2 This was the intent. A controversy quickly arose as to whether the first division of land in Providence was only for “use” or for ownership as well. This dispute led to another division which was less egalitarian. See Bartlett, ed., Records of Rhode Island Colony, I, 23.

3 David Grayson Allen found the following patterns in inventoried wealth:

Percent of Total Wealth Held By:

Hingham, Norfolk 1642-88

Hingham, Mass. 1654-92

Top 10%

31.9%

31.0%

Top 25%

66.2%

57.8%

Top 50%

89.3%

81.5%

Bottom 50%

10.7%

18.5%

This refers to personal estate only, as land was not included in English inventories; see Allen, In English Ways, 79.

4 The materialism of New Haven appeared also in the way that it seated its meetinghouse—mainly according to wealth rather than age. Many towns in the Massachusetts Bay Colony reversed this priority.