ABSTRACT
The social origins of rich men in the cities of the northeast were remarkably similar, more than 90 per cent of them coming from wealthy, eminent, or successful families. A close analysis focusing on details and subthemes not immediately apparent in the larger pattern, reveals addi tional uniformities, suggesting that all of the great cities made up one homogeneous urban locale. And yet the unique histories of the cities, their varying age, size, wealth, their slightly unlike national, ethnic, and religious makeup, as well as their diverse recent pasts-New York City was in the midst of a dynamic expansion, Boston was trying hard to make an economic comeback, Brooklyn in 1841 had been an independent city for only seven years-gave to the social mobility pattern of each of them a special cast. W hat follows are sketches designed to illustrate typical family histories of the rich in each of the great cities. If the chapter is a fairly long one, it is because I believe concrete vignettes convey more vividly than statistical summaries the backgrounds charac teristic of successful men in the cities.
