Owensboro authorities say they will build a more fitting monument by next Memorial Day for a Revolutionary War veteran who is credited with creating Daviess County. Thomas Moseley, who was born in Virginia, served as a sergeant in the 9th Virginia Regiment during the American Revolution. He eventually moved to what is now Owensboro, where he ran a tavern and led a smaller revolution to split Daviess County from Ohio County. He demanded that the seat of the new county be established at the settlement, then known as the Big Yellow Banks. Moseley died in 1841 at the age of 85. His body lies in a forgotten grave behind a tire store near the corner of Fifth and Triplett streets. But that is about to change. City officials say they will either erect a new monument at Moseleys gravesite or they will move his grave to the Veterans Monument in front of the Sportscenter in downtown Owensboro. Weve got a Revolutionary War veteran buried in Owensboro, and we need to pay some attention to him, said City Manager Ron Payne. Not only is he a veteran, but he played an important part in our history. Historians say the state militia met at Moseleys tavern some time in 1813 and discussed breaking away from Ohio County and forming a new county. But the proposed county had only 2,000 residents at the time and some argued that wasnt enough to guarantee money to run a courthouse and jail. Moseley listened to the arguments from behind his bar and voiced his opposition. Yellow Banks is destined mark that, gentlemen, destined, he is reported to have said. Yellow Banks is the rising town on the Ohio. Thats right. Destined, predestined, foreordained and eternally fixed and settled in the unchangeable order of future events. For the town to prosper, he argued, a new county must be formed. And on Jan. 14, 1815, Moseleys faction won. The Kentucky Legislature created Daviess County and a committee was appointed to select the county seat. It came down to a choice between Vienna (now Calhoun), the oldest settlement in the new county, and Yellow Banks, a still raw frontier clearing. Moseleys group won, Yellow Banks was chosen and his tavern even became the first courthouse. On Oct. 9, 1815, Circuit Judge Henry Powell Brodnax dressed in short breeches with knee buckles, his hair plaited and tucked with a comb walked into Moseleys tavern and called to order the first session of circuit court in Daviess County. Moseley quietly faded from local history thereafter. In 1827, at age 71, Moseley bought a large wooded area east of the settlement. It was there he wanted to be buried. When he drafted his will in 1829, Moseley wrote: I wish to be buried in the usual way, surrounded by a brick wall and a neat tombstone. If there was ever a brick wall around Moseleys grave, its gone now. The neat tombstone he wanted also disappeared years ago. But in 1924, the Daughters of the American Revolution discovered Moseleys unattended grave and worked for two years to get the federal government to supply a monument for it. They dedicated Moseleys monument on Memorial Day in 1926. But 74 years of weather have left that monument in bad shape. Weve removed it for safekeeping, and its stored until we make a decision on what were going to do, Payne said. Were trying to determine if we want to renovate that area, put up a picket fence around the grave and maybe a flag or if we want to relocate the grave to the Sportscenter.