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HALBERT, NATHAN (ca. 1796-?). Nathan Halbert, pioneer and public official, was born in Kentucky about 1796, the son of Isaac Halbert. He served in the War of 1812. He moved to Texas in 1834 and was commissioned two years later by Sam Houston^qv as the first chief justice of the new Jefferson Municipality. In 1837 Halbert was elected tax collector for Jefferson County. He was appointed to the traveling board of land commissioners east of the Brazos River in 1841. The following year Jefferson County voters elected him to the lower house of the Seventh Congress of the Republic of Texas. He was also tax assessor-collector in 1845. By 1850 he had moved to Milam County, where he lived with his wife, Mary (Bulriece) Halbert, and eight children, all but one of whom were born in Texas. The census listed Halbert as a farmer with real property holdings of $8,000. He died before January 7, 1871.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Texas House of Representatives, Biographical Directory of the Texan Conventions and Congresses, 1832-1845 (Austin: Book Exchange, 1941).

Robert A. Wooster

The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HH/fha10.html (accessed September 5, 2008).

(NOTE: "s.v." stands for sub verbo, "under the word.")

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Last Updated: January 19, 2008
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