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A Classification of American Wealth |
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| Encyclopedia of American Wealth > Wealth Classification / List of Individuals ( 1776 ) |
Age |
Fortune (£) |
Activity |
Source of wealth |
| 1. Charles Carroll (III) of Carrolton | 39 |
Maryland |
110,000 |
|
Landowner | 80'000 acres in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York; Doughoregan and Carrolton manors; a share in the Baltimore Iron Works |
| 2. Robert Morris | 42 |
Pennsylvania |
110,000 |
|
Shipping merchant, banker and land speculator | Willing & Morris; Bank of North America; North American Land Co (owned over 2 million acres speculative land in the West) |
| 3. John Hancock | 40 |
Massachusetts |
78,000 |
|
Inheritance | Thomas Hancock & Co |
| 4. Thomas Nelson jr | 38 |
Virginia |
75,000 |
|
Plantations | Large plantations with over 400 slaves in York Co, Va; Offley Hoo and another plantation in Hanover Co, Va |
| 5. Francis Lewis | 63 |
New York |
67,000 |
|
Shipping Trade | Lewis & Annesley; 5'000 acres from a British land grant |
| 6. Lewis Morris III | 50 |
New York |
60,000 |
|
Manor Lord | Morrisania |
| 7. Philip Livingston jr | 60 |
New York |
53,000 |
|
Merchant | 120'000 acres in New York state |
| 8. Benjamin Harrison V | 50 |
Virginia |
45,000 |
|
Plantations | Berkeley Hundred (6 plantations with at least 17'000 acres and 188 slaves) |
| 9. George Clymer | 37 |
Pennsylvania |
40,000 |
|
Shipping Trade | Merediths & Clymer; land in Northumberland, Pa |
| 10. Carter Braxton | 40 |
Virginia |
30,000 |
|
Planter and Shipping Merchant | "Elsing Green" and "Chericoke"plantations; several ships |
| 11. Elbridge Gerry | 32 |
Massachusetts |
20,000 |
|
Shipping Trade | A mercantile concern with several ships at Marblehead, Mass. |
| 12. Joseph Hewes | 46 |
North Carolina |
20,000 |
|
Shipping Trade | A merchant house and a shipyard at Edenton, N.C.; several ships |
| 13. William Whipple (jr) | 46 |
New Hampshire |
20,000 |
|
Shipping Trade | Inherited from Cutt (ship-building) fortune; slave vessels and J & W. Whipple (West India trading) |
| 14. James Wilson | 34 |
Pennsylvania |
20,000 |
|
Jurist | Speculative land holdings in association with Robert Morris |
| 15. Benjamin Franklin | 70 |
Pennsylvania |
16,500 |
|
Printing and real estate | Philadelphia Gazette and Philadelphia real estate |
| 16. Thomas Heyward II | 30 |
South Carolina |
15,000 |
|
Law and plantations | Inherited rice plantations with at least 150 slaves |
| 17. Thomas Jefferson | 33 |
Virginia |
15,000 |
|
Plantations | Inherited Shadwell from father, plus 11'000 acres and 135 slaves(incl. Poplar Forest) from his wife; established Monticello (5'000 acres/130 slaves) |
| 18. Thomas Lynch jr (III) | 27 |
South Carolina |
15,000 |
|
Lawyer and planter | Inherited proceeds from Hopsewee (rice and indigo) plantation; Peachtree plantation; a law practice |
| 19. Edward Rutledge | 27 |
South Carolina |
15,000 |
|
Lawyer and landowner | A successful law practice; plantations in association with Charles Cotesworth Pinckney whose wife was a sister of Mrs Rutledge |
| 20. Richard Henry Lee | 44 |
Virginia |
13,500 |
|
Plantations | Chantilly (leased) + land in Prince William county |
| 21. Arthur Middleton II of Middleton Place | 34 |
South Carolina |
10,000 |
|
Inheritance (Plantations) | Inherited "Middleton Place" plantation |
| 22. William Paca | 36 |
Maryland |
10,000 |
|
Jurist | Large inheritance and a successful law practice |
| 23. Richard Stockton | 46 |
New Jersey |
10,000 |
|
Lawyer | A very successful law practice and an inherited estate near Princeton NJ |
| 24. Matthew Thornton | 62 |
New Hampshire |
10,000 |
|
Medicine | A successful medical practice and much land in Londonderry, NH |
| 25. George Wythe | 50 |
Virginia |
10,000 |
|
Lawyer | Inherited plantation in Elizabeth City Co; successful law practice in Williamsburg |
