ABSTRACT
An earlier study, basing its conclusions on an 1846 edition of Moses Beach's W ealthy Citizens, held that "finance and industry" had little to do with the amassing of fortunes in antebellum New York City.2 That
TABLE 4-1. The Occupations of New York City's Wealthiest Persons in 1828*
Occupation Percentage of
Rich Population
Merchants (including brokers, auctioneers, agents) 78 Bank and corporation officers 3 Attorneys 7 Manufacturers 3 Proprietors 2 Physicians 1 Widows 3 Builders 1 Owners of wharves, warehouses, yards 1 Miscellaneous 1
Too
finance was insignificant is arguable, but the second part of that judg ment is beyond cavil, and not for New York City alone. Very few men among the urban rich depended for their profits upon the manufacture of goods, while fewer still (a mere handful) were managers or heavy investors in factories. The Lowells, Appletons, and Lawrences of Boston were hardly the typical capitalists of their day. More characteristic of the industrial involvement of the rich was Philip Hone's investment in textile mills in New York state. Although Hone derived emotional as well as financial profit from his directorship in the Matteawan Cotton and Machine Company, his business involvements in non-manufacturing concerns engaged much more of his time and capital. Typically, fewer than 5 per cent of the richest men in any of the great cities were described as "manufacturers" in the occupational listings of general and business city directories; and many of these "manufacturers" actually engaged more heavily in the sales than in the production of the goods identified with their names.
