Was Thomas Lincoln actually poor?

[tblunk]

(09-18-2012 01:42 AM)PioneerLady Wrote:  Thomas Lincoln was quite prosperous in Indiana.

He bought 160 acres of land in 1816 on credit and put down a substantial amount when he claimed it at the federal land office in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1817. He eventually sold 80 acres back to the government in 1827 as part of a buy-back program due to the delinquencies the Panic of 1819 had caused. Thomas paid off his 80 acres in 1827 (I believe, might have been 1828; my memory is a bit sluggish tonight) and purchased 20 acres of cleared land from a neighbor around that time, too.

When Thomas sold his land in early 1830, he also sold off 100 heads of hog and 200-300 bushels of corn, among other things. We know he was paid throughout his years in Indiana for furniture and other carpentry works he created. There is a record of a $40 corner cabinet Thomas made for a neighbor, but I'm sure others paid him in goods or crops.

I'd say poor by today's standards, but in eyes of folks living around Thomas and Abraham during his Indiana years, I'd say they were doing just fine.

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Thomas did lose farms in Kentucky due to title disputes, both at Sinking Springs Farm and Knob Creek Farm. He was involved in a few lawsuits due to it. Abraham said that the primary reason the family moved to Indiana was so that Thomas could obtain a free and clear title on his land holdings. Indiana was part of a federal land program where land was bought on credit through the government. Indiana gained statehood in December 1816 and Thomas and his family moved to Indiana directly on the heels of statehood.

Hello! New guy here. I once read an article about Thomas Lincoln's Indiana land deals. It was very interesting. At the time gov't land sold for $2 an acre on credit. 1/20 down, 1/5 due in 40 days, 1/4 due in two years, then 1/4 due each of the next two years. TL claimed 160 acres, paid $16 in Oct. 1817. Paid $64 in Dec 1817 (about a month late). Then made no more payments. In 1821 he filed for an extension which required a payment of $30 a year for 8 years. Then he made none of those payments. In 1827 he made a complicated transaction which included purchasing 80 acres in Posey county which was already 1/2 paid for. Then he relinquished the east half of his Spencer county land, which left him with eighty acres on which he owed $80. Then he relinquished the 80 acres in Posey county, which then gave him an $80 credit, which he applied to his Spencer county farm - leaving him free and clear. The author's idea was that TL was smarter than he's given credit for to enter into such a complicated arrangement. My theory is that he had help. James Gentry received a patent on the same date that TL did, which leads me to believe that business magnate Gentry was involved. He would have had the connections to have found out about the availability of land 40 or 50 miles away and how it could be used to retire the debt presumably more cheaply than a straight deal with the land office.