John LaRue Helm

Life and times of an Historic Kentuckian

by Steven Lindsey

John LaRue Helm was born, the first child of George and Rebbecca LaRue Helm, on Independance Day, July 4, 1802. His father's parents were Captain Thomas and Jean Pope Helm of Prince William County, Virginia. In recognition of his service during the revolutionary war, Thomas Helm was granted a parcel of 1000 acres on Beargrass Creek, near the Falls of the Ohio. He moved his family to Kentucky in the fall of 1779. After several children and Negroes died of spotted fever, he relocated his family to Severns Valley, some 40 miles to the south, in February 1780. Samuel Haycraft, Andrew Hynes and Thomas Helm built stockade forts that overlooked the valley and marked the future location of Elizabethtown. He served for many years as a judge of Hardin Quarter Session Court and died on September 22, 1816. George, was born on April 2, 1773 in Virginia. He was only six years old when his family arrived in Kentucky. He served in the Kentucky Legislature for many years.

John Helm's mother's parents were John and Mary Brooks LaRue. They migrated to Kentucky in 1784 from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and settled in present day LaRue County. Having a knowledge of medicinal plants and herbs, Mary LaRue was something of a healer and mid-wife. She assisted Nancy Hanks Lincoln at the birth of her son, Abraham, the future President of the United States of America. Rebecca LaRue was born on May 2, 1784 in Frederick Co., Virginia and was just a baby when her family arrived in Kentucky.

On May 14, 1801, George and Rebbecca were married. Their first child, John, was probably born at Rebbecca's parents home in present day LaRue county.

John attended various schools in Hardin County, once being the pupil of Duff Green one of several school masters that served in Elizabethtown early in the 19th century. John left school when he was 14 to help work on the family farm. In 1818, he became the Deputy Clerk for the Hardin County Circuit Court. When his father died a few years later, he became the head of the household, which left him responsible for the care of his mother, his siblings and his father's debts. Even after their home and property were sold, $3,000 of debt remained. While working as the Deputy Clerk, he became interested in the law. He became the apprentice of Benjamin Tobin, a prominent Elizabethtown attorney. After a few years of intense study, he was admitted to the bar and began practicing law. The first year that he practiced law in Elizabethtown, he earned $1,200. In 1824, John was appointed County Attorney for the newly formed Meade County. A few years later he ran for his first term in the Kentucky House of Representatives and won the seat.

John married Lucinda Barbour Hardin on August 10, 1830. Lucinda was the oldest child of Benjamin and Elizabeth Pendleton Barbour Hardin. She was born on February 2, 1809. Her parents lived in Bardstown, Kentucky where her father was an attorney of honorable repute. Benjamin Hardin also served as a in both houses of the Kentucky Legislature, as well as the Federal House of Representative, for many years.

John and Lucinda met, by chance some 7 years eariler. She was just 14 years old when, while he was visiting her father on a legal matter, she entered the parlor to show her father a map that I had been working on. Lucinda, like many young ladies of the time, was educated at home at home by her father.

In 1831, after having reacquired some of his father's property, John sold his boyhood home and some 580 acres to Rev. Charles J. Cecil and the Sisters of Loretto who, after adding two story wings to the house, used the structure to create a girl's school later known by the name Bethlehem Academy. That same year, John purchase his grandfather's homestead from his uncle, Benjamin Helm.

John and Lucinda began the construction of thier new home in 1832 on the site of Helm Station, the stockade fort built by Thomas Helm at the northern outskirts of Elizabethtown. They named their home "Helm Place." It took 8 years to complete and had 16 rooms, not counting halls, butler's hall and closets. It was built from timber on the surrounding land and bricks made by their Negroe slaves. Nails for the house were acquired from Lexington, some 80 miles to the east. Helm Place stands to this day in Elizabethtown

