Warwick Neck’s Aldrich Mansion has hosted many spectacular events, but none can top the first wedding held there in 1901 when a daughter of the original owner married the only son of the richest man in America. It was a marriage years in the making and a merger that would send ripples throughout society and shape American culture forever.

The bride was Abby Aldrich, one of the 11 children of the Rhode Island senator and Republican Party leader Nelson Aldrich. The groom was John D. Rockefeller, Jr., whose father had founded Standard Oil. The couple had met seven years earlier when he was a sophomore at Brown. Both hailed from powerful families, but the similarities between them ended there. Like other members of her family, Abby was affable, open-minded, and progressive in her views; he was reserved, reclusive and rigid. Each bringing different strengths to the marriage, they formed a strong bond able to bridge their differences. 

The Rockefeller family arrived from New York for the wedding with 15 security guards and took up three floors of Providence’s Narragansett Hotel. The wedding ceremony was a relatively short, simple, and intimate affair taking place in the teahouse at the water’s edge of the 260-acre estate. Nothing else about the wedding could be described as such. 

Looming at the top of the hill was the imposing 96-room French Renaissance chateau, a beaux arts masterpiece by Carriere and Hastings, the construction of which was started five years before. The estate, which Aldrich named Indian Oaks, would take 16 years to complete. Built by nearly 200 craftsmen, many of whom came from Europe, it rivaled any Newport mansion for its scale and opulence. In addition to the 56,000 sq. ft. main house, it included two gatehouses, a 10,000 sq. ft. stable, a 7,500 sq. ft boathouse and more. Topping the 15-story tower of one dependency was an enclosed observation deck that afforded panoramic views, while far below an underground railroad tunnel to the main house kept staff, supplies, and tradesmen out of sight. 

Of all Indian Oaks’ structures, the teahouse where Abby’s wedding took place was among the most endearing. To accommodate the more than 600 guests invited to the wedding breakfast following the ceremony, however, a 7,000 sq. ft. annex was built by William Gilbane & Brother (still thriving today as Gilbane). Most guests arrived from Providence via the steamers Bay Queen and Mount Hope that docked at the estate’s private wharf. A fleet of 45 electric cars hired for the event delivered others. Wedding gifts included everything from a solid gold tea service to a house in New York, where the newlyweds would make their home and raise six children.

Their start in life was vastly different from that of the bride’s father, who essentially started from scratch. Though Nelson Aldrich descended from distinguished Rhode Island roots that included Roger Williams, he was born in Foster, RI. His father was a lowly millhand, but Aldrich would rise to become widely known as the “general manager of the United States.” In his 30 years as a senator, he grew enormously rich through insider trading. He is credited for structuring the forerunner of the Federal Reserve System, which helped prevent fiscal inelasticity that caused financial panics. He also unwittingly helped introduce federal income tax, which ironically marked an end to the Gilded Age, whose movers and shakers were all gloriously entertained at Indian Oaks.

Among his most lasting achievements was bringing Abby Rockefeller into the world. It was she who urged her husband to support progressive causes that sparked cultural change and enacted positive social reform. In addition to properly steering her husband’s inheritance from America’s first billionaire, she dedicated herself to everything from good works to artworks. One of her greatest legacies was helping establish New York’s Museum of Modern Art, which stands where the Rockefeller former townhouse once stood.

In 1939, Abby along with her many siblings sold Indian Oaks including 85 acres to the Providence Diocese for $75,000—about the cost their father paid for the vaulted ceiling in just one room several decades before, or what some weddings might cost there today.