Joseph Lecompte (December 15, 1797 – April 25, 1851) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. He was born in

Woodford County, Kentucky Woodford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,871. Its county seat is Versailles. The area was home to Pisgah Academy. Woodford County is part of the Lexington-Fayette, KY Metrop ...

near the town of

Georgetown, Kentucky Georgetown is a home rule-class city in Scott County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 37,086 at the 2020 census. It is the 6th-largest city by population in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the seat of its county. It was originall ...

. He moved to

Henry County, Kentucky Henry County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky bordering the Kentucky River. Its county seat is New Castle, but its largest city is Eminence. The county was founded in 1798 from portions of Shelby ...

with his parents, who settled in Lecomptes Bottom on the Kentucky River where he attended the common schools. Later, he engaged in agricultural pursuits. He owned slaves. Lecompte served during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. He was a member of the Kentucky Riflemen. During the conflict, he participated in the

Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the French ...

. After the war, he served as a major in the Kentucky militia. Lecompte was a member of the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form ...

in 1819, 1822, 1838, 1839, and 1844. He was elected to the Nineteenth Congress and reelected to the Twentieth and Twenty-first Congresses and reelected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-second Congress (March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1833). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1832. After leaving Congress, he resumed agricultural pursuits and was later a member of the Kentucky constitutional convention in 1850. He died in Henry County, Kentucky in 1851 and was buried in the private cemetery in Lecomptes Bottom, on the

Kentucky River The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 13, 2011 in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Kentuc ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lecompte, Joseph 1797 births 1851 deaths People from Woodford County, Kentucky Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Kentucky militia American military personnel of the War of 1812 Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves