WHO IS JO DAVIESS?
Drawing by Cloud Cartographics, Inc. staff Jo Daviess County Land Atlas and Plat Book. Reproduced with permission. www.ccimaps.com
Joseph H. Daviess 1774-1811
Joseph Hamilton Daviess was born March 4, 1774 in Bedford County, Virginia to Joseph and Jean Daviess.
Daviess’ parents were both Virginia natives, but his father was of Irish and his mother of Scottish descent. In 1779, the Daviess family moved to Lincoln County, Kentucky, near the present city of Danville.
In 1792, at the age of 18, Daviess volunteered for a six-month military hitch with Major Adir to protect the white settlements from Indian invasions. At the end of his military service, he returned to Danville and resumed his schooling, studying law with the celebrated George Nicholas, the first lawyer in Kentucky, as his teacher.
Daviess was admitted to the bar in 1795 and practiced in Danville for several years before moving to Frankfort. He was later appointed United States Attorney from the state of Kentucky. He remained at that position until 1806 when he moved to Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky, to attend to his large property holdings. He moved to Lexington, Kentucky in 1806 to take care of his large acreage there and to resume his legal profession.
In 1801, Daviess went to Washington, D.C., and became the first western lawyer to appear in the United States Supreme Court, where he argued the celebrated case of Wilson vs. Mason. He made a number of acquaintances while in Washington, and, in 1803, he married Anne Marshall, the sister of the United States Chief Justice John Marshall.
In the fall of 1811, Daviess joined the army of General William Henry Harrison in the campaign against the Indians in the Indiana Wabash River Valley and received the command of the Kentucky Volunteer Dragoons.
On November 7, 1811, during the battle of Tippecanoe, Daviess was fatally shot in the chest while leading a cavalry charge against the Indians. He never did visit the Illinois area that perpetuates his name.
On February 17, 1827, Jo Daviess County was created from a territory that now forms nine northwestern Illinois counties. The name Jo Daviess was not given to the county by its citizens. The name in the original bill was Ludlow and was intended to honor a naval hero of that name.
A member of the Illinois House of Representatives moved to strike out Ludlow in exchange for the name of Daviess in honor of Joseph Hamilton Daviess of Kentucky. Another member of the House suggested, in jest, the word “Jo” be inserted to avoid namesake confusion with Illinois House member William Daviess of Wayne County.
The amendment was carried by a large majority, and the name Jo Daviess was incorporated in the bill. The House apparently expected that Jo would be struck out by the Senate; however, the senators passed the bill without amendment, and the name Jo Daviess County remained.