Hubbard Helm's Troubles Continue in 1862

Former Campbell County, Ky., sheriff Hubbard Helm was no stranger to being arrested, as a previous post, about late 1861 Campbell County discussed.

1862 only added to this familiarity.

On July 19 of the new year, Union authorities, led by Provosty Marshal Henry C. Gassaway, arrested Helm, the third time this had happened.  They initially placed him in the Newport Barracks for more than a week, then transferred him to Camp Chase, near Columbus, Ohio. He was but one of numerous Campbell Countians arrested during this summer. 

These political arrests sometimes seemed arbitrary, but Gassaway did not act without reason, at least in his mind. Two local men gave him sworn statements about Helm on July 29, both putting the suspect's loyalty in questionable light.

Joseph Mariana acknowledged that he knew Helm. He stated the time the news arrived here of our forces having taken Fort Donaldson. He was talking with some union men at Barlow's Corner. He appeared to be excited. He stated that the news about Fort Donaldson being taken was a damned lie and any man that took that up was a liar and a Son of a Bitch. When news came of the defeat of the Federal Troops, he seemed to be elated and gratified. His manner and conduct as I have frequently witnessed it showed that he was the enemy of the Government and that he desired the success of the Southern Confederacy.

The comment about the "defeat of the Federal Troops" may have referred to a false report about the battle that Helm and/or others had heard. For instance, the Cincinnati Enquirer of February 14, 1862, reported that some local men claimed that US Grant was surrounded and "in imminent danger of being captured, together with all his army." Helm, Mariana, and others may have heard this or similar rumors, not unheard of when people (like even still today) were so anxious for news that they were liable to believe anything they heard. Reports of Confederate success would not have been unusual at this stage of the war.

Another man, James Perry, was acquainted with Helm and gave similar testimony as Mariana. Perry asserted that he had heard H. Helm swear that he was a Rebel and that we had no government. He said the Constitution was gone and we have no Constitution. At the time of the news of Fort Donalson arrived he was quite excited and said any man that said Fort Donaldson was taken was a damned lying Son of a Bitch. He expressions were all against our government.

These accusations, and perhaps others, provided Gassaway reason enough to act.

At Camp Chase, Helm was among 93 Kentucky prisoners there - a startling 27 just from Campbell County - who signed an August 4 letter to Kentucky Governor Beriah Magoffin asking him to have the state legislature help them. They insisted: “We were brought here by the force of arms, against our will and consent, in violation of the laws of Kentucky and the laws of the United States.”

They had been “confined and restrained of our rights and liberty that we are justly entitled to,” and repeated that they were “law-abiding citizens” and “had not violated laws” of either Kentucky or “our common country.”

Magoffin proved unable to provide the assistance they needed. 

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On October 8, Ohio Governor Tod sent a note to a Major (name illegible) at the camp:

"Sir You will parole H.D. Helm a prisoner at Camp Chase to this city for 40 days upon the usual terms and conditions on account of his health."

On that same day, Helm signed a "Parole of Honor” form as a political prisoner of war. He promised that he would immediately go to Columbus for medical care, "and will not leave there without special permit" from Tod or the commanding officer at the camp. He agreed to report to Governor Tod at 10:00 every morning until told otherwise.

Helm further swore that he would do no "act of hostility" and would not "furnish any aid nor information" to the Confederacy. He agreed to return to Camp Chase after ten days and acknowledged that this parole was "granted on account of ill health."

On October 25, still in 1862, the Cincinnati Daily Enquirer reported that a group of unnamed "active Union men" of Newport were working on a petition to have Helm released. At this point, "The paper has received many signatures."

Those efforts may have helped. On that same date, the state's Judge Advocate sent a telegram to the commandant of Camp Chase: "You will parole HD Helm to go to Campbell Co Ky and return to your custody again within forty days by order of Secy. of War"

Helm signed another parole document on the 26th, this one stating that he would, without delay, return to Campbell County and not leave there without special permission from Governor Tod or Camp Chase's commanding officer.

He again agreed not to do anything to hurt the Union cause or aid the Confederacy "and in Forty days from this date" would report in person to the commander of Camp Chase.

This parole was per an order from Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.

—

On April 10, 1863, Helm received his complete freedom. He vowed that, after his release from the prison camp, I will immediately report in person to the Federal Military Commandant at Newport, Ky., and will thereafter, during the present rebellion, do no act of hostility against the Government of the United States, nor furnish any aid or comfort to the Enemies thereof.

This allowed him the freedom to leave Newport without special permission. He also no longer needed to report to anyone once he had visited the military leader in Newport.

This release was following a War Department order. This form announced: "H.D. Helm of Newport, Campbell Co. Ky., a political prisoner, is hereby released from custody on his parole of honor as above."

Eighteen days after signing his parole, he sent a letter asking for an official copy of his parole form for his records. 

He made it through the rest of the war unscathed, but in 1864 his name appeared on a list of Campbell County men drafted into the Union military. Whether the irony of his name on that list generated any conversation is unknown, but, perhaps needless to say, he did not serve in the Union army. 

He had not forgotten the treatment he had received. He was one of 19 Campbell County men who sued Gassaway and other officials, all seeking $50,000 in damages for their false arrests.  These lawsuits, called the "Camp Chase cases" in one account, bounced around in the courts for years, with the last mention I've found so far in the December 11, 1867, Cincinnati Enquirer, which state the cases were continued again in the U.S. Circuit Court in Covington, Ky. 

Hubbard Helm passed away September 15, 1885, when he fell from a wagon in Cincinnati. He was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in the same county where he had experienced so much in his 63 years.

I'll soon discuss Robert Maddox, the man arrested alongside Hubbard in late 1861, in an upcoming post, but I just found some new information about him that I need to review and perhaps add.