Christopher von Graffenried
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Christoph von Graffenried (1661 - 1743)

Baron Christoph (Christopher) "Lord of Worb" von Graffenried
Born in Worb, Bern, Schweizmap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Father of , and
Died at age 81 in Worb, Bern, Schweizmap
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Profile last modified | Created 10 Jan 2015
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Christopher von Graffenried was a Palatine Migrant.
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Contents

Biography

Notables Project
Christopher von Graffenried is Notable.

Christoph was born November 15, 1661 at the family home, Schloss Worb, in Worb, Canton of Bern (the German-speaking part), Switzerland. [1] Baron Christoph von Graffenreid (1661-1743) was a Swiss aristocrat and founder of the City of New Bern. [2] Christoph died Oct. 27, 1743 at Bern, Switzerland. [3] and was laid to rest at Worb Church, Worb, Verwaltungskreis Bern-Mittelland, Bern, Switzerland

Although Christopher von Graffenried was not born in America his greatest work was accomplished in this country and he is the forefather of by far the greater number of that name now living in America. After extensive studies at home in Bern and in Geneva, Germany, Holland, France and England, in which latter country he was offered a doctorate at Cambridge University, but modestly and gracefully refused it, preferring to accept the degree of Master of Arts [4]

After being royally entertained at court in Germany and later by His Royal Britannic Majesty, King Charles II, and Louis XIV of France, and after being a Citizen of Bern, Honorary Citizen of London and Governor of Yverton, was by Queen Anne of England constituted a Chevalier du Cordon Bleu, Member of the Order of Sunshine, Baron de Bernburg and Landgrave of Carolina. Later he was twice offered the Governorship of North Carolina, was a colonel in the colonial service and was during his most eventful life the recipient of many other marks of honor. His descendants now constitute the most numerous of any branch of the deGraffenrieds.

The Christoph von Graffenreid Memorial, New Bern

A Memorial erected April, 1989 stands near the city hall building at New Bern, North Carolina. It is a bronze bust of deGraggenried, created by sculptor, William Emsley Hipp, III. [5] The Christoph von Graffenreid Memorial, New Bern commemorates the founding of New Bern, North Carolina. [6] The inscription on the base reads:

BARON / CHRISTOPHER / DE GRAFFENRIED / FOUNDER OF NEW BERN / NORTH CAROLINA / SEPTEMBER 11, 1710 / LANDGRAVE OF CAROLINA / BARON OF BERNBURG / LORD OF WORB, WIKARTSWIL / AND TRIMSTEIN / GOVERNOR OF YVERTON / KNIGHT OF THE PURPLE RIBBON / MEMBER OF THE ORDER OF SUNSHINE / MASTER OF ARTS / DOCTOR OF LAW / HONORARY CITIZEN OF LONDON / BORN 1661 IN BERN, SWITZERLAND / DIED 1743 IN WORB, SWITZERLAND / HE ESTABLISHED HERE / THE FIRST ORGANIZED / AND SUBSTANTIAL COLONY / IN NORTH CAROLINA

Parents

Christoph was the eldest son of Anton von Graffenried and Catherine Jenner.

Marriage

On April 25, 1684, Graffenried married Regina Tscharner (1665–1731). Regina also came from an accomplished and respected family, her father, Beat Lewis Tscharner, having been a member of the Assembly and her grandfather, Samuel Tscharner having been Governor and later Mayor of Chillon. Regina and Christoph had four sons and seven daughters. [7]

Children

In the period 1685–1703, Regina bore Christoph V eleven children, including two surviving males – Christoph VI, called Christopher, who followed his father to America, and a younger son, Franz Ludwig. [8]

