John L. Helm

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John L. Helm
24th Governor of Kentucky
In office September 3, 1867[1] – September 8, 1867[1]
Lieutenant	John W. Stevenson
Preceded by	Thomas E. Bramlette
Succeeded by	John W. Stevenson
18th Governor of Kentucky
In office July 31, 1850[1] – September 2, 1851[1]
Preceded by	John J. Crittenden
Succeeded by	Lazarus W. Powell
Born	July 4, 1802(1802-07-04)[1] Hardin County, Kentucky
Died	September 8, 1867 (aged 65)[1] Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Political party	Democrat Whig[1]
Spouse	Lucinda Barbour Hardin[1]
Profession	Lawyer

John LaRue Helm (July 4, 1802–September 8, 1867) was the eighteenth and twenty-fourth governor of the U.S state of Kentucky.

[edit] Biography

John LaRue Helm was born near Elizabethtown, Hardin County, Kentucky on July 4, 1802,^[1] the eldest of nine children born to George and Rebecca LaRue Helm.^[2] He attended various schools in Hardin County and was tutored by Duff Green until he was 14 years old.^[2] Due to financial difficulties within his family, he went to work on the family farm.^[2] In 1818, Helm accepted a more financially profitable occupation as the Deputy County Clerk of Hardin County, serving under well-respected county clerk Samuel Haycraft.^[2] It was here that his inclination for the practice of law was born, and Haycraft aided his early studies of the discipline.^[2]

In 1821, he entered the law office of Benjamin Tobin, and was admitted to the bar in July of 1823.^[2] George Helm had removed to the Texas frontier in an effort to restore his financial condition^{[citation needed]} and died there in 1822.^[2] At the age of twenty, John Helm became the head of the family and responsible for the $3,000 debt left by his father.^[2] In 1824, he was appointed County Attorney for Meade County, Kentucky,^[3] newly-formed from parts of Breckinridge and Hardin counties on December 17, 1823.^[4]

Around this same time, John met Lucinda Barbour Hardin of Bardstown,^[2] the eldest daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Pendleton Barbour Hardin. John and Lucinda met by happenstance when she was just 14 years old. Seven years later, on August 10, 1830, John and Lucinda were married at Edgewood in Bardstown. The couple had six daughters and five sons that survived infancy, and one child who died in its infancy.^[2] One son, Benjamin Hardin Helm, became a brigadier general in the Confederate Army, and was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga^[5] on September 20, 1863.^[2]

In 1831, John was able to purchase his grandfather’s homestead from his uncle Benjamin.^[2] During that year, Helm sold his father’s house and some 500 acres (2 km²) to Reverend Charles J. Cecil and the Sisters of Loretto who used the property to create a girls boarding school known as Bethlehem Academy. A year later, the Helms began construction of their new home, "Helm Place", on the site of "Helm Station", the stockade fort built by his grandfather.^[2]

[edit] Political career

Helm could best be described as a Constitutionalist. He believed that the “organic law” was paramount and that all differences among the citizens could be resolved by careful and thoughtful interpretation of the state and federal constitutions. During his first term as governor, the legislature decided to rewrite the Constitution of Kentucky. Helm was ardently opposed to this. He argued that the few problems with the constitution could be repaired, but that it was unnecessary to rewrite the entire document. When the new constitution was submitted for his approval, he vetoed it. Subsequently, his veto was overridden by the legislature. Once the new constitution was adopted, Helm accepted it as the “organic law” and defended it with all the zeal that he exhibited when he fought to prevent the rewrite.

