The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1889-12-29
AMERICAN MIILIoNAIRES.
Some of the People Who Own Most o
the United States.

some oil the People Who own Most
the United States
In spite of the rapid increase in the
number of millionaires in the United
States in recent years, the popular notion
is that wealth is yet very much more
evenly distributed in this country than
in England. Mr.. Thomas G. Shearman,
the well known New York statistIclan,
has been engaged for some time In col
lectiug facts to show, as precisely as pos
sible, the proportion of the wealth of the
country held by few rich men and fam
lilies; and he finds a greater concentra-
ton of wealth here than in any other
country. The results of his investigation
will appear in The Forem for November,
from advance sheets of which the fol-
lowing facts are taken. Mr. Shearman
makes the following enumeration of own
ers of more than 800 900, 600 EACH
$3.50, 900, 000-J. j. Astor and Trinity
Church.
100000, 0O0-C. Vanderbilt, w. K. Van
deebilt, Jay Gould, Leland Stanford. j.
ID. Rockefeller.
s70,o6J.OO O-Estase of A. Packer.
800, 600 OO0-John l. Blair. Estate of
Charles Crocker
= IL
Aston, Russell Sage, r. A. Stevens. Estate
of Moses Taylor, estate of Brown & ives.
1000, 000-P. d. Armour, +. L. Anles.
William Rockefeller, HI. NJ. Flagler,
Powers q Weightman, estate of P. Goelet.
$35, ooO,oo0--C. 2. Huntington, d. o.
Mllls. estates OF L. A. Scott and J. w.
Garrett.
$3O, 900 ooo-G. B. Roberts, Charles Pratt,
Ross Winans, Z. B. Coke, Claus Spreck-
els, A. Belmont, r. j. Livingston. Fred
Weyerhauser, Mrs. Mark Hopkins, Mrs.
Hetty Green, estates of S. " Hardness,
r: ". Coleman, |. NJ Singer.
$25, 900 000-A. j. Drexel, J. S. Morgan.
]. P. Morgan, Marshal Field, David
Dows, J. G; Fair, f. L. Gerry, estates of
Governor Fairbanks, A. T. Stewart and
A, Schermerhorn. &
$22, 000, 000--O III. Payne. estates Of F.
A. Drexel, ]. V. Williamson and w. +.
Weld.
$40, 900, ooo-F. w. Vanderbilt Theodore
Hayemeyer, II. o. Havemeyer, w. G.
Warden, w. p. Thompson, Mrs. Shenley,
]. b. Haggin, H. A. Hutchins, estates of
w. Sloane, e. S. Higgings. C, Tower.
William Thaw, DR.. Hostetter, William
Sharon, Peter Donohue.
These seventy names represent an
aggregate wealth of So zoe, O00, 900. an
average of more than S37, 500, 600 each.
Although Mr.. Sherman, in making this
estimate, did not look for less than
twenty millionaires, he discovered Incl
dentally fifty others worth more than
$4,000 each; and he says that list of ten
persons can be made whose wealth
averages S100,000,000 each, and another
list of 100 persons whose wealth averages
$25, 900, 000 No such lists can be made up
in any other country. "The richest
Dukes of England y he SAYS, ''fall below
the average wealth of a dozen American
citizens; while the greatest bankers, mer-
chants and railway magnates of England
cannot compare in wealth with many
Americans"
The average annual income of the rich
est hundred Englishmen is about $780,
600, but the average annual average in
come of the richest hundred Americans
cannot be less than 81 200, 900, and proba-
bly, exceeds 81 500, 900. The richest of the
Rothschilds, and the world renowned
banker, baron Overstoue, each left about
$17000,000. Earl Dudley, the owner of
the richest iron mines, left 500 600, 900.
The Duke of Buccleuch (and the Duke of
pocket left about $50, 100000. The Mar
quis of Butte was worth, in 1872. about
$28 900, 900 in all. The Duke of Norfolk
may be worth SAC, 100000, and the Duke of
West Minister perhaps $50, O00, 600
Mr.. ohearman's conclusion is that 25,-
600 persons own one-hah the wealth Of
the United States, and that the whole
wealth of the country is practically
owned by %, 600 persons, or one in sixty
of the adult male population; and he pre-
diets, from the rapid recent concentration
OF wealth, that under the present condi-
tions so, 600 persons will practically own
all the wealth of the country in thirty
years-or less than one in 500 of the adult
male DODTllatiOn