Grayson Family

Brothers Benjamin S. and Thomas Wigg Grayson were natives of South Carolina who came to Texas on the eve of the 1836 revolution. Both men were involved in shipping in Texas; some of the vessels with which they were associated were used to carry men and supplies destined for Texan forces in the struggle with Mexico.

After the war, Benjamin S. Grayson formed a mercantile partnership with J. M. Shreve in Velasco. In the early 1840s, he served as Sheriff of Austin County. Prior to the Mexican War, he established a business in Camargo, Mexico, and began shipping supplies to California in the early months of the gold rush. He died in San Francisco in 1849.

Thomas W. Grayson served as master of the steamer Yellow Stone and other vessels operating on the Texas coast after the revolution. He later moved inland and married Mrs. Tabitha Edwards (1822-1868) in Austin in 1844. He lived in the area of La Grange, New Braunfels, and Selma before settling on a ranch outside of San Antonio. In addition to his ranching activities, Grayson was involved in numerous land transactions, including the management of the holdings of his brother Benjamin’s estate.

Grayson and his wife had five children. His sister Elizabeth Mary Grayson (1804-1889) also lived with his family and was involved in the Benjamin Grayson estate. Thomas W. Grayson died in San Antonio in 1873.

Some of Thomas W. Grayson’s children settled in the Bexar County area, including Bennie S. Grayson, who first married John M. Pirie and then, after Pirie’s death, Joseph Neil Campbell. Her daughters, Emma E. Pirie and Bennie S. Campbell, residents of San Antonio, actively researched their family’s history, particularly the Grayson brothers’ connection with the Yellow Stone .

References

"Ben S. Grayson." Handbook of Texas Online . http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fgr28

Burkhalter, Lois Wood. " Yellow Stone ." Handbook of Texas Online . http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ety01 .

Grayson Family Papers, 1835-1959, Col 895, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

Thomas W. Grayson biographical file, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

Pirie, Emma E. "Thomas Wigg Grayson." Handbook of Texas Online . http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fgr30 .

Yellow Stone vertical file, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.