Thomas Lincoln, like most adult white men in the United States, was obliged to serve in his state's militia. In 1795, at the age of seventeen, he served a few months for the defense of the frontiers of Washington County, Kentucky, against Indian raids. Ten years later, on September 17, 1805, he was honored with nomination to the rank of ensign in Hardin County's Third Regiment. Two years later, perhaps as a symbol of his position, he purchased a sword at a local estate auction. Because many Kentucky militia records have been lost, the full story of his service is impossible to know. Under Kentucky law, his term as ensign should have lasted at least three years. In any case, he remained liable for Kentucky militia service through the period of the War of 1812 and the family's move to Indiana in 1816.