  1. Christopher VI DEGRAFFENRIED b: 9 JUN 1691 in Berne, Switzerland
  2. Franz Ludwig DEGRAFFENRIED b: 1703
  3. Francis Lewis DEGRAFFENRIED
Letter to son, Christopher dated April 16, 1736
"Dear Son - Since you desire me to send you an account about our family - being settled in a strange and remote country thinking it not necessary to enter into ample particulars, I send you nothing but this little genealogy, that stranger may see that you are descended from an honorable and distinguished family, although the Patents & recommendations signed by Queen Ann to all the Gentlemen Governors of the Eng. Colonies in America show that I have not been a vagabond or of a middling extraction which is attested by my own Sovereign. I will not go further than to to your great-grandfather; his names was Christopher de G, Baron & Lord of Worb; he was a member of the Sovereign Council, afterward Governor of the City of Bydan then he was made a Senator & had several honorable employments till he was to be elected Lord Chief Advoys of the Commonwealth, but he resigned that place in favor of Generale de Erlach, being satisfied with his dignity of Lord Banneret or Tribunus Populi, which is one of the first dignities in the Republic.
He married first a lady of the Right Hon. & noble faily de Mulinen & whis, with some other families of rank, above all the others. By this lady he had 6 children, 3 sons & 3 dau. of wh the 2nd son was called Anthony de G. & he was my father. He was likewise Baron & Lord of Worb, Member of the Sovereign Council, Governor of the four-Mandements of the Aigel & fterwards Lord Advoys at Morat, he dyed at the age of 92 years. He married first Catherine Jenner of very ancient and Honorable family, the same lady was my Mother & of my late sister de Steiger. His second lady was of the family of Lombach by whom he had 6 sons & 2 dau.
I, Christopher de Graffenried, also Baron & lord of Worb, only son of my Father's first lady, was born in 1661 & married after my travels when I was 22 yrs. old, was elected to a Member of the Sovereign Council in the 30th year of my age. Four years after I was chosen Master of the Customs & after I had the administration of that dignity 6 yrs. I was elected Governor of the City & dependances of Yverton considerable by its great extent having had two & twenty Lords Vassals & as many Parsons under my command without mentioning Country Court Judges. The troubles of Neuchatel were very fatal to me on many accounts. I was at extraordinary expense for the maintaining of many soldiers who consumed all my provisions instead that if I had been able to sell the grains I should have had a benefit of 6% but having been obliged to spend it for my country's sake, I had no benefit of it. I was obliged to make extraordinary expenses for the maintenance of so many Generals, Colonels, (and other officers) & when I had laid out 900 pistoles, I only received a gratification of 50 - I was so much moved at all those misfortunes & that I was not able to get anything by the Government nor to pay my debts that I undertook that unfortunate expedition in Carolina of which I had no other profit than empty titles.... Having been the Governor of my Switzer and Palatine Colony in North Carolina, Representant of the Prince Palatine for the two Provinces of Carolina, Duke of Beaufort, Baron de Bernburg & Landgrave of Carolina. Before I talk to you I must make an end of my genealogie, here above I told you that I had been married but I did not tell with whom. It was with the Lady Regina Tscharner, daughter of the noble Beat Lewis Tscharner, Member of the Sovereign Councill of our Commonwealth his Ladys and her Mothers name was Marguerithe Giider also of an ancient Patrician family, her Father was great Treasurer, I had by the said lady my wife 13 children of which there are 8 still alive, viz: you and your youngest brother Francis Lewis and 6 daughters, three of them married and three not. Your youngest brother has already his second wife, the first, a Daxenhofer, who brought him a son, the second is of the family of de Graffenried the Lord of Carrouge's daughter & has brought him two.
Now I must talk of you & your posterity. You have married Madam Needham an English gentlewoman from which you have a son. You may put here the Genealogie of your Spouse yourself & as I observe that fortune doth not look upon you as favorable eyes & that you don't come near your ancestors in titles & health I admonish you to employ all that lays in your power to bring up your son above all & especially in the fear of God Almighty & to put him in the way of getting on being able to get his livelihood in an honest way in order that if perhaps he should not rise to a high fortune & titles nor have so considerable inheritances as he could wish for he should at least be able to live honestly always without being troublesome to any body. May it please the Almighty God to preserve you & your Spouse many years in a perfect peace & more prosperity than you had formerly. May it please that merciful God to bless the soil of your new plantation so that you may earn of its product not only your necessarys but also improve by it to be the more able to bring up your son whom God may please to give his holy blessing so that he may live as well to your comfort as my own - as long as it shall please the Almighty to leave me here in this valley of Misery, who am his grandfather & your affectionate Father,
Christophle de Graffenried
What belongs to my Patents & papers about Caroline titles & honors with the medall of Knight & Landgrave, I did already write to you about that matter in my precedent letter to which I refer my Self.
Worb ye 16 April 1736
My hearty salutations to your Spouse and son." [9]

