[6] For his early education, Aldrich attended the public schools of New Salem, Massachusetts.

At the age of sixteen, Aldrich entered the academy in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts.

[3] After he left the academy, Aldrich went into teaching, first in Ashfield, Massachusetts, later, in 1837, in Tappahannock, Virginia.

[3] In December 1846, Aldrich moved to Barre, Massachusetts, where he opened a law office.

[3] It was as the mayor of Worcester that Aldrich was present at the battle of Antietam because he had gone to the front to visit soldiers from the city.

[3][4] In 1873 Governor Washburn appointed Aldrich as an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court.