In 1826, at the age of 23, Helm was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives^[1] on the Whig party ticket. He would return to the Kentucky House in 1827, 1830, 1833–1837, 1839, 1842, 1843, serving as speaker in 1835, 1836, 1839, 1842, and 1843.^[1] He was one of the youngest representatives ever elected Speaker of the House. Helm failed in his bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1838,^[6] losing to Willis Green.^[3] He never again sought a national office.^[2]

In the early 1840s, a group of enterprising citizens began advocating the creation of a new county to be formed exclusively from Hardin County with Hodgenville as the county seat. Originally, it was purposed that the new county should be named Lynn after the early pioneer and explorer Benjamin Lynn. To gain Helm’s support, when the bill was submitted to the Kentucky Legislature, the new county was to be named Helm. When the measure did not receive the unanimous support of his colleagues, Helm suggested that the new county should be named for his grandfather, John LaRue. On March 4, 1843, a bill was passed unanimously in both houses forming a new county from Hardin named LaRue County and naming Hodgenville as the county seat. This was one of the last counties formed in Kentucky.

[edit] Constitutional convention of 1850

Helm served a term in the Kentucky Senate from 1844 to 1848,^[1] serving as speaker in 1848.^[7] During this term, the question of calling a state constitutional convention was presented, as it had been perennially since 1830.^[2] A measure was passed to call a referendum of the citizenry on the matter.^[2] Helm, acknowledging problems with the state constitution and believing that the people were well able to decide whether a convention was needed, voted in favor of the measure.^[2] The popular vote was overwhelmingly in favor of a convention, which was convened in October of 1849.^[2]

During this time, Helm was elected Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky on a ticket with John J. Crittenden,^[2] defeating Democrat John P. Martin in the election of 1848.^[6] Though he had supported the calling of a constitutional convention, he was dissatisfied with its product.^[2] This position put him at odds with his father-in-law, who took a leading role in the convention.^[2] The rift between Helm and Hardin would only be healed when the latter lay on his deathbed.^[2]

[edit] Governor of Kentucky

Helm became the 18^th governor of the Commonwealth on July 31, 1850 when Governor John J. Crittenden resigned to accept the post of United States Attorney General in the cabinet of President Millard Filmore.^[2] Helm completed the term that ended on September 2, 1851.^[6]

During his first term as governor, Helm opposed tax support for the state school system, though the General Assembly overrode his veto of a plan to finance public schools from the state's sinking fund.^[7] Helm was a proponent of stimulating the economy through the construction of public works, including railroad development.^[5] He ordered a survey of the state's mineral, agricultural, and manufacturing resources.^[5]

He supported the prohibition of carrying concealed deadly weapons and promoted higher salaries for judges to attract more qualified candidates.^[6] He also oversaw the implementation of some minor election reforms.^[6]

[edit] President of Louisville and Nashville Railroad

Helm believed that one of the primary responsibilities of the state government was to build and support public works. He argued passionately for the construction of the Louisville-Nashville Turnpike, one of the first paved roads in Kentucky. Shortly after the completion of the turnpike, Helm began advocating the construction of a railroad to connect those cities.^[2] On March 5, 1850, the Legislature granted a charter to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, authorizing the company to raise funds and build a railroad to connect Louisville and Nashville.

Surveying parties were dispatched in 1851 to identify the most cost-effective route for the road. Two routes were found where the road could be built. The "air-line" or straightest route passed through Bardstown and Glasgow. The other route climbed Muldraugh’s Hill just north of Elizabethtown and continued southward and westward to Bowling Green. Helm became a commissioner for the railroad in Hardin County and fought ardently for a bond issue that would be subscribed to the company. At the same time, Benjamin Hardin, Helm’s father-in-law, argued against a bond issue in Bardstown. Coupled with the success in having a bond issue for $100,000 from Hardin County subscribed to the railroad and a $300,000 issue from Warren County, the company decided on the Elizabethtown/Bowling Green route.

The company built a shop and depot at 9th & Broadway in Louisville and began laying track from that location in May of 1853. Financial difficulties plagued the company from the beginning. By 1854, several hundred thousands of dollars had been spent, but less than 8 miles (13 km) of track had been laid and work on the road had been suspended. Disgruntled with the apparent lack of progress, the Board of Alderman in Louisville demanded that the first president, Levin L. Shreve, resign which he did on June 24, 1854. Having been elected to the board of directors on July 17, 1854, John L Helm was elected President of the company on October 2, 1854. Helm served as president of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad until 1860.^[7]

