A HOUSE
DIVIDED
The Lincolns’ Confederate Relatives
Did you know ... Lincoln’s sister-in-law Emilie was
sheltered at the White House even though she was
a Confederate widow?
Of all Mary Todd Lincoln’s siblings, Emilie was Lincoln’s favorite. He met the young
girl at the Todd’s Lexington home in 1847, calling her “Little Sister” the rest of his life.
When her husband, Confederate general Benjamin Hardin Helm, was killed at the
Battle of Chickamauga in 1863, Emilie tried to return to the family home in Kentucky
from Alabama. She was detained after refusing to pledge loyalty to the Union.
Lincoln ordered her sent to Washington under his protection.
Within days of arriving at the White House, Emilie clashed with Pennsylvania
Senator Ira Harris over her support for the South. Gettysburg veteran Dan Sickles
stormed to the president’s office to complain, “You should not have that rebel in your
house!” Lincoln calmly replied, “My wife and I are in the habit of choosing our own
Emilie & Benjamin Hardin Helm
The son of a former Kentucky governor, Benjamin
Hardin Helm married Emilie Todd in 1856.
Although he owned no slaves, Helm disagreed
with his brother-in-law’s position on slavery.
He declined Lincoln’s offer of a commission as
paymaster in the Union Army. He became an
officer in the Confederacy’s famed “Orphan
Brigade.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
University of Kentucky
Mary Todd Lincoln House Collection
guests.”
Battle of Chickamauga
By the autumn of 1863, Helm’s brigade had been
resisting the advance of Union forces on the western
front for two years. In September, after a brief reunion
with his wife and children, Helm joined efforts to drive
Union troops from the Chattanooga area. The battle was
fought at a small creek in northern Georgia called the
Chickamauga. Helm was killed there on September 20th.
Lincoln reportedly wept on hearing of his death.
Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
Amnesty & Loyalty Oath
After a short visit to the White House, Emilie
Todd Helm left for Lexington in mid-December
1863. She carried a pass and amnesty from
Lincoln. On December 8, 1863, Lincoln had issued
a proclamation of amnesty and reconstruction,
whereby many former rebels could be granted a
full pardon and restored their rights of property
“except as to slaves.” Emilie’s amnesty, as
required by the proclamation, was conditional
upon her swearing a loyalty oath. She apparently
never did so.
Sponsored by:
Lexington Public
Public Library
Library
Lexington
This program was funded in part by the
Kentucky Humanities Council, Inc., and the
National Endowment for the Humanities,
the Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial
Commission (www.kylincoln.org), and the
Mary Todd Lincoln House.