The Castleman and LaRue families in 1898, on the 90th birthday of Sarah LaRue Castleman, who is sitting in the center of the photograph in between two of her daughters. The celebration was held at the home built by Jacob LaRue near Hodgenville, Kentucky, in 1800.
The name "LaRue" is French and was spelled in many different ways over the years. Today the most common form is "Larrew" "LaRue" or "Larue", but other forms include "Larew", "LeRoux" and "LaRoux", "LaRu", "Laro", "Laroe", "l'Rue" and "l'Roe", "de la Rue" and "de la Rew", "Lerue" and "Lerew", and sometimes as only one syllable, such as "Rue" or "Roux".[1]
History
The LaRue family and its descendants trace their ancestry back to the French Huguenot Abraham LeRoux, who sailed to America with his family around 1680 as part of a mass exodus from France. According to LaRue descendant and author of Six Generations of LaRue and Allied Families, Otis M. Mather, several attempts to trace Abraham's family to a particular individual or locality in France have been unsuccessful. However, Don Holland Watson began the search in 1961 and, along with his two sisters, visited Germany and France on several occasions, tracing the family from the sub-province of Lalloeu in France to Mannheim, in Germany, and from there to the US, then tracking the family until modern times, all across the US in personal visits. The photograph shown here was duplicated with Don, his wife Margarete, and dozens of LaRue family descendants in 1998. The research is current as of 2015. All of it has been posted online, at Rootsweb and Ancestry.com, originally titled "LaRue and Allied Families." Although there are dozens of family traditions describing in various ways how Abraham and his family first arrived in America, all sources agree that some of the LaRues were murdered during or soon after the Massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1572, and afterward scattered across Europe and, eventually, America, where several members of the family were reunited.[1]
Abraham LeRoux (LaRue) settled in New Jersey, where he died in 1712, leaving behind a son named Peter. Peter had three sons of his own: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from which sprang the LaRue families of Virginia and Kentucky. In 1743, Isaac LaRue purchased his first 250-acre parcel of farm land along a little stream known as Long Marsh Run in the Shenandoah Valley, in what is now part of Clarke County, Virginia. Future President George Washington, whose family lived nearby, surveyed the land for Isaac after the sale.[1] Isaac built a log cabin to live in and, later, a two-story, coursed limestone house named Claremont, which was completed in 1778. His son Jacob settled nearby and in 1775 completed his home, Bloomfield. Another son named Jabez built his home, Villa LaRue, further to the east in the 1790s. The three houses have survived and are now part of the Long Marsh Run Rural Historic District, near Berryville, Virginia. Isaac acquired thousands of more acres of land over the years, partly with the help of a friend and neighbor named Squire Boone, who was the brother of Daniel Boone.[2]
Bloomfield, seen here about 1920, is the oldest LaRue home still standing.
Over the next couple of generations, the LaRue family spread west into Kentucky and settled near what later developed into the town of Hodgenville, in LaRue County. Jacob LaRue sold Bloomfield to his brother James and built a new home near Hodgenville in 1800. Just nine years later, on February 12, 1809, future president Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin on the Sinking Spring Farm, amidst "scores of descendants of Isaac LaRue, Sr." Three LaRues are believed to have been present during Abraham Lincoln's birth: Mary Brooks LaRue Enlow, her daughter Margaret "Peggy" LaRue Walters and her cousin Rebecca Hodgen Keith. According to LaRue family tradition, Mary Enlow assisted Nancy Hanks Lincoln in delivering her baby, who was mistakenly thought to be named after Mary's sixteen-year-old son, Abraham Enlow, because Abraham had helped Thomas Lincoln in finding assistance for his pregnant wife earlier that day. They were unaware that Abraham was named after his paternal grandfather. .[1][3]
A few years later, the Lincoln family moved to a new home about five miles away, but Abraham often returned to visit Hodgen's grist mill, near his birthplace. At the time, Hodgen's Mill was owned by Robert and Sarah LaRue Hodgen. Abraham probably spent much of his time in the Hodgen home, which was right next to the mill. Abraham's schoolmate and childhood friend, Austin Gollaher, later wrote in his book The Boyhood of Abraham Lincoln that it was from "his mother and from Mrs. Hodgen Abraham learned his A-B-C's". He also claimed that Sarah's son, John Hodgen, was Lincoln's "childhood hero". The Lincoln family eventually moved away to Indiana in 1816, when Abraham was nearly eight years old. He never again saw the place of his birth. Hodgen's Mill became the town of Hodgensville just a few years later.[1][3]
