Grace, William Russell, 1832–1904, American financier, b. Queenstown, Ireland. He was in business in England and Peru before establishing (1865) W. R. Grace & Company in New York City. After Peru's defeat by Chile, Grace was among those who underwrote the Peruvian national debt, in return for extensive business concessions. The Grace firm established branches in many Latin American countries after 1895 and developed steamship operations. In 1880, Grace became the first Roman Catholic mayor of New York City and in two reform administrations opposed Tammany.
See biography by his grandson, J. P. Grace (1953).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Business Leaders