Helm argued vigorously for the construction of a Memphis branch, a connection that would allow the L & N to extend its domain to Memphis, Tennessee and ultimately to New Orleans, Louisiana. He knew that with that connection, a huge portion of the passenger and freight from the south would necessarily pass through Louisville, bringing with it nearly incalculable profit for the company and Kentucky. However, a dispute erupted between Helm and several Louisville stockholders regarding the Memphis Branch. On February 2, 1860, two members of the Board of Directors joined these stockholders in accusing Helm of mismanagement. On February 24, Helm capitulated and resigned as President of the company. Almost ironically, the succeeding president, James Guthrie, continued where Helm left off and completed the Memphis Branch in March 1861.

[edit] Civil War and aftermath

As the American Civil War loomed, Helm urged restraint. He argued that the states did not possess the right to secede,^[2] but that the Federal government had no right to seize the property of any citizen without due process or compensation. On January 8, 1861, he chaired a meeting in Louisville in which the Commonwealth declared its neutrality in the coming conflict.^[2]

Helm was a supporter of the Southern cause, and an outspoken critic of the Lincoln Administration.^[3] Due to his public criticism of Lincoln, his son’s service in the Confederate Army and his son-in-law’s position as Representative from Kentucky in the Confederate Congress, Helm was vilified as a southern sympathizer and rebel.^[2] He fled briefly to Bowling Green, but returned home on the condition that he would swear an oath of allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.^[2]

In September 1862, Colonel Knox arrested Helm near his home in Elizabethtown.^[2] Only because he was seen being transferred to the military prison in Louisville by the then governor James F. Robinson, was he released and allowed to return to his home.^[2] The Union forces harassed the Helms throughout the war by destroying crops, outright theft of their property and inciting their servants to abandon their duties.^[2] With his livelihood destroyed, Helm was force to borrow money just to care for his family.^[2]

When the war ended, Helm returned to the Kentucky Senate,^[7] this time as a Democrat.^[3] He served on the Committee for Federal Relations.^[5] He fought ardently for an end to sanctions imposed on former confederates and to improve the condition of the former slaves. ^[6]

[edit] Second term as governor

In 1867, he resigned his seat in the Kentucky Senate to accept the Democratic nomination for Governor.^[6] He campaigned vigorously from one end of the state to the other and in August, and was elected Governor by a margin of almost than 3–to–1 over the nearest opponent.^[6] Through Helm’s efforts, nearly every seat of both houses of the legislature, as well as many local positions, were also filled with candidates of his party. However, the campaign had left him weak and exhausted.^[2] He returned to his beloved Helm Place in late August 1867.

Due to his illness, Lucinda requested that the inauguration be moved to Elizabethtown rather than Frankfort.^[2] On September 3, 1867, Judge Charles J. Wintersmith administered the oath of office at Helm Place and John L. Helm became the 24th governor of the Commonwealth^[2]. Helm's secretary of state delivered Helm's inaugural address at the Hardin County courthouse.^[5]

Sadly, just five days later, Helm succumbed to his illness and died. He was buried in the Helm family cemetery on September 11, 1867.^[2]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Find-A-Grave profile for John L. Helm
• Biography in Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky

v • d • e Governors of Kentucky Shelby • Garrard • Greenup • Scott • Shelby • Madison • Slaughter • Adair • Desha • Metcalfe • J. Breathitt • J. Morehead • Clark • Wickliffe • Letcher • Owsley • Crittenden • Helm • Powell • C. Morehead • Magoffin • Robinson • Bramlette • Helm • Stevenson • Leslie • McCreary • Blackburn • Knott • Buckner • Brown • Bradley • Taylor • Goebel • Beckham • Willson • McCreary • Stanley • Black • Morrow • Fields • Sampson • Laffoon • Chandler • Johnson • Willis • Clements • Wetherby • Chandler • Combs • E. Breathitt • Nunn • Ford • Carroll • Brown Jr. • Collins • Wilkinson • Jones • Patton • Fletcher • Beshear Kentucky also had two Confederate Governors: George W. Johnson and Richard Hawes.