lewd women complain of the back." He is known to have met friend William H. Rinehart at a place "kept as a public house, and known as the Widow Thomas's tavern stand, in Jackson Township.... I have never known of his drinking to excess; I know he has occasionally taken a drink of whiskey."  Dr. Parry, who had known Harvey since 1858 and treated him from 1870 to 1880, said that in his professional opinion, he:
...was not aware that he had any chronic disease except "downright laziness and general cussedness." Should say if he has the diseases claimed they were brought on by hard service "among the bad women and whiskey." It is [my] opinion that if nine-tenths of the people in the community were asked what his disease was they would reply that they did not know he had any except the two named above, laziness and cussedness.... 

Samuel H. Roach of Bristoria claimed to have known Harvey since 1849. When asked if he knew whether Harvey had worked pretty regularly since the war, Roach replied: "I should rather think not; I have not known of his doing much; he and I have not worked together since the  war, but we worked together a great deal before the war [ when he was] considered one of our best hands...." He added that Harvey "has occasionally taken a drink, of course, but he has always known when to let it alone."
In 1884, when Harvey was 64 years of age, he was awarded a federal pension in compensation for his injuries. [Application #284.264; Certificate #263.302] He underwent period medical examinations by government physicians to assess his condition.
After a lifetime spent in and around Jackson Township, Harvey and Permelia relocated in 1890 to Old Concord, Washington County, PA. Their post office at that time was Nettle Hill.

Harvey survived his wife by seven years. His final pension payment amount was $12 per month. By 1905, his eyesight had declined to the extent that he could not even sign his own name.
During the summer of 1906, in late July, he traveled for a visit to the home of his married daughter Mrs. James Parkinson in Washington, Washington County. He was stricken with an illness and died there 10 days later on Aug. 3, 1906. Burial was in Prosperity Cemetery.” (Courtesy of Mark Miner; used by permission)

1850 Census, Center Twp., Greene Co., PA, p. 277:
Grim, Harvey, 29, farmer, b. PA
Permelia, 25, b. PA
Laurence C., 7, b. PA
Mary C., 5, b. PA
Experience A., 2, b. PA

1860 Census, Jackson Twp., Greene Co., PA, p. 485, taken Aug. 18, 1860:
Grim, Harvy, 60, tenant farmer, b. PA
Permelia, 35, b. PA
Lawrence C., 17, b. Pa
Mary E., 14, b. PA
Experience, 12, b. PA
Adam, 10, b. PA
Saml. D., 6, b. PA
Sarah, 3, b. PA
Reese, 1, b. PA

1870 Census, Rogersville PO, Jackson Twp., Greene Co., PA, p. 262, taken June 21, 1870:
Grim, Harvy, 49, farmer, b. PA
Permelia, 44, keeping house, b. PA
Mary, 25, b. PA
Experience, 22, b. PA
Adam, 20, b. PA
Samuel D., 15, b. PA
Sarah, 13, b. PA
Margaret, 11, b. PA
Reece C., 9, b. PA
Lucy A., 3, b. PA
Cora, 1, b. PA

Caldwell’s 1876 Business Directory, Aleppo Twp.
Harvey Grim, b. Somerset Co., PA, Big Tree Post Office, settled 1820, farmer812

1880 Census, Richhill Twp., Greene Co., PA, p. 352:
Grim, Harvy, 59, farmer, father b. VA, mother b. PA
Permelia, 55, wife, keeps house, b. OH, parents b. PA
Sarah, 23, daughter
Lucy, 13, daughter
Orphe, 8, daughter

Obituary, The Pittsburgh Press, Aug. 4, 1906:
Harvey Grim.
Washington, Pa., August 4.—Harvey Grim, a life-long resident of the region on the Washington-Greene county line, near Old Concord, died last evening at the home of his daughter, Mrs. James Parkinson, West Washington, aged 87 years. He had come to visit his daughter a week ago. Several children survive, among them Dr. Adam Grim, of Franklin Grove, and Mrs. Dr. Manon, of Charleroi.

Partial obituary, Waynesburg Republican, 1906:
“Harvey Grim, an aged and respected citizen died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. James Parkinson, of Washington, Pa., Friday afternoon, Aug. 3, of general debility. Mr. Grim was 87 years of age and was born in Jackson township, this county, where he lived until 1890, when he removed with his family to Old Concord, Washington County, where he had resided since. Mr. Grim followed farming and stock …”