George H. Yeaman

By Doug Simon

His name was George Helm Yeaman. In his later years he lived in the Borough of Madison and helped to found the Madison Golf Club in 1896. But 31 years earlier on January 31, 1865, George Yeaman did something that dramatically changed the course of history of the United States. Yeaman was a Kentuckian.  Born in Hardin, Kentucky in 1820, he completed his preparatory studies and went on to study law. In 1862 he became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky and held that office until March 4, 1865. In Kentucky most Unionist were both pro-Union and pro-slavery, and they intensely disliked abolitionists and Rebel secessionist about equally. (1)

In 1862 Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation but wanted to expand the proclamation with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, the amendment that would end slavery. The U.S. Senate passed the amendment. The real difficulty came when it went before a terribly divided House of Representatives. Yeaman held a somewhat contradictory position.  There is no question that he disliked slavery, but he also feared that abolition would destroy Kentucky’s economic and social structure. Lincoln personally lobbied Yeaman at the White House and when the vote came, Yeaman cast an “aye” vote along with three other Kentucky Unionists – Lucian Anderson of Mayfield, William H. Randall and Green Clay Smith.  As a result of his vote, Yeaman’s political career was doomed.  He became a Republican, stood for reelection in 1865 and lost to a white supremacist Democrat. (2)                                            George Yeaman served as the United States Minister to Denmark from 1865 to 1870 and then settled in New York City serving as a Constitutional Law Lecturer at Columbia College. He eventually moved to Madison and along with other city leaders founded the Madison Golf Club. (See Chapter 9.)  George Helm Yeaman died in Jersey City in1908 and was interred in Hillside Cemetery, Madison, New Jersey.

 Notes:

 1. George Helm Yeaman, Wikipedia, July 27, 2018,   http://ea.wikipedia.org/George-Helm-Yeaman

 2. Tom Eblem, “In ‘Lincoln’, Forgotten Kentucky congressmen plays pivotal role.” Herald-Leader, Nov.25, 2012. 

   http://www.kentucky.com/entertainment.movies-news-reviewsw/article 44390847.htm/