William John Grayson (November 2, 1788 – October 4, 1863) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. He was also a poet.'Introduction', Hermione Lee, ''Sapphira and the Slave Girl'' by Willa Cather, Virago Modern Classics, page xxii

Biography

Born in

Beaufort, South Carolina Beaufort ( , a different pronunciation from that used by the city with the same name in North Carolina) is a city in and the county seat of Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South ...

, Grayson pursued classical studies, and was graduated from South Carolina College at Columbia in 1809, where he was a member of the

Clariosophic Society The Clariosophic Society, also known as ΜΣΦ (Mu Sigma Phi), is a literary society founded in 1806 at the University of South Carolina, then known as South Carolina College, as a result of the splitting in two of the Philomathic Society, wh ...

. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1822. He became a practicing lawyer in

. He served as member of the State House of Representatives from 1813 to 1815 and 1822 to 1825 and in the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

1826 to 1831. Grayson was elected commissioner in equity for Beaufort District in 1831 and resigned from the senate. He was elected as a Nullifier to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1837). He then served as collector of customs at Charleston from August 9, 1841, to March 19, 1853. After his term as collector of customs, he retired to his plantation. He was a frequent contributor to the ''Southern Quarterly Review]'. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' credits William J. Grayson with having first used the phrase "master race" in his poem "The Hireling and the Slave" (1855); the phrase denotes the relation between the white masters and black slaves: :For these great ends hath Heaven’s supreme command :Brought the black savage from his native land, :Trains for each purpose his barbarian mind, :By slavery tamed, enlightened, and refined; :Instructs him, from a master-race, to draw :Wise modes of polity and forms of law, :Imbues his soul with faith, his heart with love, :Shapes all his life by dictates from above.

Death

He died in

Newberry, South Carolina Newberry is a city in Newberry County, South Carolina, United States, in the Piedmont northwest of Columbia. The charter was adopted in 1894. The population was 10,277 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Newberry County; at one time it ...

, on October 4, 1863, and was interred in Magnolia Cemetery,

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

Bibliography

*''The Hireling and the Slave, Chicora, and Other Poems'' (1856)

References

External links

Full text of ''The Hireling and the Slave, Chicora, and Other Poems''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grayson, William John 1788 births 1863 deaths People from Beaufort, South Carolina Members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina Nullifier Party members of the United States House of Representatives Nullifier Party politicians American male poets 19th-century American politicians Burials at Magnolia Cemetery (Charleston, South Carolina)