“All that portion of territory... [is] to be called the county of Daviess, in honor of Col. Joseph H. Daviess.” — Laws of the State of Missouri¹

Daviess County, located in northwest Missouri, was created from Ray County in December 1836 to resolve conflicts related to Latter-day Saint settlements in the region. The county, divided between prairie and timber lands, is transected by the Grand River. By 1837, a small number of Latter-day Saints had settled there. Joseph Smith led an expedition in May 1838 to survey potential settlements for the Saints. The land was rich, fertile, and sparsely inhabited, with the Grand River situated to aid in travel and commerce.² Significant Latter-day Saint communities in Daviess County included Adam-ondi-Ahman, Marrowbone, Honey Creek, and Lick Fork. As the Latter-day Saint population grew, tensions with neighboring Missourians increased, leading to an election day brawl in Gallatin on August 6, 1838, when Whig candidate William Peniston denounced the Saints' right to vote. The violence in Gallatin was part of the Mormon-Missouri War.³

1. “AN ACT to organize the counties of Caldwell and Daviess,” Laws of the State of Missouri

2. Saints, Volume 1, Chapter 26, 308-309

3. “Daviess County, Missouri,” josephsmithpapers.org; Saints, Volume 1, Chapter 28, 323-324; "Mormon-Missouri War of 1838,” churchofjesuschrist.org