County: Daviess County
Location of courthouse: Main St. & Jackson St., Gallatin
Location of county: Central in the NW quadrant of state; crossroads of MO-13 & MO-6
Organized: Dec. 29, 1836
Named after: Col. J. H. Daviess of Kentucky
County seat: Gallatin
Elevation (highest): 311 meters (1,020 feet)
Population: 8,361 (2017)
The Person:
Joseph Hamilton Daviess
Birthdate: March 04, 1774
Birthplace: Bedford County, Province of Virginia
Death: November 07, 1811 (37)
Near Prophet's Town, Knox County, Indiana Territory, United States
(Mortally wounded in the Battle of Tippecanoe)
"Major Joseph Hamilton Daveiss (March 4, 1774 – November 7, 1811) commanded the Dragoons of the Indiana Militia at the Battle of Tippecanoe. Although the correct spelling of his name appears to be "Daveiss", it is uniformly spelled "Daviess" in places named for him.
"Daveiss was born on March 4, 1774, in Bedford County, Virginia. He moved at a young age with his parents to Kentucky, eventually settling near Danville, Kentucky. Admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1795, he appeared in court dressed as a backwoodsman. He served as a second in a duel in 1799, and was for a time a fugitive. Daveiss eventually defended his principal in court, and achieved an acquittal.
"Daveiss is said to have been the first lawyer west of the Appalachian Mountains to argue a case before the United States Supreme Court. He married Chief Justice John Marshall's sister Nancy, and returned to Kentucky.
"Daveiss served as United States District Attorney for Kentucky. He has been described as a "Kentucky Federalist". In February and March, 1806, he wrote President Thomas Jefferson several letters warning him of possible conspiratorial activities by Aaron Burr. Daveiss's July 14 letter to Jefferson stated flatly that Burr planned to provoke a rebellion in Spanish-held parts of the West in order to join them to areas in the Southwest to form an independent nation under his rule. Similar accusations were appearing against local Democratic-Republicans in a Frankfort, Kentucky newspaper, Western World, and Jefferson dismissed Daveiss's accusations against Burr, a Democratic-Republican, as politically motivated.
"In 1806, Daveiss brought treason charges against Burr in Kentucky. The charges were, however, dismissed thanks to the help of Burr's attorney, Henry Clay.
"In 1811, Daveiss volunteered to serve in the Indiana militia, answering Governor Harrison's call for troops to march against Tecumseh's village at Prophetstown. He was placed in command of two companies of dragoons, and all the cavalry in Harrison's army.
"On the night of November 6, 1811, Harrison's army made camp near Prophetstown. Major Daveiss' dragoons occupied a position in the rear of the left flank. The dragoons were instructed to fight dismounted, with pistols, as a reserve in the event of a night attack. When the Indians attacked early the next morning, Major Daveiss advanced toward the heaviest fire with a small detachment. He was driven back, and mortally wounded in the process. He died soon after.
"At the time of the Battle of Tippecanoe, Daveiss was serving as the eighth Grand Master of Masons of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky. He was a member of Lexington Lodge #1" ~ Wikipedia
The Place:
"In the winter of 1836-37, at the session of the General Assembly, an act was passed which gave to the county now comprising Daviess County the bounds of a distinct and separate municipality, with all the rights appertaining to any county in the State of Missouri.
"The name was chosen in honor of...Joseph Hamilton Daviess, who was killed on the bloody field of Tippecanoe...
"This county and Caldwell were jointly organized by one act of the General Assembly. The first section described the boundary of Caldwell County, and
"Section 2. All that portion of territory included in the following limits is hereby declared to be erected into a separate and distinct county, to be called the county of Daviess, in honor of Colonel Joseph H. Daviess, who fell at the battle of Tippecanoe, to-wit; Beginning at the northeast corner of the county of Caldwell, as fixed by this act; thence north twenty-four miles; thence west twenty-four miles; thence south to the northwest corner of Caldwell County; thence east along the north boundary of said county to the place of beginning.
"Section 2. Joseph Baxter, of the county of Clay; Cornelius Gilliam, of the county of Clinton; and William W. Manzee, of the county of Ray, are hereby appointed commissioners to select a seat of justice of each of the said counties...
"Section 9. All that territory lying north of the county of Daviess shall be and is hereby annexed to the county of Daviess, for civil and military purposes...
"This act approved December 29, 1836.
"The first county court was held near the present site of the City of Gallatin, at the house of Philip Covington...
"The first duty that devolved upon the court was to look after its municipal divisions. The court took a moderate view of the situation, and as Daviess County had been before its organization only one township, the court...decided that there would be enough to start with. The county was large, in fact it extended to the Iowa line, although its own proper lines were defined, yet the territory beyond was under its civil and military jurisdiction, and an election in Daviess County meant all the territory above named..." ~ History of Daviess County, 1882, Birdsall & Dean, pp. 235-238.
"Daviess County was organized from a part of Ray, by legislative act approved December 29, 1836...
"Ray County was organized out of the territory of Howard County, November 16, 1820... " Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri, 1901, Conard, Vol 2, p 235; Vol. 5, p. 304.
The County Seat
"There did not seem to be much strife in the location of the county seat, although something of a town had been made at Cravenville and Millport...
"Gallatin, the seat of justice for Daviess County, is laid out on the northwest quarter of Section 29, in Township No. 59, Range No. 27, platted by a scale of one hundred feet to thirty-seven one hundredths of an inch...
"Although the county seat was located in 1837, it was not reported or placed upon the records until September 3, 1839.
"An effort was made in 1840 to remove the county seat to Cravensville, but as there was an insufficient number of names on the petition, the movement failed... " ~ History of Daviess County, 1882, Birdsall & Dean, pp. 241, 249-250.