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John LaRue Helm (July 4, 1802 – September 8, 1867) was the 18th and 24th governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky, although his service in that office totaled less than fourteen months. He also represented Hardin County in both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly and was chosen to be the Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives four times. In 1838 his sole bid for federal office ended in defeat when his opponent, Willis Green, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Helm was first elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1826; between 1826 and 1843 he served eleven one-year terms in the state house. In 1844 he was elected to the state senate, where he served continuously until he was chosen as the Whig Party nominee for lieutenant governor on a ticket with John J. Crittenden, famous for the Crittenden Compromise. The Whigs won the general election and Helm was elevated to governor on July 31, 1850, when Crittenden resigned to accept an appointment as United States Attorney General in President Millard Fillmore's cabinet. After his service as governor Helm became president of the struggling Louisville and Nashville Railroad. He invested thousands of dollars of his own money in the project and convinced residents along the line's main route to buy stock in the company. In 1859 the line was completed, but the next year Helm resigned over of differences with the board of directors regarding a proposed branch that would extend the line to Memphis, Tennessee. Although he openly opposed secession during the American Civil War, federal military forces labeled Helm a Confederate sympathizer. In September 1862, he was arrested for this alleged sympathy, but Governor James F. Robinson recognized him as he was being transported to a prison in Louisville and had him released. After the war Helm identified with the Democratic Party, and in 1865 Hardin County voters returned him to the state senate. In 1867 he was the state's Democratic candidate for governor. Despite his failing health, Helm made a vigorous canvass of the state and won the general election. He was too weak to travel to Frankfort for his inauguration, so state officials administered the oath of office at his home on September 3, 1867. He died five days later. ==Early life== In 1780 Helm's grandfather, Thomas Helm, emigrated to Kentucky from Prince William County, Virginia and founded the settlement of Helm Station near Elizabethtown, Kentucky in Hardin County, where John L. Helm was born on July 4, 1802.〔Powell, p. 46〕〔Allen, p. 107〕〔NGA Bio〕 He was the eldest of nine children born to George B. Helm, a farmer and politician, and Rebecca LaRue Helm, a descendant of a prominent local pioneer family.〔〔Owen, p. 68〕 Helm attended the area's public schools and studied with noted educator Duff Green.〔''Biographical Sketch'', pp. 16–17〕 When Helm was 14 his father fell on hard financial times and Helm returned to work on the family farm.〔''Biographical Sketch'', p. 18〕 In 1818 he took a better-paying job in the office of Samuel Haycraft, the circuit court clerk of Hardin County.〔 While there he read law with Haycraft, then entered the law office of Ben Tobin in 1821.〔 At about this time Helm's father traveled to Texas to enter into business and rebuild his finances, but he died there in 1822,〔''Biographical Sketch'', pp. 15–16〕 leaving Helm responsible for his mother and siblings.〔Allen, p. 108〕 He was admitted to the bar in 1823, the same year Meade County, Kentucky was formed.〔〔Johnson, p. 929〕 There were no lawyers in the county yet, so although Helm continued living in Hardin County he was made Meade's county attorney.〔 His practice grew rapidly and he was soon able to pay off his father's debts and purchase the Helm homestead.〔 Between 1832 and 1840 he built "Helm Place" on this land and it remained his home for the rest of his life.〔〔Coleman, p. 51〕 In 1823 Helm called on Representative Benjamin Hardin.〔Alexander, p. 18〕 While Hardin and Helm discussed business, Hardin's 14-year-old daughter, Lucinda, entered the room to show her father a map she had drawn.〔 Helm later claimed it was love at first sight, and began to pursue Lucinda's affections.〔 They courted for seven years, married in 1830 and had six daughters and five sons together.〔〔 One of his sons, Benjamin Hardin Helm, was a Confederate general in the Civil War and was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John L. Helm」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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