Scott Nearing's studies[121] confirm those of Dr. Woods. Taking the most
distinguished men and women America has produced, he found that the
number produced in New England, per 100,000 population, was much larger
than that produced by any other part of the country. Rhode Island, the
poorest New England state in this respect, was yet 30% above New York,
the best state outside New England.
The advantage of New England, however, he found to be rapidly
decreasing. Of the eminent persons born before 1850, 30% were New
Englanders although the population of New England in 1850 was only 11.8%
of that of the whole country. But of the eminent younger men,--those
born between 1880 and 1889, New England, with 7.5% of the country's
population, could claim only 12% of the genius. Cambridge, Mass., has
produced more eminent younger men of the present time than any other
city, he discovered, but the cities which come next in order are
Nashville, Tenn., Columbus, Ohio, Lynn, Mass., Washington, D. C.,
Portland, Ore., Hartford, Conn., Boston, Mass., New Haven, Conn., Kansas
City, Mo., and Chicago, Ill.
There is reason to believe that some of the old New England stock, which
emigrated to the West, retains a higher fecundity than does that part of
the stock which remains on the Atlantic seaboard.
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