William Russell Grace (May 10, 1832 – March 21, 1904) was an Irish-American politician, the first

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

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, and the founder of

W. R. Grace and Company W. R. Grace and Co. is an American chemical business based in Columbia, Maryland. It produces specialty chemicals and specialty materials in two divisions: Grace Catalysts Technologies, which makes catalysts and related products and technologies ...

Early life

Grace was born in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in Riverstown near the

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to James Grace and Eleanor May Russell ( née Ellen) while the family was away from home, and raised on Grace property at Ballylinan in Queens (now Laois) County near the town of Athy. He was a member of a prominent and well-to-do family who lived for a period at Brooklawn House on Love Lane (now Donore Avenue). In 1846, Grace sailed for New York against the wishes of his father, and worked as a printer's devil and a shoemaker's helper before returning to Ireland in 1848. For a period he attended Belvedere College before again leaving school. His nephew,

Cecil Grace Cecil Stanley Grace (1880 – 22 December 1910) was a pioneer aviator who went missing on a flight across the English Channel in 1910. Family Grace was born in Chile, the son of John William Grace of New York. His uncle was W. R. Grace, a ...

, attempted a crossing of the English Channel in December 1910 in an airplane, flying from Dover to Calais. However, in coming back he became disoriented and over Dover flew northeast over the

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toward the North Sea and was lost.

Career

William and his father, James Grace, traveled to

Callao, Peru Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists of the whole C ...

, in 1851, seeking to establish an Irish agricultural community. James returned home but William remained, where he began work with the firm of John Bryce and Co., as a

ship chandler A ship chandler is a retail dealer who specializes in providing supplies or equipment for ships. Synopsis For traditional sailing ships, items that could be found in a chandlery include sail-cloth, rosin, turpentine, tar, pitch, linseed oil, ...

. In 1854, the company was renamed Bryce, Grace & Company, in 1865, to Grace Brothers & Co., and then

Reform politics

Opposing the famous

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

, Grace was elected as the first Irish American Catholic mayor of

in 1880. He conducted a reform administration attacking police scandals, patronage and organized vice; reduced the tax rate, and broke up the Louisiana Lottery. Defeated in the following election, he was re-elected in 1884 on an Independent ticket but lost again the following time. During his second term, Grace received the Statue of Liberty as a gift from

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Philanthropy

Grace was a renowned philanthropist and humanitarian, at one point contributing a quarter of the aid delivered to

aboard the steamship ''Constellation'' during the Irish Famine of 1879. In 1897, he and his brother,

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

, founded the Grace Institute for the education of women, especially immigrants.

Personal life

On September 11, 1859, William was married to Lillius Gilchrist (1839–1922), the daughter of George W. Gilchrist, a prominent ship builder of

Thomaston, Maine Thomaston (formerly known as Fort St. Georges, Fort Wharf, Lincoln) is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,739 at the 2020 census. Noted for its antique architecture, Thomaston is an old port popular with tourists ...

, and Mary Jane (née Smalley) Gilchrest. Together, William and Lillius had eleven children, including: * Alice Gertrude Grace (born in South America, June 11, 1860), who married the New York architect Albert D'Oench in 1901. * Florence F. Grace (born in South America, September 20, 1861; died September 27, 1861). * Lilius Clemintina Grace (born in South America, October 24, 1864; died in Ireland, June 26, 1866). * Agnes Isadora Grace (born in Brooklyn, N.Y., April 4, 1867; died in New York City, March 8, 1884). * Mary Augusta Grace (born in Brooklyn, September 2, 1868; died there February 16, 1870). * Lilius Annie Grace (born in Brooklyn, September 1, 1870; died there August 30, 1871). * Joseph Peter Grace (born at Great Neck, N.Y., June 29, 1872; died there July 15, 1950). * Lilias Juanita Grace (born in New York City, March 30, 1874), who married George Edward Kent on July 12, 1898. * Louisa Nathalie Grace (born in New York City, December 23, 1875). * William Russell Grace, Jr. (born April 11, 1878; died in

Aiken, South Carolina Aiken is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Aiken County, in western South Carolina. It is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. Founded in 1835, Aiken was named after William Aiken, the president of the S ...

, March 31, 1943). * Caroline S. Grace (born April 22, 1879; died April 21, 1882). Grace died on March 21, 1904 at his residence, 31 East 79th Street, in

. His funeral was held at the Church of St. Francis Xavier on West 16th Street and he was buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn. His estate was valued at $25,000,000.

References

External links

*
William R. Grace
at the Catholic Encyclopedia. *Clayton, Lawrence A

in ''Irish Migration Studies in Latin America'' 4:4 October 2006 (www.irlandeses.org).

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grace, William R. 1832 births 1904 deaths American manufacturing businesspeople American Roman Catholics Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) Mayors of New York City Politicians from County Laois Deaths from pneumonia in New York City 19th-century American businesspeople People educated at Belvedere College