25. Mr. Bryan Fairfax as also Messrs. Grayson & Phil. Alexander came here by Sunrise. Hunted & catchd a fox with them & My Lord his Br. & Colo. Fairfax all of whom with Mrs. Fx. & Mr. Watson of Engd. dind here.
Benjamin Grayson (d. 1757) immigrated to Virginia from Scotland and built Belle Air, two miles south of Occoquan Creek, Prince William County. He married twice-widowed Susannah Monroe (1695–1752). Of their four children this Mr. Grayson was probably William (c.1736–1790), the third son, who, after graduating from the College of Philadelphia (now University of Pennsylvania) in 1760, returned to practice law in Dumfries, which became the Prince William County seat in 1762 (
, 91).Mr. Watson of England is possibly Josiah Watson, who settled in Alexandria as a merchant before the Revolution. In answer to a query from the Whitehaven tobacco partnership of Dixon & Littledale, Harry Piper of Alexandria wrote on 14 July 1775: “Mr. [Josiah] Watson has been here and Trading Now about two or three Years, and is generally esteemed by all his acquaintances” (Piper Letterbook, ViU).