Joseph Hamilton Daviess

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Joseph Hamilton Daviess

Joseph Hamilton Daviess (born March 4, 1744 in Bedford County , Virginia Colony , † November 16, 1811 in Prophetstown ) was the commander of the Dragoons , the Indiana vigilante . Although the correct spelling of his name is " Daveiss ", it is uniformly pronounced as " Daviess ", not least because of the towns and places that were named after him.

Life path

Born in Bedford County, he moved with his parents to the Danville area of what is now Kentucky at a young age . When he was admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1795, he appeared in court as a hillbilly . Daveiss is said to have been the first lawyer west of the Appalachians to contradict the United States Supreme Court .

After marrying the sister of John Marshall , the chief justice of the United States , he returned to Kentucky. Here he served as the United States Attorney for the state. He got the reputation of the " Kentucky Federalist ".

In February and March 1806 he wrote several letters to US President Thomas Jefferson , warning him and pointing out that Vice President Aaron Burr was engaged in conspiratorial activities . Daveiss' letter to Jefferson dated July 14, 1806 accused Burr of wanting to instigate a rebellion in the Spanish part of North America, and then later to unite with the rebels in the southwest and proclaim an independent state under his leadership. When similar allegations against local Democratic Republican Party politicians were made public in a Frankfort newspaper , Jefferson threw down Daveiss' warnings as a smear campaign.

In 1806, Daveiss charged Burr with treason in the state of Kentucky, but the lawsuit was later dropped with the assistance of Burr's attorney, Henry Clay . In 1811 Daveiss volunteered to serve in the Indiana vigilante group after the governor and future US President William Henry Harrison called on the population to fight Tecumseh , the Indian leader of the Shawnee people . On the night of November 6, 1811, Harrison's troops were based near Prophetstown. Major Daveiss and his dragoons took up a position in the rear part of the left flank and had the order to intervene without a horse and only with a pistol as a support unit in the course of the planned night attack. However, when the Indians went on the attack, Daveiss rushed to the front of the fighting with only a small number of soldiers. He and his people were repulsed. Mortally wounded, Daveiss died after this retreat in the battle of Tippecanoe .

Places and places named after Daviess

Individual evidence

  1. JOSEPH HAMILTON DAVIESS: PIONEER, LAWYER, ORATOR, SOLDIER AND FREEMASON , PDF file (English)
predecessor Office successor
William Clark United States Attorney for the District of Kentucky
1800-1806
George M. Bibb