Grayson, William, 1736-1790

<p>William Grayson (1736 – March 12, 1790) was a soldier, lawyer, and statesman from Virginia. He was one of the first two U.S. Senators from Virginia, and belonged to the Anti-Federalist faction; he was also the first member of the United States Congress to die while holding office.</p>

<p>Grayson was born in 1736 to Benjamin and Susannah (Monroe) Grayson at Belle Aire Plantation, in what is now Woodbridge, Virginia. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, and received his degree in Law from the University of Oxford and was knowledgeable in Latin, Greek, and English history.</p>

<p>Through his mother Grayson was a cousin to James Monroe. His wife was Eleanor Smallwood, a sister of Maryland Governor William Smallwood. They had four sons and a daughter. A grandson, William Grayson Carter, became a Kentucky state senator; another grandson was Confederate General John Breckinridge Grayson.</p>

GRAYSON, William, (Uncle of Alexander Dalrymple Orr), a Delegate and a Senator from Virginia; born in Prince William County, Va., around 1740; attended the College of Philadelphia, now the University of Pennsylvania; pursued classical studies in England at the University of Oxford and studied law in London; returned to Virginia and practiced law in Dumfries; during the Revolutionary War was commissioned lieutenant colonel and aide-de-camp to General George Washington and promoted to colonel January 1777; commissioner of the Board of War 1780-1781; resumed the practice of law; member, Virginia house of delegates 1784-1785, 1788; member of the Continental Congress 1785-1787; delegate to the Virginia convention of 1788 for the adoption of the Federal Constitution, which he opposed; elected to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1789, until his death in Dumfries, Va., March 12, 1790; interment on the old family estate at Belle Air, near Dumfries, Va.

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li>02/10/1789 VA US Senate - Initial Election Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>06/01/1788 Virginia Ratifying Convention Won 50.00% (+0.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1786 VA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1785 VA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1784 VA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
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