During the Civil War, the LaRue family was split in two. In the 1840 census it was listed that John LaRue owned two slaves.[4] Most remained loyal to the Union, but several descendants served the Confederacy. On the Confederate side, one LaRue became a brigadier general, while another rose to the rank of major. Many others served in lesser positions and in the ranks of the Confederate Army. On the Union side, one man was about to be promoted to colonel when he was elected to serve in Congress. Several others served as captains and lieutenants, enough to "officer a regiment", according to Mather.[1]
Benjamin Hardin Helm was the son of Governor John LaRue Helm and the brother-in-law of Abraham Lincoln through his wife Emilie Todd, who was a half-sister of Mary Todd Lincoln.[1] Helm and Lincoln were close friends before the outbreak of the Civil War, but were driven apart like so many other families at the time. Helm later joined the Confederacy, rose to the rank of brigadier general, and took command of the 1st Kentucky Brigade, better known as the Orphan Brigade. Helm was mortally wounded by a sharpshooter in the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863, while leading his men into action against a well-fortified Union line. Lincoln and Mary were greatly disturbed when they heard the news of the death of their old frien, and had to go into private mourning in the White House. Lincoln also allowed Helm's widow, Emilie, to pass through Union lines to visit him and his wife.[5][6]
Over the years, many LaRues went west, settling in Michigan, Iowa, Arkansas, Kansas, California, Texas, Oregon, and elsewhere. The most successful was Hugh McElroy LaRue, who followed the Oregon Trail and eventually settled in California, becoming one of the founding pioneers of Sacramento.[1] In addition to raising crops and horses, Hugh served as sheriff of Sacramento County, member of the California Assembly, the director of the State Agricultural Association, a railroad commissioner and the president of the Sacramento Society of California Pioneers.[7]
Notable family members
Anthoine, Abraham I, Abraham II, the Immigrant, Peter LaRue
Isaac LaRue Sr. (1712–1795); Virginia pioneer, original owner of Claremont
Jacob LaRue (1744–1821); Virginia pioneer, original owner of Bloomfield
John LaRue (1746–1792); Kentucky pioneer, namesake for LaRue County, Kentucky
Jabez LaRue (1768–1823); Virginia pioneer, original owner of Villa LaRue
Hugh McElroy LaRue (1830–1906); California pioneer, Sheriff of Sacramento County, California
Mary Brooks LaRue Enlow (1766–1843); Midwife for the birth of Abraham Lincoln
Sarah LaRue Hodgen (1757–1825); Wife of Kentucky pioneer Robert Hodgen, helped teach Abraham Lincoln how to read
John Hodgen (1783–1850); Childhood friend of Abraham Lincoln, son of Robert and Sarah LaRue Hodgen
Rebecca Hodgen Keith (1784–1845); Wife of Major General John Thomas, daughter of Robert and Sarah LaRue Hodgen
William Anderson Hodgen (1824–1850s); Entire family massacred by Indians in Oregon Territory, son of John and Diedamia LaRue Hodgen
Philip Oscar Hodgen (1846–1894); Escaped Andersonville Prison during the Civil War, grandson of John and Diedamia LaRue Hodgen
John LaRue Helm (1802–1867); State Senator and Governor of Kentucky
Benjamin Hardin Helm (1831–1863); Confederate Brigadier General, Abraham Lincoln's brother-in-law, son of John LaRue Helm
Custer LaRue (b. 1953); Early Renaissance and Baroque soprano vocalist, daughter of James Wilmore LaRue, lead singer for The Baltimore Consort between 1983 and 2004
Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954–1990); guitarist, fourth great-grandson of Jacob LaRue (1744–1821)
Rusty LaRue (b. 1973); Professional basketball player and coach
Austin LaRue (b. 2004); Collegiate American football player
Gallery
Villa LaRue around 1920. James LaRue Irvin Vanmetre is the man standing at the upper left.
Long Marsh Run, as seen from the back of Villa LaRue around 1920.
Hugh McElroy LaRue in Sacramento, California, in 1899.
A painting of John LaRue Helm made by his granddaughter Katherine Helm in 1907.
Brigadier General Benjamin Hardin Helm in uniform during the Civil War.
Elizabethtown is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 28,531 at the 2010 census, and was estimated at 31,394 by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2020, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. It is included in the Elizabethtown–Fort Knox, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Louisville/Jefferson County–Elizabethtown–Madison, Kentucky-Indiana Combined Statistical Area. The Elizabethtown Metropolitan area had a 2019 estimated population of 153,057, making it the 5th-largest metropolitan area in the state.
Hodgenville is a home rule-class city in LaRue County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. Hodgenville sits along the North Fork of the Nolin River. The population was 3,206 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Elizabethtown metropolitan area.
