There is no evidence anywhere which I have uncovered to suggest that Abraham Lincoln owned slaves. This myth has been one that is extremely old and been propagated in far right circles for a long time, especially among neo-Confederates, and the modern Alt-Right movements, along with white supremacists.

Historian Gerald Prokopowicz specifically wrote a book on this Did Lincoln Own Slaves? (2008) and addressed this issue. It specifically seems to have been a development that came out of the realization that the far right white supremacists could not win moral ground in political discourse on the issue of slavery specifically because the majority of people began viewing slavery as having been a moral evil. As a result, they had to distance Lincoln from the fact that he was anti-slavery. And they do this by falsely claiming he had slaves.

However, there is no actual evidence to suggest he ever did, and good reason to think neither he nor his family ever did. Louis Warren, Lincoln's Youth: Indiana Years, Seven to Twenty-One, 1816–1830 (1991) has discussed Lincoln's pre-Presidential life quite in depth, and his family (though it was exaggerated quite a lot) was poor and likely could not even afford slaves. Furthermore, his family moved to Indiana when they were young where slave purchase was illegal since the 1700's. Lincoln also stated in 1860 that his family's move was partially propagated by their anti-slavery sentiments.

As such, there is simply no evidence anywhere that Abraham Lincoln owned slaves. This is a myth developed largely by white supremacists, far right and alt right groups attempting to blur the moral lines on racism and slavery, by and large, and also trying to blur the realities of America's past on the issue.