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JoDaviess County
Contact InformationJoDaviess County Courthouse
330 N. Bench St.
Galena, IL 61036
815-777-0161 – County Clerk
815-777-0037 – Circuit Clerk
815-777-9694 – Recorder
IRAD Depository
Founders Memorial Library
Rm. 245B
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-753-1807
Established
- February 17, 1827 (Laws, 1827, p. 117)
Origin of the name of the county
- Named for Joseph Hamilton Daviess, prominent lawyer of Kentucky, United States District Attorney, and Major of the militia. He was killed at the battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.
Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in
- 1825–1827 – Putnam
- 1825–1827 – Henry
- 1823–1825 – Fulton
- 1821–1823 – Pike
- 1812–1821 – Madison
- 1801–1812 – St. Clair
County Seats
- 1827–present – Galena
History of county governing board
- 1827–1949 – County Commissioners’ Court
- 1849–1853 – County Court
- 1853–present – County Board of Supervisors
Township Government
- Adopted – November 2, 1852
Township Names
- Apple River – Formed from Thompson on September 13, 1858.
- Berreman – Formed from Pleasant Valley on February 14, 1857.
- Council Hill – Name changed from Scales on December 6, 1853.
- Derinda
- Dunleith – Formed from Menominee on March 2, 1865.
- East Galena
- Elizabeth
- Guilford
- Hanover
- Menominee
- Nora
- Pleasant Valley
- Rawlins – Formed as Grant from West Galena on July 12, 1887; name changed to Rawlins on December 20, 1887.
- Rice – Formed as Washington from East Galena on February 22, 1859; name changed to Rice on June 16, 1859.
- Rush
- Scales Mound – Formed from Council Hill and Thompson on March 7, 1855.
- Stockton
- Thompson
- Vinegar Hill – Name changed from Mann on September 18, 1857.
- Ward’s Grove
- Warren – Name changed from Courtland in 1865.
- West Galena
- Woodbine – Name changed from Jefferson on September 13, 1853.
Township Map
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