She was a strong supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt during his presidential campaign of 1932; when he was elected to office, he named Ross to the federal post of director of the United States Mint, making her the first woman to hold that post.
Ross was born Nellie Davis Tayloe on November 29, 1876, in St. Joseph, Missouri. The daughter of James Wynn Tayloe and Elizabeth Blair Green Tayloe, she had distinguished ancestors on both sides of her family. Her father came from an influential Southern family that had included the builder of the famed Octagon House in Washington, D.C., the home of President James Madison and First Lady Dolley Madison after the burning of the White House in the War of 1812. Her mother's family boasted a distant relationship to President George Washington. Despite such a background, Ross's early years were not remarkable. She attended both private and public schools and in addition received some private instruction. After her family moved to Omaha, Nebraska, she entered a teacher training program for two years and then spent a short time teaching kindergarten.
Ross met the young lawyer William Bradford Ross while visiting relatives in Tennessee.
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