The purpose of this project is to collect and analyze household data from manuscript schedules of the census for one state in the Northeast (Massachusetts) and one state in the Midwest (Ohio). These households will be matched with tax lists in the corresponding census years to obtain assessed values of real and personal property. The resulting data will create a time-series on inequality and on age patterns of wealth ownership from 1820 to 1910. Because similar data are available for other states, the approach could be extended to other states and regions in the country. The matched records will be used to study the determinants of wealth and to address questions on the course of inequality during industrialization, the evolution of life-cycle patterns of wealth accumulation, the economic achievements by occupation, the economic performance of ethnic minorities and women, and sources and implications of regional differences in inequality. The data collected will also shed light on theories of industrialization and give historical perspective to the modern debate over economic mobility and the cycle of poverty.
