I think that yes, people (especially poor and poc) were forced into adulthood sooner than they are now, for a variety of reasons. But that does not mean that they were necessarily better equipped to deal with it, that they were any smarter, or more capable. They were still young as hell.

And with what we now know about brain development...

Hell we see the same thing with poor folks right now. Lots of people on this site (ie nerds) don't necessarily see it, but for folks at the bottom... plenty of them are married with families by 22. They're still young as hell.