Their first child was born at Lucinda's father's home in Bardstown on June 2, 1831. They named him Benjamin Hardin after her father. John and Lucinda had 12 children and were guardians of several more. Benjamin graduated from the Elizabethtown Seminary when he was just 15 years old. Too young to enter West Point, he attended the Elizabethtown Military Academy for one year, then entered West Point on July 1, 1847. He graduated 9th in a class of 42 in 1851. He was given command of a cavalry unit and sent to Texas, but returned home when he became ill. At the behest of his father, Ben resigned his commission on October 9, 1852 and entered the University of Louisville School of Law where he graduated in the spring of 1853. After a 6-month advanced course at Harvard, he entered into law practice with his father. Benjamin was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1855. After only one term, he was elected to the office of Commonwealth Attorney for Hardin County. While serving in the General Assembly, Benjamin met Emilie Todd, the daughter of the prominent Lexington politician, Robert S. Todd. They were married on March 20, 1856.

John continued to serve in the Kentucky House of Representatives for several years and was one of the youngest Representatives to be elected Speaker of the House, in 1835 and 1836. In 1838, he resigned the Kentucky House of Representatives to run for the representative from his district to the Federal House of Representatives on the Whig Party ticket and was narrowly defeated by Willis Green, the Democratic candidate. He returned to the Kentucky House of Representatives the following year and was again elected Speaker of the House. In 1844, he was elected to the Kentucky Senate from my district. In 1848, he was nominated for the position of Lieutenant Governor on the ticket of the Honorable John J. Crittenden. He became the 18th governor of the Commonwealth on July 31, 1850 when Governor Crittenden accepted the position of Attorney General for the United States in the cabinet of President Millard Fillmore. He completed Governor Crittenden's term, which ended on September 5, 1851.

While serving in the Kentucky legislature, he advocated the creation the Louisville-Nashville turnpike. Today, this road is known as Old 31W and remains one of the main north-south routes through Kentucky. After seeing the completion of the Louisville-Nashville turnpike, he set his goal to the creation of a rail line from Louisville to Nashville. On March 5, 1850, a charter was granted for construction of this line to the Louisville Nashville Railroad Company. Construction of the railroad began in May 1853. On July 17, 1854 he was elected to the Board of Directors to replace James B. Adams, who had recently died. He was also elected Vice-President of the company. In October, he was elected President. On October 27, 1859, the main line of the railroad was completed. It was 187 miles long and cost over $7.2 million to complete. While serving as President, he was successful in having written into the by-laws of the company that every L&N train that passed through his home town of Elizabethtown was required to stop there. He resigned as the President of the Railroad in 1860 after a dispute with members of the Board of Directors and returned to his law practice in Elizabethtown.

While John was in Frankfort serving the people of the Commonwealth, Lucinda attended to the home front. She supervised the education of both their children and servants, the maintenance of their home and the operation of their farm. She administered medication to members of our household that were ill. Their daughters Lucinda and Mary were practically invalids during their childhood. Lucinda supervised and instructed the servants as they sewed clothing, cooked food and kept their home clean and presentable. By 1854, John owned more than 40 Negroes, most of whom worked the fields of the farm raising cash crops like corn, tobacco and flax, as well as a garden and several fruit orchards. They raised cattle, pigs, sheep and chickens for meat. John, being an expert marksman, enjoyed hunting and often killed wild game like deer, turkey, rabbits and squirrels.

When the War Between the States erupted in 1861, John was among those that advocated compromise. He chaired the meeting in Louisville on January 8, 1861 when Kentucky declared its neutrality. He felt that the states had no right to seceed and that the war was wrong. But, he also openly criticized the actions of President Lincoln. John argued that the government did not have the right to sieze his property and he thought it was absurd that the Commonwealth should provide soldiers to invade the other southern states.

President Lincoln offered John's son, Benjamin Helm the position of Paymaster of the United States Army at the rank of Major on the eve of the war. Ben declined the offer and joined the Confederate Army in the fall of 1861. He was commissioned a Colonel and given command of the 1st Kentucky Calvary. He was promoted to Brigadier General effective on March 14, 1862 after the battle of Shiloh. After several months, he was given command of the 1st Kentucky Brigade, who often referred to them selves as the Orphan Brigade. Ben was a rather sticky point for President Lincoln since Ben's wife, Emilie, was the half-sister of the President's own wife, Mary Todd.

