Daveiss, Joseph H.

Born: 1774-03-04 Bedford County, Virginia

Died: 1811-11-07 Indiana Territory

Joseph H. Daveiss was a lawyer, United States attorney, and militia officer. When Daveiss was five years old, he moved with his parents from his native state to Boyle County, Kentucky. In 1793, he joined the Kentucky militia on an expedition against Native Americans. He read law, and in 1795, he earned admission to the Kentucky Bar, opening a law practice in Danville. In 1799, Daveiss became a United States attorney. He prosecuted the "Whiskey War" cases in 1799, and in 1800, he won election to the Kentucky General Assembly. In 1801, he moved to Washington, DC, where he became the first lawyer west of the Appalachian Mountains to try a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1803, he married Anne Marshall, sister of Chief Justice John Marshall. The couple moved to Kentucky, living first in Frankfort before settling at Cornland, a large farm east of Owensboro. In 1806, Daveiss prosecuted Aaron Burr for treason. Three years later, he began practicing law in Lexington. When conflict between white settlers and Native Americans broke out in the Wabash Valley in 1811, Daveiss volunteered for service in the army of William Henry Harrison, enlisting with the rank of major. Recognizing Daveiss' military acumen, Harrison later breveted him to lieutenant colonel. Daveiss received a mortal wound leading a charge at the Battle of Tippecanoe. He died seventeen hours later, and was buried on the battlefield. Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, and other states named counties after Daveiss (uniformly naming them "Daviess" instead of "Daveiss," the way Joseph spelled his name).

Lee A. Dew, "Daveiss, Joseph Hamilton," The Kentucky Encyclopedia, ed. by John E. Kleber (Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 1992), 253; "Daveiss, Joseph Hamilton," The National Cycloæpedia of American Biography (New York: James T. White, 1896), 6:76-77.