County’s Namesake — Joseph Hamilton Daviess

Daviess County’s namesake: Col. Joseph Hamilton Daviess, hero during the Battle of Tippecanoe

is named af Daviess County, MO, ter a Kentuckian killed by Indians at Tippecanoe -- 25 years before the county was organized. Joseph Hamilton Daviess grew up a woodsman in America’s frontier. At age 18 he joined a military mounted unit to escort provisions to army outposts north of the Ohio River. After this unit disbanded, Jo practiced law, mostly litigating land cases. It was Jo's custom to walk to his cases clad in deer skin, leggings and coonskin cap. With his rifle on his shoulder, he ranged the woods from one court to another. Jo Daviess became a well-known public speaker but not a popular politician since he was a Federalist. In 1800 Daviess was appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Kentucky. He held that office until 1807. In November, 1806, Daviess led in legal charges against Col. Aaron Burr, charging him with efforts to levy war against the United States. Even though the fact was later proven against Burr, Daviess lost the case and lost popularity. During this time Tecumseh and his notorious brother, "The Prophet," formed a confederacy of Indians to stop the whites' westward movement. Their headquarters was at the junction of the Tippecanoe and the Wabash rivers in north central Indiana. Governor William H. Harrison (later to become a U.S. President) decided to form an armed force and strike a decisive blow. Col. Jo Daviess was Aide de Camp of the Kentucky Militia and a major commanding a unit of Indian Dragoons which marched up the Wabash River to Tippecanoe. Tecumseh was not at the village, but "The Prophet" led a surprise attack on Harrison's forces with a like number of warriors at 4 a.m. on Nov. 7, 1811. Harrison entered the Indian village and burned it. Harrison lost 52 men and Col. Jo Daviess was among those killed. He was buried on the battlefield at Tippecanoe in an unmarked grave. He was 37 years old, married but childless. Counties in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri took his name as monuments to his memory.

This scene depicts a small group of dragoons under the command of Major Joseph H. Daviess meeting an attack of natives during the Battle of Tippecanoe, Nov. 7, 1811. William Henry Harrison led American troops against Shawnee warriors. Fought near the Wabash River in Indiana, the battle ended in Native American defeat, thwarting Shawnee leader Tecumseh’s plans for a united federation of Native American groups. President James Madison was able to use the battle to rally support for American troops in anticipation of the War of 1812 against Britain.

In 1805 Tecumseh and his brother, a medicine man known as The Prophet, began forming an Indian confederacy in Ohio by practicing superstitious rites. By 1807 their religion had spread to the upper peninsula of Michigan. Tecumseh was an able orator, a remarkable military chief, and a successful negotiator who hated the white man. In 1808 when Tecumseh journeyed south to gain additional support for his alliance, General Wm. Harrison camped 1,000 men outside the village that acted as headquarters for the Indians. Gen. Harrison then provoked the Indians to attack and decimated the village. The destruction of Tecumseh's headquarters disillusioned many of the supporters of Tecumseh, who had believed he and his

Tecumseh, leader of Indian alliance brother had supernatural powers.

Tippecanoe, Indiana

1811:

American Flag of 20 stars and 13 stripes

Eleven days after the battle, Gen. Harrison stated in official dispatch to the U.S. Secretary of War:

“I found Major Daviess forming the dragoons in the rear of those companies, and understanding that the heaviest part of the enemy's fire proceeded from some trees about 15 or 20 paces in front of those companies, I directed the major to dislodge them with a part of the dragoons. Unfortunately, the major's gallantry determined him to execute the order with a smaller force than was sufficient, which enabled the enemy to avoid him in the front and attack his flanks. The major was mortally wounded, and his party driven back. The Indians were, however, immediately and gallantly dislodged from their advantageous position, by Captain Snelling, at the head of his company...“

Famous before heroics on the battlefield...

In 1795 Jo Daviess was admitted to the bar and entered on a career that made his name a household word in the West. His eccentricities made him famous. Instead of "riding the circuit," he used to shoulder his rifle and range the woods from town to town; and he usually appeared in court in a hunting costume. In 1799 he acted as second to John Rowan in a duel in which Rowan's antagonist was killed, when both principal and seconds fled to avoid prosecution, Daviess was for some time a fugitive; but, after hearing that Rowan had been arrested, returned, appeared in court as his counsel, and secured his acquittal. It is said that he was the first western lawyer that ever argued a case in the U.S. Supreme Court.