William John Grayson (12 November 1788-4 October 1863), magazinist, politician, and poet, was born in Beaufort, South Carolina, into the local plantation society. His father died in 1797 and the next year his mother married William Joyner, a wealthy planter. Grayson showed literary leanings early: attending the local grammar school, he had read Don Quixote by his twelfth birthday. His parents encouraged his intellectual development and in 1801 he was sent to prepare for Harvard or Yale at a private academy in New Utrecht, Long Island. He also attended the Newark (New Jersey) Academy before returning home in 1803 to finish his preparatory education at a local private school.

In February 1807 Grayson entered South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina). His earlier schooling allowed him to be admitted directly to the sophomore class. Here Grayson met most of the figures who were to be influential in South Carolina's history, and who...