Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-04-30
RICH MEN FORTY YEARS AGO

Ihoney and Occupation.
a characteristic mark of recent times
nas oeen the extraordinary growth of
private fortunes. 1t is one that es
peSia,iy attracts the popular attention.
an. inc Puoilc never tires of reading
u ~, ,,s newspapers of rich men and their
iii,ohs' Popular estimates of the
wealth. OF individuals may be far from
'ie truth, but If we take mentally an
average OF those which we hear we
gam some idea of what constitutes
wealth. or great wealth. in these
days.
Inc meaning of such figures becomes
greater II we can compare them with
those OF former period 1t was the
GOOD fortune of the writer to unearth
In New England garnet little book
emitted The Rich Men of Massachu-
sets. The book of some two hundred
pages, published in Boston in 1852. is
marked second edition. new and cor
rected 1t is a list of the rich men of
massachusetts,, giving the amount of
the fortune of each and in many cases
Drlef notices of their careers. Because
the book is thirty-nine years old it
VIII not do to have an overweening
confidence in it's statements. None
the less, after making due allow
ances, the list will throw an in
structive light on the subject of wealth
then and now
On the cover page we find the aston
lshing statement, intended to excite our
wonder and admiration, that the list
contains nearly 1000 names represent
ing s2S4,6S9, 900. Truly, according to
present notions, the number of names
Is much more imposing than that of
dollars. AT present there are without
doubt several persons in the country
who can count in their private fortune
sum certainly equal to the half of
that possessed in 1852 by 1000 men in
Massachusetts But let us lool, more
closely to find the current idea of a rich
man at that time. Exactly we find in
the book 1920 names, which at total
of 1881, GS9,O00. would give an average
of nearly S15O,OOO.
The value of the average depends on
the elements which compose it. Of
greater interest is the limit where, in
the view of the editor, riches COM
menced. This in Boston is fixed at $780,
600 and in the rest of the state at $780,
600. AT the conclusion of the list the
editor gives a summary in which we
find that among the rich men included
in the list eighteen owned over 81, OOO,-
900, ten just 81 1000, 900, seven $3.50, 600,
thirty-three 100000, and 149 $3.50, 900.
The largest fortune on the list is So, 5OO,-
OOO
This was the amount owned by the
Boston merchant, Ebenezer Francis.
The foundations of the fortune were
laid in foreign trade, and the fortune
built up by money lending and bank
ing. Mr.. Francis was bank presi-
dent and treasurer of Harvard college.
The next name on the list is the
well-known Abbott Lawrence, a man
of mark in business and political life. a
successful merchant and manufacturer,
a member of congress and minister to
England. He is credited with a fortune
of 81, 900, 600. Among other millionaires
of the time we may find such solid Bos-
ton names as Appleton, Sears, Sturgis
and others.
The editor gives summary of the
professions and occupations of the
names on the list. This is not complete,
but gives us a good view. Among them
are 40 farmers, ~ manufacturers of
cotton, wooden, etc, 563 merchants
and other traders, 81 lawyers and
Judges, a. physicians, IS clergymen, 81
brokers, 13 publishers, 4 editors, 81
shoemakers and dealers, Is tailOrs and
cloth dealers, is carpenters and ship
builders, II masonS, 23 butchers. and is
distillers. This shows in some measure
the source of the fortunes. 1t gives a
notice for LII cases out of the 1,92O re-
corded This gives nothing definite
enough for the calculation of the per-
centages. but certain general tenden
cies are none the less marked.
Observe, for instance, the relative
pared with merchants in those days Il
is evident that we are not dealing will
the Massachusetts of to-day. but with ;
mainly commercial people. This i'm
preston is strengthened by reading o
the list, which shows a large numbe
of retired captains and other per
sons in foreign trade among the ricl
merchants.
1t is interesting to note that among
the 1,92O no less than 775 began lif
poor and owed practically their who'll
fortune to their own labors- Accordin!
to the editor 437 had also been aScer
tained to be more or less benevolent.
1t was the editors purpose, accordln!
to his preface, to give encouragement
to youth and to point out the beautie
of benevolence, and hence Throughout
he Laws stress on this point Some o
the character sketches are very in
structive and contain many instances o
rare pluck and endurance.
The reader will naturally make com
parsons with the present day. In thi
matter numerous facts will presen
themselves as a measure of the change
Before closing it may not be amiss t
give briefly some materials for such
comparison We will not insist on tn
accuracy of the statements, but Civ
them for what they are worth Som
time since Thomas G. Shearman, O
New York. published in the Forum
calculation of the wealth of individual
throughout the United States. He find
that seventy persons, owning more thai
$50, 200, 900 each, have a total wealth o
So, roo, 600. 900. or an average of NOR
than So, 500. 900 each.
The figures were the subject of mucl
controversy at the time of their publica
ton, but they might be grossly eNag
gerated and yet furnish striking con
trast with our figures for Massachusetts
forty wears ago. Similar testimony
borne by some facts gathered by tn