James Madison, 4th U.S. president, and his wife, Dolly, owned 2,000 acres along Panther Creek in what is now Daviess County. They held the land until it was sold in smaller acreages from 1832 to 1834. Madison served in the Continental Congress from 1780 to 1783 and 1786 to 1788, was a member of the Federal Constitutional Convention in 1787, served in the first Congresses from 1789 to 1797, was Secretary of State from 1801 to 1809, and was President of the United States from 1809 to 1817.