James Dandridge Halyburton (February 23, 1803 – January 26, 1879) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (in case citations, E.D. Va.) is one of two United States district courts serving the Commonwealth of Virginia. It has jurisdiction over the Northern Virginia, Hampton ...

Education and career

Born on February 23, 1803, in New Kent County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, Halyburton received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1823 from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and attended the University of Virginia School of Law. He entered private practice in New Kent County starting in 1824. He was a member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...

. He was a commonwealth's attorney for New Kent County until 1844.

Federal judicial service

Halyburton was nominated by President

John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president in 1841. He was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig tick ...

on June 15, 1844, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge John Y. Mason. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on June 15, 1844, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on April 24, 1861, due to his resignation.

Later career and death

Following his resignation from the federal bench, Halyburton served as a Judge of the Confederate District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia from 1861 to 1865. He resumed private practice in Richmond, Virginia from 1865 to 1874. He was a Professor of law at the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

from 1867 to 1874. He died on January 26, 1879, in Richmond.

References

Sources

* * W. H. Bryson, comp., Legal Education in Virginia (1982), pp. 273–276. {{DEFAULTSORT:Halyburton, James Dandridge 1803 births 1879 deaths Harvard College alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia United States federal judges appointed by John Tyler 19th-century American judges Judges of the Confederate States of America