Daily AncestorCapitalist
In the census, capitalist meant a person who lived mainly on interest from loans, stocks or bonds, not a political label.
The 1900 census told enumerators to report a person whose income came mostly from money lent at interest, or from stocks and bonds, as capitalist, and one living on rents as landlord.
Seeing capitalist in the occupation column is a clue to look for probate, bank and land records showing what the investments were.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1880 to 1910 census
Jas. Hollis, 62, Capitalist, Mass.
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Daily Ancestor. "Capitalist." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/capitalist. Last checked 2026-10-01.