Guillermo Enrique Eliseo was one of the most influential Mexican businessmen of the early 20th century. The stockbroker and entrepreneur was the owner of various businesses including haciendas and mines in Mexico. Yet, he was not of Mexican descent. In fact, Eliseo was an African-American man who was born enslaved in Victoria, Texas, in 1864, a year before slavery was abolished in the state. His real name was William Henry Ellis. Growing up in Victoria, Texas, where his family had relocated, Ellis was less than 200 miles to the Mexican border. Enslaved men and women in the region at the...