Joseph Peter Grace, Sr.

Who was Joseph Peter Grace, Sr.?

Joseph Peter Grace, Sr. was an American businessman, polo player, and owner of Thoroughbred horses in the sport of steeplechase racing.

Born at Great Neck, New York, the son of businessman and Mayor of New York City, William Russell Grace. Joseph Grace graduated from Columbia University. In 1908 he married Janet Macdonald, the daughter of Charles B. Macdonald, a major figure in early American golf who built the first 18-hole course in the United States. She died on December 31, 1937 at age fifty-three.

A polo player, in 1911 Joseph Grace purchased a 198-acre estate in the Lakeville district of Long Island from Almeric H. Paget, son-in-law of William Collins Whitney. He would acquire a stable of polo ponies as well as Thoroughbreds used in Point to point steeplechase events.

A devout Roman Catholic, Joseph Grace was a member of the international organization the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a Catholic organization that aids the sick and poor through the establishment of hospitals and clinics around the world. He also served as president of Grace Institute, a charity created in 1897 by his father and his uncle, Michael Grace, that provided tuition-free education and training in business and administrative skills to economically disadvantaged women.