Abraham Lincoln the Elder - Pennsylvanian

Will Keene wrote me to say that these Lincolns were not a family with Virginia roots .... that the Lincolns passed through Virginia en route from Pennsylvania to what would become Kentucky. He is correct.

That would make my comments about Mordecai observing Virginia social arrangements post-inheritance inoperative.

Abraham did achieve prosperity in Pennsy which he leveraged in Virginia and then maximized in what would become Kentucky.

Of the Berks County Lincolns in PA: "The Lincolns were prominent in Berks county. Thomas, brother of Mordecai, was sheriff of the county, and all owned land. Mordecai was a merchant in Berks county and a man of means. In 1791 he visited his son Benjamin, who prior to 1791 had gone to Fayette county, Pennsylvania. He liked the country so well that on June 29, 1791, he purchased of Isaac Pearce the tract of land called "Discord," containing three hundred and twenty acres. He finally settled in the county himself, and continued his residence until his death in 1812."

Of the Virginia stage of the family's situation: "John ("Virginia John") settled in Berks county, Pennsylvania, later in Virginia, His son, Abraham, carried on an extensive land transaction[s] in Augusta county, Virginia, and later in Kentucky, where he was killed in the spring of 1784 by an Indian, while at work in his field."

Thanks Will.