Person

John Larue Helm (Kentucky governor)

b. 1802-07-04 d. 1867-09-08

Kentucky attorney and politician. Elizabethtown native. Married to Lucinda Hardin Helm. Father of Benjamin Hardin Helm, George H. Helm, Elizabeth B. Helm, Rebecca J. Helm, Lucinda B. Helm, Sarah Helm, Emily Helm, Mary Helm, John L. Helm, James P. Helm, and Thomas Helm. Studied under Benjamin Tobin and admitted to the bar in 1823. Meade County Attorney from 1824 to 1840. Member of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1825, 1827, 1830, 1833 to 1837, 1839, 1842, 1843, and in which he also served as speaker in the 1835, 1836, 1839, 1842, and 1843 sessions. Member of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from 1844 to 1848. Lieutenant governor of Kentucky from 1848 to 1850. Governor of Kentucky from 1850 to 1851. President of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad from 1854 to 1860. Owned fifty-two enslaved persons in Hardin County in 1860.

Details

Sex
Male
Race
White

Bibliography

H. Levin, The Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1897), 194.

Seventh Manuscript Census of the United States (1850), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Hardin County, District 1, p. 56.

Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Population Schedules, Kentucky, Hardin County, 3rd District, p. 90.

Eighth Manuscript Census of the United States (1860), Slave Schedules, Kentucky, Hardin County, 3rd District, p. 12.

Find A Grave, "John Larue Helm (1802-1867)," Memorial #6865234, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6865234 (accessed August, 3, 2017).

Citation

Helm, John Larue. Accessed via the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition, https://discovery.civilwargovernors.org/document/S32214673 (November 12, 2026).

The people, organizations, and places listed below appear in the same documents as John Larue Helm (Kentucky governor). They are sorted by the number of documents they share.

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