Was Thomas Lincoln actually poor?

[Troy Cowan]

(08-06-2012 09:29 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  We all know the story of Abraham Lincoln being born and growing up in poverty. Is that actually the case? Certainly compared to others back East the Lincoln's were poor. But was Thomas Lincoln poor? I read he owned land, had farms, etc. By the standards of the West in his day-was he considered poor? Or have writers imposed their standards on the story? I wonder if Thomas would have considered himself poor?

You ask for people's opinion if Thomas Lincoln was poor. Perhaps you would be interested in a minority opinion. (Being in the minority doesn't mean it is wrong.) At the time I will be talking about, there was no Thomas Lincoln. I will call him by his real name Thomas Linkhorn.

A young woman by the name of Nancy Hanks got herself pregnant. Her relatives arranged a marriage to a castrated drunk by the name of Thomas Linkhorn. He was given 5 gallons of whiskey to marry her. Thomas loved whiskey, not Nancy.

Thomas owned land near Elizabethtown, but he didn't build a home for his wife. He moved his new bride into a 14X14' shed located in an alley of Elizabethtown. It had four walls and a roof and little else. In this shed, she gave birth to a little girl named Sarah. Nancy did not love Thomas, and Thomas did not love Nancy.

Nancy became pregnant again. Thomas knew the child wasn't his and when he was offered a cabin and land from the man that got Nancy pregnant, he accepted. Nancy's lover bought the Linkhorn's a cabin near Nolin Creek. At this time Nancy had the highest standard of living she would ever have in her adult life. Dr. Christopher Graham, a neighbor, visited the Lincolns at Nolin Creek. He said the home was comfortable. Another neighbor, twenty-year-old Peggy Walters, said, “They were poor folks, but so were most of their neighbors." There, at Nolin Creek, Nancy gave birth to Abraham Linkhorn. Years later, he would select the name he preferred to be called--Abraham Lincoln.

The next place we find the Linkhorns living is at Knob Hill. It was an abandoned dugout and a very large step down in their standard of living.

The last place where Nancy lived is at Pidgin Creek. When they arrived, they had no place to live. They built a lean-to to live in. They live in this lean-to for over a year, while Thomas and Nancy built themselves a cabin. Nancy had to help with the cabin, raise a garden, cook for the family and take care of the children. Thomas wore Nancy out. Her body was depleted, worn out.

When they finished the one-room cabin it wasn't much better than living under the lean-to. It had no door to keep out snow and animals. Nancy had no furniture and was walking on a dirt floor. She had a log to sit on and a bed made of bearskin and dried leaves.

Yes, I would consider them poor.