Richard S. Aldrich

Richard Steere Aldrich (February 29, 1884 – December 25, 1941) was an American lawyer and politician. He was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and served in the Rhode Island State Senate and the Rhode Island House of Representatives.

Richard S. Aldrich
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1933
Preceded by	Walter Russell Stiness
Succeeded by	John Matthew O'Connell
Member of the Rhode Island Senate
In office 1916–1918
Member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives
In office 1914–1916
Personal details
Born	Richard Steere Aldrich February 29, 1884 Washington, D.C., United States
Died	December 25, 1941 (aged 57) Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Resting place	Swan Point Cemetery Providence, Rhode Island
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Janet Innis White
Children	Richard Steere Aldrich Jr.
Parents	Nelson W. Aldrich Abby Pearce Chapman
Relatives	Lucy Aldrich (sister) Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (sister) Winthrop W. Aldrich (brother)
Alma mater	Yale Harvard Law School
Occupation	Attorney Politician

Early life and education

Aldrich was born in Washington, D.C., where his father, Nelson W. Aldrich, was serving in Congress.[1] He was raised in Providence, Rhode Island and attended the public schools. He graduated from Hope Street High School in Providence in 1902,[2] from Yale University in 1906,[3] and from Harvard Law School in 1909.[4]

In 1911, he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law in New York City.[5] He returned to Providence in 1913, and continued practicing law.

Political career

He moved to Warwick, Rhode Island[6] and became involved in politics and was a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1914-1916,[7] and served in the Rhode Island Senate from 1916-1918.[8] In July 1923 he became a member of the Rhode Island Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.[9]

Aldrich was elected as a Republican candidate to the Sixty-eighth Congress and to the four succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1923 to March 3, 1933.[10] He was not a candidate for renomination in 1932. While in Congress, he spoke out against the Immigration Act of 1924, that limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country.[11]

After leaving Congress, he resumed his legal career in Providence until his death there on December 25, 1941. He is interred in Swan Point Cemetery in Providence.

Family prominence

Aldrich was born into a family descended from John Winthrop,[12] William Wickenden, Roger Williams and John Steere.[13][14]

He was the son of Nelson W. Aldrich and Abby Pearce Chapman. His father was a leader of the Republican Party in the Senate, where he served from 1881 to 1911.[15]

His sister Abigail Greene "Abby" Aldrich[16] was a philanthropist who married philanthropist John Davison Rockefeller, Jr.,[17] and their second son Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was a four-term Governor of New York who campaigned for the Republican presidential nomination in 1960, 1964, and 1968, and was named Vice President of the United States under President Gerald Ford by the Congress in 1974.[18]

His brother was Winthrop Williams Aldrich, who served as chairman of the Chase National Bank.[19]

Personal life

Aldrich married Janet Innis White on April 30, 1921.[20] Their son was also named Richard Steere Aldrich.[21]

References

1. "ALDRICH, Nelson Wilmarth, (1841 - 1915)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
2. Rhode Island. Dept. of State (1916). Manual, with Rules and Orders, for the Use of the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island. Rhode Island. Dept. of State. p. 393.
3. Yale (1916). The Yale Alumni Weekly Vol XXVI No 1. Yale. p. 314.
4. Yale University (1910). Catalogue of the Officers and Graduates of Yale University in New Haven Connecticut. The University. p. 226.
5. Fifield, James Clark (1918). The American Bar. J.C. Fifield Company. p. 599.
6. Rhode Island. Dept. of State (1916). Manual, with Rules and Orders, for the Use of the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island. Rhode Island. Dept. of State. p. 393.
7. Fifield, James Clark (1918). The American Bar. J.C. Fifield Company. p. 599.
8. Yale (1916). The Yale Alumni Weekly Vol XXVI No 1. Yale. p. 314.
9. http://interactive.ancestry.com/2204/32596_242208-00341?pid=464743&backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3findiv%3d1%26db%3dSARMemberApps%26gss%3dangs-d%26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26gsfn%3dnelson%26gsfn_x%3d0%26gsln%3daldrich%26gsln_x%3d0%26MSAV%3d1%26uidh%3dvt7%26pcat%3d39%26fh%3d2%26h%3d464743%26recoff%3d%26ml_rpos%3d3&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true
10. Legislative Reference Bureau (1923). Wisconsin Blue Book, 1923. Legislative Reference Bureau. p. 684.
11. Gerstle, Gary (2001). American Crucible: Race and Nation in the Twentieth Century. Princeton University Press. p. 116.
12. "Descendants of John Bigelow and Mary Warren". Ancestry.com. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
13. William G. McLoughlin, Rhode Island, a History, (W.W. Norton & Co. 1986), 149
14. James Pierce Root, Steere Genealogy: A Record of the Descendants of John Steere, who Settled in Providence, Rhode Island, about the year 1660, (Providence: Riverside Press, 1890).
15. "ALDRICH, Nelson Wilmarth, (1841 - 1915)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
16. "Abby Greene Aldrich Rockefeller, 1874-1948". Rockefeller Archive Center. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
17. "Abby John D. Rockefeller, 1874-1960". Rockefeller Archive Center. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
18. "Rockefeller Family Archives". Rockefeller Archive Center. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
19. Lowe, T. (1916). National Courier, Volume 7, Issue 35. T. Lowe. p. 13.
20. Yale (1920). Yale Alumni Weekly, Volume 30. Yale. p. 920.
21. "Paid Notice: Deaths ALDRICH, FRANCES "DAISY" DAGGETT". The New York Times. Retrieved April 7, 2014.

Further reading

• Kert, Bernice. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller: The Woman in the Family. New York: Random House, 1993.
• Stephenson, Nathaniel W. Nelson W. Aldrich: A Leader In American Politics. 1930.

External links

• United States Congress. "Richard S. Aldrich (id: A000084)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Richard S. Aldrich at Find a Grave

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.