Formed in 1815 out of Ohio County. Named for Col. Joseph Hamilton Daveiss. As US attorney for Ky., he prosecuted Aaron Burr in 1806 for treason, in plotting to seize Spanish territory, a friendly nation; but he did not obtain a conviction. Joined army of Gen. William Henry Harrison. Killed at Battle of Tippecanoe, 1811, in a charge made at his own urging.