William Russell Grace (1832-1904), Irish-born American entrepreneur and politician, dominated commerce between Peru and the United States and promoted industrial and agricultural development in South America.

William R. Grace was born in Queenstown, Ireland, on May 10, 1832. Desiring adventure and travel, he went to sea at the age of 16 but returned 2 years later to work in his father's ship chandlery business. In 1846, at the height of the potato famine in Ireland, he joined a group emigrating to Peru. Shortly after arriving there, the group disbanded, and Grace went to work as a clerk in a ship chandlery firm in the port city of Callao. At that time guano, a natural fertilizer, was Peru's principal export to the United States and Europe. Aware of the opportunities for trade in this, Grace provided supplies for the guano fleets. By 1852, as a partner in a trading firm, he was traveling extensively in...