Emilie Todd Helm Papers, 1855-1943

Author

Lynne Hollingsworth

Title

Emilie Todd Helm Papers

Date

1855-1943

Repository

Kentucky Historical Society. Special Collections & Archives. Frankfort, Kentucky 40601-1931

Conditions Governing Access note

Access at KHS only. Use microfilm, transcriptions or images when available.

For microfilmed copies see Family Collection: Emilie Todd Helm Papers

Associated Materials / Related Records

Preferred Citation Note

[Identification of item], Emilie Todd Helm Papers, 85M01,Library Special Collections and Archives, Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort.

Extent

12 boxes, 6 c.f. & 1 volume

Biography/History

Helm was born November 11, 1836 in Lexington, one of nine children of Robert Smith Todd and his second wife, Elizabeth Humphreys. (Todd had seven children by his first wife, Eliza Parker.) Benjamin Hardin Helm was born June 2, 1831 in Elizabethtown, the son of John Larue Helm, two-term Governor of Kentucky. Benjamin Helm attended the Kentucky Military Institute and the U.S. Military Academy, graduating ninth in his class at West Point in 1851. After brief service as a cavalry officer, Helm resigned his commission, due to illness, in 1852. He then studied law, first at the University of Louisville where he graduated in 1853, and later at Harvard. He practiced law in Elizabethtown and later in Louisville from 1856 to the outbreak of the Civil War. He married Emilie Todd in 1856. They had three children, Ben, Jr., Elodie, and Katherine.

Despite deep political differences, the Helms had a close relationship with her sister and brother-in-law, the Lincolns. The President offered Helm an officer's commission in the Union army but Helm declined the post. He was briefly associated with Kentucky's short-lived stance of neutrality as Assistant Inspector General of the State Guard. After neutrality was abandoned, Helm became a colonel in the Confederate Army with the First Regiment of Kentucky Cavalry. Following the battle of Shiloh he recieved promotion to brigadier general.

In early 1863 Helm assumed command of the First Kentucky or "Orphan" Brigade. He was mortally wounded September 20, 1863 while leading these troops in the Battle of Chickamauga.

Emilie Helm became very active after the war as a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). She also took part in many of the military reunions and was named "Mother" of the Orphan Brigade.

She served as postmistress in Elizabethtown from 1883 to 1895, having secured the post in a Republican administration with the aid of her nephew, Robert Lincoln. Helm later moved to a colonial mansion near Lexington once owned by her ancestor, General Levi Todd. She died there at the age of 93 on February 20, 1930.

Scope and Content

These are the papers of Emilie (or Emily) Todd Helm, wife of Confederate General Ben Hardin Helm and half-sister of Mary Todd Lincoln.

The collection primarily consists of correspondence and genealogical materials. The correspondence includes papers of Ben Hardin Helm as well as those of his wife. Among them are official orders sent to Helm during the war, letters he wrote to his wife during that period, and his law diploma from the University of Louisville. Helm's correspondence includes many letters, largely concerning Confederate reunions, from well-known Confederate officers and their wives. One separate series of correspondence consists of letters between Emilie Helm and her children and her cousins, Governor and Mrs. J. Proctor Knott.

Helm was keenly interested in genealogical research. The genealogy subgroup contains many family narratives and some charts. Other materials include many clippings, essays, and other writings generally concerning the Confederacy and the Civil War. One subgroup contains remnants of the collection once held in the Confederate Room at the University of Kentucky Libraries (as was part of the Helms' original papers). This subgroup includes more miscellaneous writings, and correspondence (such as postwar letters by Jefferson and Varina Davis.)

The following families are prominently mentioned in the genealogical materials compiled by Emilie Todd Helm (listed here alphabetically): Breckinridges, Browns, Carrs, Findleys, Helms, Humphreys, Logans, McFarlands, Owens, Parkers, Prestons, Smiths, Todds.

Arrangement: Correspondence is arranged chronologically; other subgroups consist of genealogy, clippings, and miscellaneous writings.

Variant Name: Helm Family Papers

Occupation: U.S. Postmistress, Genealogist, Homemaker

County: Fayette; Hardin; Jefferson

Subjects

• Helm, Emilie Todd, 1836-1930 -- Archives
• Helm, Benjamin Hardin
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
• Confederate States of America-- Army -- Officers
• Helms family
• Todd family
• Breckinridge family
• Kentucky -- Genealogy
• Women -- Kentucky -- 19th century
• Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889
• Davis, Varina, 1826-1906

Collection Inventory