Positions and Property

Among numerous titles of the Swiss nobleman Christoph V von Graffenried [1661–1743], hereditary Lord of Worb (near Bern, Switzerland), was "Landgrave of Carolina," an appellation bestowed upon him as a colonial American landowner by Queen Anne of England. Christoph had also received the New World title "Baron of Bernburg," and with it was granted what is said to be the only American coat of arms. Baron Christopher, as he was known in America, founded New Bern, North Carolina, in 1710. [10] Christoph V was accompanied to the New World by his 18-year-old son, Christopher (some maintain they traveled separately, others not).[11] Young Christopher [1691–1742] remained in America when his father, the disenchanted Landgrave – among other travails, he had been captured by Indians and barely escaped with this life – returned to Switzerland. [12]

Founder of New Bern, North Carolina

Graffenried met Franz Ludwig Michel, who had discovered silver mines in Virginia and owned land in the colonies. He told Graffenried what glorious places North Carolina and Virginia were, and he advised him to move to North Carolina. With the idea of paying off his debts and making money on the cheap land of North Carolina, Graffenried left his debts to his father and secretly departed for London to make arrangements to move to the New World. When in London, Graffenried met with explorer John Lawson, who was publishing a book entitled A Voyage to Carolina. Lawson was the Surveyor General of North Carolina. Lawson promised to show Graffenried and his settlers a perfect place to establish a community. In 1709, Graffenried next met with the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, who granted to him ten thousand acres on the Neuse and Cape Fear Rivers. They also gave him the title Baron of Bernberg, after the settlement he was supposed to found. [13]

Graffenried embarked 650 Palatines from English ports and about 150 Swiss from Dutch ports after their voyage down the Rhine River. He joined Michel and the surveyor John Lawson in the Neuse-Trent area and soon laid out, in a cruciform plan, his Stättli, the little town that he called New Bern [14]

Once in the New World, Graffenried's settlers sold everything that remained, except the clothes on their backs. John Lawson took them to a site at the junction of the Trent and Neuse Rivers, which was named New Bern. The first season, the settler's crops did not do well. Graffenried returned to Europe to get supplies and additional settlers.

In addition to a lack of food and supplies, there was great tension between the settlers and the Tuscarora Native Americans of the Neuse River region. They were alienated by language and culture, especially related to their differing concepts of land and property rights. Graffenried and his settlers had established their new settlement on the site of an old Tuscarora village. Making the situation worse , in 1711, Graffenried and his settlers forced a group of Tuscarora from nearby lands without payment, and Graffenried assumed the title "Landgrave of Carolina." Retaliatory raids by the Tuscarora, under a leader named Hancock, led to deaths, damage and final abandonment of the settlement.

During the summer of 1711, Graffenried, along with John Lawson, took a trip up the Neuse River. Graffenried wanted to crossbreed European grapes with wild, native grapes and start a vineyard. The Tuscarora discovered them and captured Graffenried, John Lawson, and an enslaved African who they employed to carry their baggage. . The next day, the natives killed Lawson after ritual torture. Graffenried, who the Indians mistook for the governor of Virginia was released on condition that no new European settlements should be made without approval of the native chiefs. When he finally reached New Bern, he found it abandoned and in flames. [15] [16]

