John L. Helm

John L. Helm
Photograph by Klauber, undated
18th & 24th Governor of Kentucky
In office September 3, 1867 – September 8, 1867
Lieutenant	John W. Stevenson
Preceded by	Thomas E. Bramlette
Succeeded by	John W. Stevenson
In office July 31, 1850 – September 2, 1851
Lieutenant	Vacant
Preceded by	John J. Crittenden
Succeeded by	Lazarus W. Powell
14th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky
In office September 6, 1848 – July 31, 1850
Governor	John J. Crittenden
Preceded by	Archibald Dixon
Succeeded by	John Burton Thompson
Other offices
1844	Member of the Kentucky Senate
1826–1843	Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives
Personal details
Born	John LaRue Helm (1802-07-04)July 4, 1802 Hardin County, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	September 8, 1867(1867-09-08) (aged 65) Elizabethtown, Kentucky, U.S.
Political party	Democrat (from 1865) Whig (1826–1865)
Spouse	Lucinda Barbour Hardin ​ ​ (m. 1830)​
Relations	Benjamin Hardin (Father-in-law)
Children	11, including Benjamin and Lucinda
Residence	Helm Place
Profession	Politician lawyer
Signature

John LaRue Helm (July 4, 1802 – September 8, 1867) was the 18th and 24th governor of the U.S. Commonwealth 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.