The answer is they didn't have ratings! Winning / placing in tournaments meant you were a good / better player.
As for calculations done today to give them a rating, yeah, at least one guy did that:
http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/
Before ELO rating system...
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I was wondering today before the ELO or Harkness rating systems were used by FIDE and USCF, how were players rated in the days of say Alekhine, Lasker, Capa or Steinitz? Have there been any calculations of these players that tell us what their strengths were in ELO, adjusted from their previous rating systems?