Lincoln: A Novel is a 1984 historical novel, part of the Narratives of Empire series by Gore Vidal. The novel describes the presidency of Abraham Lincoln and extends from the start of the American Civil War until his assassination. Rather than focus on the Civil War itself, the novel is centred on Lincoln's political and personal struggles. Though Lincoln is the focus, the book is never narrated from his point of view ; Vidal instead writes from the perspective of key historical figures. He draws from contemporary diaries, memoirs, letters, newspaper accounts, the biographical writings of John Hay and John Nicolay, and the work of modern historians.
Nancy Hanks Lincoln was the mother of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Her marriage to Thomas Lincoln also produced a daughter, Sarah, and a son, Thomas Jr. When Nancy and Thomas had been married for just over 10 years, the family moved from Kentucky to western Perry County, Indiana, in 1816. When Spencer County was formed in 1818, the Lincoln Homestead lay within its current boundaries. Nancy Lincoln died from milk sickness or consumption in 1818 at the Little Pigeon Creek Community in Spencer County when Abraham was nine years old.
John LaRue Helm was the 18th and 24th governor of the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky, although his service in that office totaled less than fourteen months. He also represented Hardin County in both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly and was chosen to be the Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives four times. In 1838, his sole bid for federal office ended in defeat when his opponent, Willis Green, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
John Blair Smith Todd was a Delegate from Dakota Territory to the United States House of Representatives and a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Abraham Lincoln was the paternal grandfather of the 16th U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was a military captain during the American Revolution, and a pioneer settler of Kentucky. Some historical sources attest his last name as Linkhorn, although neither Abraham nor his children ever signed themselves as such.
Roger Weightman Hanson was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The commander of the famed "Orphan Brigade," he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Murfreesboro. He was nicknamed "Old Flintlock."
Richard Taylor Jacob was an American attorney and politician, elected as 17th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky (1863–64). Although a slaveholder, he was loyal to the Union during the American Civil War, raising the 9th Kentucky Cavalry for its defense.
George Bowman was an 18th-century American pioneer, landowner and a prominent Indian fighter in the early history of the Virginia Colony. He, along with his father-in-law Jost Hite, was one of the first to explore and settle Shenandoah Valley. His estate, on which Fort Bowman was founded, was one of the earliest homes to be built in Shenandoah Valley and is the site of present-day Strasburg, Virginia.
Colonel Abraham Bowman was an 18th-century American frontiersman and American Revolutionary War military officer. Bowman served as an officer and later commanded the 8th Virginia Regiment popularly known as the "German Regiment".
Lexington, Kentucky was a city of importance during the American Civil War, with notable residents participating on both sides of the conflict. These included John C. Breckinridge, Confederate generals John Hunt Morgan and Basil W. Duke, and the Todd family, who mostly served the Confederacy although one, Mary Todd Lincoln, was the first lady of the United States, wife of President Abraham Lincoln.
The Abraham Lincoln Statue is a historic statue in the Hodgenville Commercial Historic District's public square in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Adolph Alexander Weinman sculpted the statue, as he also did the Lincoln statue at the capitol rotunda at Frankfort, Kentucky. The Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park is nearby.
Events from the year 1862 in the United States.
Benjamin Hardin Helm was an American politician, attorney, and Confederate brigadier general. A son of Kentucky governor John L. Helm, he was born in Bardstown, Kentucky. He attended the Kentucky Military Institute and the West Point Military Academy and then studied law at the University of Louisville and Harvard University. He served as a state legislator and the state's attorney in Kentucky. Helm was offered the position of Union Army paymaster by his brother-in-law, President Abraham Lincoln, a position which he declined. Helm joined the Confederate States Army. As a brigadier general, Helm commanded the 1st Kentucky Brigade, more commonly known as The Orphan Brigade. He died on the battlefield during the Battle of Chickamauga.
Long Marsh Run Rural Historic District is a national historic district located just outside Berryville, in Clarke County, Virginia. It encompasses 315 contributing buildings, 16 contributing sites, and 35 contributing structures. The district includes the agricultural landscape and architectural resources of an area distinctively rural that contains numerous large antebellum and postbellum estates, and several smaller 19th-century farms, churches, schools and African-American communities.
Hugh McElroy LaRue (1830–1906), a member of the LaRue family of Kentucky, US was a California pioneer.
John P. LaRue (1746–1792) was a Kentucky pioneer and member of the LaRue family of Virginia.
Robert Smith Todd was an American lawyer, soldier, banker, businessman and politician. He was the father of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln.
Walter "Wattie" Boone, was a pioneer distiller. He built the first distillery in the area of Knob Creek in LaRue County. Historians agree that Boone was one of the first to be documented producing Bourbon whiskey in Kentucky in 1776. According to local folklore the father of Abraham Lincoln, Thomas accepted a job at the Boone Distillery in 1814.
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