| 26. Francis Lightfoot Lee | 42 |
Virginia |
7,000 |
|
Plantations | Menokin and land in Loudoun county |
| 27. William Ellery | 49 |
Rhode Island |
5,000 |
|
Jurist | Inheritance from his father who was a successful shipping merchant in Newport RI |
| 28. William Floyd | 42 |
New York |
5,000 |
|
Farmer | A 4'000 acres farm in Suffolk County, Long Island, NY |
| 29. Lyman Hall | 52 |
Georgia |
5,000 |
|
Medicine and plantations | A medical practice in Sunbury, Ga; Knoll Hall's (rice) plantation (sold 1785) ; later Shell Bluff plantation |
| 30. William Williams | 45 |
Connecticut |
5,000 |
|
Merchant | mercantile business in Lebanon, Ct |
| 31. Francis Hopkinson | 39 |
New Jersey |
3,000 |
|
Lawyer | Inheritance from father, a wealthy lawyer from Philadelphia |
| 32. Roger Sherman | 55 |
Connecticut |
3,000 |
|
Merchant and lawyer | Country store with brother; law practice and considerable land holdings |
| 33. James Smith | 57 |
Pennsylvania |
3,000 |
|
Law and Iron manufacturing | Only lawyer practicing at York, Pa; Extensive iron manufactury on Coderus Creek |
| 34. Thomas Stone | 33 |
Maryland |
3,000 |
|
Lawyer and Planter | "Havre-de-Venture" plantation; a law practice |
| 35. George Taylor | 60 |
Pennsylvania |
3,000 |
|
Ironmaster | Savage Iron Works at Durham, Pa; unprofitable irown works in Northumberalnd Co, Pa |
| 36. Caesar Rodney | 48 |
Delaware |
2,000 |
|
Public Official | Inherited "Byfield" plantation (800 acres) near Dover, Del |
| 37. John Adams | 41 |
Massachusetts |
1,000 |
|
Lawyer | Inherited a farm and had a successful law practice |
| 38. Josiah Bartlett | 47 |
New Hampshire |
1,000 |
|
Medicine | A medical practice in Kingston, NH |
| 39. Samuel Chase | 35 |
Maryland |
1,000 |
|
Jurist | A law practice at Annapolis, Md |
| 40. Button Gwinnett | 41 |
Georgia |
1,000 |
|
Plantations | A moderately successful plantation on St. Catherine Island, Ga bought on credit |
| 41. John Hart | 65 |
New Jersey |
1,000 |
|
Farmer | A farm and gristmill in Hunterdon County NJ |
| 42. William Hooper | 34 |
North Carolina |
1,000 |
|
lawyer | A law practice at Wilmington NC |
| 43. Stephen Hopkins | 69 |
Rhode Island |
1,000 |
|
Jurist and printer | Providence Gazette and Country Journal |
| 44. Samuel Huntington | 45 |
Connecticut |
1,000 |
|
Jurist | A law practice in Norwich, Ct |
| 45. Thomas McKean | 41 |
Delaware |
1,000 |
|
Lawyer | A law practice |
| 46. John Morton | 52 |
Pennsylvania |
1,000 |
|
Jurist, Public official | A farm in Delaware Co, Pa |
| 47. George Read | 43 |
Delaware |
1,000 |
|
Jurist | A law practice at Newcastle, Del; renounced to his share in family heirloom |
| 48. George Ross | 46 |
Pennsylvania |
1,000 |
|
Jurist | A law practice at Lancaster, Pa |
| 49. Dr Benjamin Rush | 30 |
Pennsylvania |
1,000 |
|
Medical doctor | A medical practice |
| 50. Abraham Clark | 50 |
New Jersey |
200 |
|
Public Official | Inherited a farm; acquired no significant property |
| 51. John Penn | 35 |
North Carolina |
200 |
|
Lawyer | Inherited a modest plantation; acquired no significant property |
| 52. Samuel Adams | 54 |
Massachusetts |
100 |
|
Public official, brewer | Inherited a brewery from his father but failed in business |
| 53. Robert Treat Paine | 45 |
Massachusetts |
100 |
|
Lawyer | Inherited a failing mercantile business; acquired no significant property |
| 54. George Walton | 35 |
Georgia |
100 |
|
Lawyer | no significant property in 1776 but acquired confiscated Loyalist property near Augusta, Ga and built a country estate there in the 1790's |
| 55. John Witherspoon | 53 |
New Jersey |
100 |
|
Clergyman and educator | no significant property |
| 56. Oliver Wolcott | 50 |
Connecticut |
100 |
|
Public official and soldier | Member of a wealthy and distinguished family; no significant property (himself) |
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