GRAYSON.
William Grayson was a native of Spotsylvania, and came
to Albemarle some time before the Revolutionary War. In
1764 he bought land on the head of Mechum's River from
Speaker John Robinson, who was then selling off the immense
tracts in Rockfish valley, patented by his brother-in-law,
John Chiswell. Having sold this property a few years
after, he purchased from Gamaliel Bailey and Obadiah
Martin at what was then known as the Little D. S., where
the old Richard Woods Road forks with that passing through
Batesville, and where his descendants have been living ever
since. In 1804 he sold a small parcel at this place to William
Simpson, who there established a tanyard that for
many years went by his name, and afterwards by the name
of Grayson, and that was one of the most noted landmarks
in that neighborhood. Simpson in 1818 sold it to Joseph
Grayson, a grandson of William. William died in 1829,
having attained the remarkable age of ninety-seven years.
His wife was Ann, daughter of Thomas Smith, and his
children were John, Thomas, Martha, Elizabeth, the wife of
Joseph Sutherland, and Susan, the wife first of Isaac Wood,
and secondly of a Tomlin. Joseph Grayson married Rhoda,
daughter of Daniel White, and died in 1867. His children
were Thomas, who married Mary, daughter of John Jones,
Ann, the wife of James H. Shelton, Frances, Elizabeth, the
wife of Benjamin F. Abell, John and William.
