Was Thomas Lincoln actually poor?

[RJNorton]

You are welcome, Craig. I checked Troy's book, and there is no footnote.

[Gene C]

According to Carl Sandburg's "Abraham Lincoln" chpt 1 Wilderness Begininngs :
"In the spring of 1811, Tom Lincoln moved his family 10 miles northeast to a 230 acre farm he had bought on Knob Creek, where the soil was a little richer an there were more neighbors"
"An 1814 tax book listed him as 15th among the 98 property owners names"
" In 1816 he paid taxes on 4 horses"

When they moved to Indiana, "The Government was selling him the land at $2.00 an acre; the $80 he had paid was one-fourth of the purchase price...". So he purchased 160 acres. For that time period, I don't consider that poor.

"Dennis Hanks later said, Tom had a kind o way with women, and maybe it was somethin' she (Sarah Bush Johnson) took comfort in to have a man that didn't drink an cuss none"