Joseph Lecompte

Joseph Lecompte (December 15, 1797 – April 25, 1851) was a United States Representative from Kentucky and a longtime figure in that state’s political and military life in the early nineteenth century. He was born in Woodford County, Kentucky, near the town of Georgetown, at a time when Kentucky was still a largely rural frontier society. In his youth he moved with his parents to Henry County, Kentucky, where the family settled in an area along the Kentucky River that became known as Lecomptes Bottom. There he attended the local common schools, receiving the basic formal education typical of rural Kentuckians of his generation, and he soon became involved in agricultural pursuits that would remain central to his livelihood. Like many landholding agriculturalists in Kentucky during this period, he owned slaves.

As a young man, Lecompte served in the War of 1812, reflecting the strong martial tradition of Kentucky in that conflict. He was a member of the Kentucky Riflemen, a militia force that contributed significantly to the western theater of the war. During the conflict he participated in the Battle of New Orleans, fought on January 8, 1815, which was one of the decisive and most celebrated American victories of the war. His wartime experience helped establish his local reputation and provided him with the military credentials that were often valued in early nineteenth-century political life. After the war, he continued his association with the state’s military establishment, serving as a major in the Kentucky militia.

Lecompte’s public career in civil office began in the Kentucky House of Representatives, where he served multiple, nonconsecutive terms. He was first elected to the state legislature in 1819, returned in 1822, and later served again in 1838, 1839, and 1844. These repeated elections over a span of twenty-five years indicate a sustained base of support in his home region and placed him in the midst of key state issues of the era, including internal improvements, banking, and the evolving debate over slavery and states’ rights. Throughout these years he continued to reside in Henry County and to manage his agricultural interests in Lecomptes Bottom along the Kentucky River.

Lecompte advanced to national office when he was elected as a Representative from Kentucky to the Nineteenth Congress, taking his seat on March 4, 1825. He was reelected to the Twentieth and Twenty-first Congresses and then reelected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-second Congress, serving continuously in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1825, to March 3, 1833. His alignment as a Jacksonian placed him within the emerging Democratic movement led by Andrew Jackson, which advocated for a more expansive democracy for white men, opposed many aspects of the national bank, and favored a limited federal role in the economy relative to the states. During his four consecutive terms, Lecompte represented a Kentucky constituency at a time when the state was influential in national politics and when issues such as tariffs, internal improvements, and the balance of power between free and slave states were increasingly contentious. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1832, thereby concluding his congressional service after eight years.

Following his departure from Congress, Lecompte returned to Henry County and resumed his agricultural pursuits, continuing to live on and manage his property in Lecomptes Bottom. He remained engaged in public affairs at the state level and, by mid-century, participated in one of the most significant political events in Kentucky’s antebellum history. In 1850 he served as a member of the Kentucky constitutional convention, which was convened to revise the state’s fundamental law and address questions of representation, suffrage, and the legal framework surrounding slavery and other institutions. His role in the convention capped a long career in which he moved between military service, state legislative work, and national office.

Joseph Lecompte died in Henry County, Kentucky, on April 25, 1851. He was buried in a private cemetery in Lecomptes Bottom on the Kentucky River in Henry County, the community where he had spent most of his life and from which he had drawn his political support. His career reflected the patterns of many early nineteenth-century Kentucky politicians, combining local agricultural leadership, militia service, repeated terms in the state legislature, and a period of service in the U.S. House of Representatives during the formative decades of the American republic.