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Oliver Spencer Halstead

Gender:
Male
Born:
September 23, 1792
Died:
August 29, 1877
Home Town:
Elizabeth, NJ
Later Residences:
Newark, NJ
Lyons Farms, NJ
Marriage(s):
Mary Hatfield Halstead (1814)
Biographical Notes:
Oliver Spencer Halstead was born on 22 September 1792. He graduated from Priceton in 1810 and entered Litchfield Law School in 1813; being admitted to the bar in 1814. He was a member of the State Legislature of New Jersey, Surrogate of Essex County, Mayor of Newark and Chancellor of the State of New Jersey 1845-1852. He married Mary Clark Hatfield. He died on 29 August 1877 at Lyons Farms, NJ.
Education
Years at LLS:
1813
Other Education:
Attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1810.
Profession / Service
Profession:
Political Office
Admitted To Bar:
1814
State Posts:
State Representative (NJ) 1827, 1834
Chancellor (NJ) 1845-1852
State Committees:
Member of the NJ Constitutional Convention in 1844.
Local Posts:
Surrogate (Essex County, NJ) 1828
Mayor (Newark, NJ) 1840
help The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation.

Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School (Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1849), 11.
Secondary Sources:
Ricord, Frederick William. Biographical Encyclopedia: Successful Men of New Jersey. New Jersey Historical Publishing Company, 1896.
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