Because of his open criticism of President Lincoln, coupled with the fact that his son and several son-in-laws joined the Confederacy, John was labeled a "southern sympathizer" and rebel, even though he openly opposed secession. In September 1862, Colonel Knox arrested him outside of Elizabethtown. After a 3-day stay in the military camp at Elizabethtown, he was to be transferred to a military prison in Louisville. Fortunately, Governor James Robinson saw him being transferred and was able to obtained an order for his release from General Boyle, the commanding officer of the Union forces in Louisville. After taking the oath of allegiance, he was allowed to return to his home in Elizabethtown.

During the war, the union soldiers stationed in Elizabethtown repeatedly entered their home, frightened their children, stole their goods, consumed their crops and incited their servants to abandon their place. Officers and soldiers alike ransacked their house from cellar to garret, taking what ever they wanted and never leaving a penny in compensation. They insulted John and destroyed his livelihood so that by the end of the war, he had to borrow money just so the family could survive. Their crowning sorrow came in September of 1863 when they learned that their son, Benjamin, had been killed in the Battle of Chickamauga. Amazingly, even President and Mrs. Lincoln went into mourning at Benjamin's death. Emilie raised quite a stir when she and the children stayed with her sister in the White House for several weeks. Some even said that Mrs. Lincoln was a southern sympathizer.

In 1865, John returned to the Kentucky Senate and served on the Committee on Federal Relations. He helped to set up schools so that the children of former slaves could be educated. He worked to create institutions so that the elderly and infirmed could be cared for. He canvassed for the rights of the former slaves and fought for an end to the penalties against former confederates. On February 22, 1867, He was nominated for a 2nd term as governor on the Democratic ticket.

John canvassed energetically from one end of the state to the other until the election in August. When the election results were in, not only had he won a stunning victory of more than 3 to 1 margin over his nearest opponent but he had also succeeded in having all the seats in both the House and Senate plus many of the local positions filled with Democratic candidates. However, campaign left him exhausted and sick. He returned to Elizabethtown in August 1867. Because of John's illness, Lucinda asked friends in the government if it would be possible to move the inauguration to Elizabethtown. They agreed and John became the only governor to be inaugurated outside of Frankfort. Judge Charles G. Wintersmith administered the oath of office on September 3, 1867 at Helm Place and John LaRue Helm became the 24th Governor of Kentucky with John White Stevenson as his Lieutenant Governor.

Governor Helm appointed Colonel Samuel Churchill as his Secretary of State and gave him the authority to appoint the rest of my cabinet. Churchill also delivered his inaugural address from the steps of the Shower Hotel in downtown Elizabethtown. In it, Governor Helm urged Kentuckians to put the Civil War behind them and rebuild the state for all citizens. He said, "I earnestly entreat all my fellow citizens to forget all past asperities, to cease useless contention and wrangling, and to unite in one common effort to maintain the honor and integrity of our good old Commonwealth. There are no secessionists among us now. We are all for the Union and the Constitution, and let not the true men of the country give comfort to their enemies by foolishly fighting over the dead issues of the past."

On Sunday, September 8th, just 5 days later, Lucinda bent over him and kissed him for the last time. He died later that same day at Helm Place. He was buried in the Helm family cemetery near our home on September 11, 1867. Lucinda continued to live at Helm Place with several of their children until her death on Christmas Day, December 25, 1885. Their graves remain in the Helm Family Cemetary in Elizabethtown to this day. Benjamin Helm's remains were re-interred in the Helm Family cemetary in 1884. Lucinda B. and Mary Helm, daughters of the governor, remained at Helm Place until their deaths (Mary died in 1913). Neither ever married but were very active in the United Methodist Church in Elizabethtown. The church bears the name to this day.