Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich (1841-1915)
U.S. Senator from Providence, Rhode Island, "General Manager of the Nation"
He was a powerful U.S. Senator from Rhode Island who rose from being a grocery clerk to becoming one of the most influential senators of his era. He served in the Senate from 1881 to 1911 and was one of the "Big Four" key Republicans who largely controlled the party. As chairman of the Finance Committee from 1898 to 1911, he became an expert on economic policy. His work on the Aldrich-Vreeland Currency Act of 1908 and leadership of the National Monetary Commission helped prepare the way for the Federal Reserve System which he organized and co-founded in 1910 with his personal secretary Arthur Shelton, A. Piatt Andrew, Paul Warburg, Henry Davison, Benjamin Strong, and Frank Vanderlip. He led the conservative, business-oriented wing of the Republican Party during the McKinley, Roosevelt, and Taft administrations. He lived between his mansion (see images) at 110 Benevolent Street in Providence and his country estate (see images) "Indian Oaks" that overlooked Narragansett Bay at Warwick, Rhode Island. He had 11-children of whom eight lived to adulthood, notably Abby Rockefeller.
