William John Grayson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1837
Preceded by	Robert W. Barnwell
Succeeded by	Robert Rhett
Member of the South Carolina Senate from St. Helena's Parish
In office November 27, 1826 – December 18, 1830
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from St. Helena's Parish
In office November 25, 1822 – December 20, 1825
In office November 22, 1813 – December 31, 1814
Personal details
Born	November 2, 1788 Beaufort, South Carolina
Died	October 4, 1863(1863-10-04) (aged 75) Newberry, South Carolina
Resting place	Charleston, South Carolina
Political party	Nullifier
Alma mater	South Carolina College
Profession	politician, poet, planter

William John Grayson (November 2, 1788 – October 4, 1863) was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina. He was also a poet.^[1]

Born in Beaufort, South Carolina, Grayson pursued classical studies and graduated from South Carolina College at Columbia in 1809, where he was a member of the Clariosophic Society. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1822. He became a practicing lawyer in Beaufort, South Carolina.

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

He died in Newberry, South Carolina, on October 4, 1863, and was interred in Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina.

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

• United States Congress. "William J. Grayson (id: G000404)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

• Full text of The Hireling and the Slave, Chicora, and Other Poems