The organization was established in 1845 as the Nautilus Insurance Company in New York City, with resources of $17,000. It was renamed the New York Life Insurance Company in 1849. Its first base camp were at 58 Wall Street from 1845 until 1846 at which time they were moved to 29 Wall Street. Ensuing locations included 68 Wall Street, 106 Broadway, and 112-114 Broadway. The primary president was James DePeyster Ogden, who served from 1845 until 1847. The current New York Life central command was planned by engineer Cass Gilbert and finished in 1928. The New York Life Building, at 51 Madison Avenue, was built amid the administration of Darwin P. Kingsley. Similarly as with other early insurance agencies in the U.S., in its initial years (1846–1848) at the command of its Southern operators, the organization protected the lives of slaves for their proprietors. These approaches were suspended at the bearing of the Trustees on April 19, 1848. The aggregate cases paid on slaves' lives totaled $1,050 Nautilus sold 485 slaveholder disaster protection strategies amid a two-year period in the 1840s. Their trustees voted to end the offer of such arrangements 15 years before the Emancipation Proclamation.