Lincoln and His Father

[Donna McCreary]

(04-04-2013 11:57 AM)Liz Rosenthal Wrote:  I think that what we understand about the average life expectancy of people in the mid-19th century may give us the wrong impression about how long people actually lived. The average life expectancy was probably lowered significantly by the high rate of infant and child mortality in those days. If you look at the birth and death years of a lot of Lincoln's contemporaries, you'll see that a good many of them lived into their 70s, 80s and 90s.

It's possible that Americans of the mid-19th century looked at the terms "old" and "young" a bit differently than we do now. Maybe what Lincoln meant - and I could be wrong - was that he was "mature." In other words, he wasn't one of the up-and-comers just starting out with their whole lives ahead of them.

Just to illustrate the difference in word usage between then and now, they seem to have used the word "poor," with respect to economic status, a bit differently than we do now, also. My impression is that "poor," in the mid-19th century, could mean anything from dirt-poor to working class to struggling middle class. In fact, I'm not sure that the term "middle class" had the same currency it has had in the 20th and 21st centuries. Someone else here probably knows better than I.

Liz, I think you make a very good point about the meaning of "poor" during the 19th century. Over the years, the words used to describe the working class have changed.
In the 20th century, the terms "blue collar" and "white collar" emerged. Farmers obviously fall into the 'blue collar' catagory. Thanks to a study in the 1950's titled "White Collar - The American Middle Class," there seems to be an impression that "white collar" workers often have more money than "blue collar" workers. In reality, occupations are only one factor of family wealth.

An example I frequently use is a comment made to me by someone I have known since elementary school. She recently informed me that my people are "rural people" (farmers) and that her people are "urban people and college educated." Her theory was that while she inherited a house, cars, antiques, and money, I will inherite little to nothing because of my family's humble background. My parents left the farm years ago - so, I am not in line to inherit the family farm. However, those who have are not "poor." They are farmers - they are blue collar workers - but they are not poor. Yet, I have heard more than one of them discribe themselves as "poor, dirt farmers."
In a recent conversation with those who had grown up during the Great Depression, one lady reminded me that those who lived on farms were considered rich by those who lived in town. No one had jobs - no one had any money - but the people who lived on farms had food, milk, and eggs. By her definition, Thomas Lincoln was rich.