Oliver C. Hartley
American lawyer from Galveston, Texas

Oliver Cromwell Hartley (March 31, 1823 – January 13, 1859) was an American lawyer and politician from Galveston, Texas, who served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives.
Early life and education
Hartley was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, in 1823. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Franklin & Marshall College and was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar Association in 1841.
Career
Hartley served as the reporter for the Supreme Court of Texas from 1846 to 1859 and published the first codification of state laws in A Digest of the Laws of Texas in 1850. In 1854, Governor Elisha M. Pease appointed him to a commission that codified state laws.
Hartley also served in the Texas House of Representatives for one term, from November 3, 1851, to November 7, 1853.
Personal life
Hartley died in Galveston on February 13, 1859. Hartley County, Texas, is named for him and his brother, Rufus K. Hartley.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Oliver C. Hartley” is american lawyer from Galveston, Texas. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Oliver, Hartley and American, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “american lawyer from Galveston, Texas” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7087442. VIAF identifies the subject as 48032923. The Library of Congress control number is n79026695. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1823, 1859, 1841 and 1846.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Oliver C. Hartley”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Oliver C. Hartley primary sources, Oliver C. Hartley archive and Oliver research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Oliver C. Hartley”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Oliver C. Hartley” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.