Abraham vs. Thomas

[Laurie Verge]

As a person who knows virtually nothing about Thomas Lincoln and Abe's early life, I am getting the impression from these posts (which have been very educational for me) that Thomas Lincoln was likely a very TIRED man who may have been in a bad humor most of the time because there was so much work to do and not enough time. I can easily see where he wouldn't tolerate a child who tended to put "cerebral" things above manual labor. How many of us would like to snatch iPads from our children's hands today and force them to mow the lawn or help clean out the garage?

In Abe's defense, I can also see him resenting his father's pressures on him (most kids do) when he was an intelligent person who wanted much more in life than working on a farm and making a scratch living for himself. I'm sure that festered with him over the years.