Mr. Yeaman, from Kentucky

Abstract

Mr. Yeaman, from Kentucky Forrest Roberts (bio) In January 1865, a young congressman from Kentucky was faced with a decision many politicians face—whether to do what was politically expedient or what was right. George Yeaman chose the path often not taken and voted according to his principles, even though it was not advantageous to him politically. Yeaman's affirmative vote for the Thirteenth Amendment destroyed his political career and made him many enemies, but his courage allowed him the opportunity to have a role on an international stage and to be immortalized in Steven Spielberg's movie Lincoln as one of the congressmen whose vote was critical for the passage of the amendment. George Helm Yeaman was born on November 1, 1829 in Hardin County, Kentucky, the second of seven children. His mother, Lucretia Helm Yeaman, was the brother of John Helm, who was twice governor of the state. Despite this political connection, the Yeamans were not well off. George's father, Stephen Minor Yeaman, was a member of the Kentucky Bar, but did not practice much law. He taught school for a while and obtained two patents, one for a wheat winnowing machine and another for a straw cutter. In the census of 1850, he was listed as a "fan maker."1 [End Page 5] Yeaman described his childhood as having "no early facilities—the old story of born to poverty and 'pursuing knowledge under difficulties.'" He received a grammar school education and then read law on his own before being admitted to the Kentucky Bar at the age of twenty-three. He moved to Owensboro, the county seat of Daviess County, and opened a law practice. To supplement his income, Yeaman worked as the editor of the Owensboro Gazette.2 In August 1854, at the age of twenty-four, Yeaman was elected county judge of Daviess County. The county judge's responsibilities consisted of keeping the peace, maintaining and building public structures, including a county jail, and overseeing the fiscal affairs of the county, which involved imposing and collecting a county levy. The county judge also had judicial responsibilities and presided over the Quarterly Court, which had jurisdiction for civil matters not exceeding $100 and which did not involve a land boundary. The county judge also presided over the County Court, which along with two justices of the peace, could hear appeals of cases from the Justice of the Peace Courts ranging from four to sixteen dollars. Once a year the county judge, along with most of the county's justices of the peace, presided over the Court of Claims, which transacted the business of the county. After serving a four-year term, Yeaman did not seek re-election and concentrated his energies on his law practice.3 Yeaman married Lelia Pegram Triplett in 1855. Lelia was the daughter of Robert Triplett, one of the richest men in Daviess County, who owned manufacturing and coal interests in Bon Harbor, west of Owensboro. The 1850 U.S. Census listed the value of Robert Triplett's real estate holdings at $167,000, a sum equal to over $5.8 million in 2021. George and Lelia were married in her parents' home, called Haphazard, [End Page 6] which still sits on a ridge overlooking the Ohio River east of Owensboro. The Yeamans built a home on the same ridge, which runs along what is now East Fourth Street, where three of their five children were born.4 Yeaman's personal political beliefs in the 1850s are not well documented, but by conjecture it can be assumed he was a Whig. Daviess County was a Whig county, and it would not be unreasonable that the county judge's politics would be the same as his constituents. Also, in the 1860 presidential election Yeaman supported the John Bell and Edward Everett ticket, of the Constitutional Union party. Even if Yeaman did not consider himself to be a Whig, his beliefs aligned with those of that party.5 The Constitutional Union party was formed in 1860 on three principles: the U.S. Constitution, the union of the states, and the enforcement of all laws. The party was made up of voters who rejected...