Return to Bern, Switzerland

Having lost his fortune, Graffenried returned penniless in 1714 to Bern, Switzerland. He owed a great deal of money to the Proprietors of North Carolina, who had funded his settlement expedition. He sold his part in New Bern to Thomas Pollock for 800 pounds. In an attempt to pay off his remaining debts, Graffenried wrote a book entitled Relation of my American Project , [17] an apology and explanation as to why his settlement failed. He included several documents, among them a letter written to the governor of North Carolina and a layout of the settlement of New Bern. An artist, he included sketches of early colonial North Carolina. Graffenried died unhappy and in debt in 1743. [18] He was buried in the church of Worb. [19] His gravestone, along with 12 others, was recovered from the Reformed Church in Worb during an archaeological excavation in 1983 and have stood on the outside wall of the church ever since. His gravestone was the only one to be carefully restored over the course of a year and transported back to its place on the wall on 26 August 2022.[20]

Notable Descendants

Laura Lane Welch Bush, First Lady [21]
Ellen Anderson Gholson Glasgow, Novelist [22]

Notable Ancestors

Bela I, King of Hungary, who died in 1063 [23]
Richeza of Poland, Queen of Castile [24]
Otto II, Count of Habsburg [25]

Sources

  1. ↑ Graffenried, Christoph, Baron Von, by A. T. Dill, 1986. NCPedia (Online)
  2. ↑ The Christoph von Graffenreid Memorial, New Bern
  3. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial #5951016
  4. ↑ "History of the de Graffenried family from 1191 A. D. to 1925", THOMAS P. DEGRAFFENRIED, New York, New York, 1925 (Copyright Free-Permission given by the author to republish in whole or in part)
  5. ↑ The De Graffenried Memorial, (sculpture)., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, Washington, D.C.
  6. ↑ 'The Christoph von Graffenreid Memorial, New Bern
  7. ↑ *Descendants of Uolricus deGravensried
  8. ↑ FROM WORB NEAR BERN, SWITZERLAND, TO NEW BERN, NORTH CAROLINA, USA – The Adventures of Christoph V von Graffenried
  9. ↑ Baron DeG Letter transcribed by Steve Jacobson
  10. ↑ Graffenried, Christoph, Baron Von, by A. T. Dill, 1986. NCPedia (Online)
  11. ↑ Wolf Maync (1979; 1981, Bernische Wohn- schloesser – Ihre Besitzergeschichte: Bern, VDB Verlag, p. 145) says: "Zog am 13.5.1709 mit seinem Vater nach Amerika, wurde Stammvater des amerikanischen Zweiges der Familie"
  12. ↑ "Virginia: Christopher VI de Graffenried, Anton Tscharner, and Selected Descendants." accessed 14 May, 2016.
  13. ↑ Christoph von Graffenried's Account of the Founding of New Bern., Graffenried, Christoph von, Baron, 1661-1743, Ed. by Todd, Vincent H. (Vincent Hollis), 1879- Ed. by Goebel, Julius, 1857-1931, C970.2 G73 c. 8 (North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
  14. ↑ Graffenried, Christoph, Baron Von, by A. T. Dill, 1986. NCPedia (Online)
  15. ↑ "De Graffenreidt Family" (Vol. 15, No. 3 (Jan., 1907), pp. 59-62) The William and Mary Quarterly. Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, JSTOR.org accessed October 13, 2015
  16. ↑ Graffenried, Christoph von, Baron? [The Death of John Lawson. Drawing. German American Annals 11, nos. 2-5. (March-October 1914). 112.]
  17. ↑ Christoph von Graffenried’s Account of the Founding of New Bern. Ed. Vincent H. Todd. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Historical Commission, 1920. 219-320.
  18. ↑ The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Virginia Historical Society, JSTOR.org accessed 14 May 2016, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Jul., 1930), pp. 241-250.
  19. ↑ Manuel Kehrli, Murielle Schlup, Susi Ulrich-Bochsler, Suzanne Frey-Kupper, Franz E. Koenig, Antoinette Rast-Eicher, Peter Eggenberger, and Adriano Boschetti-Maradi. Worb, Pfarrkirche : die Ergebnisse der Bauforschungen von 1983. Bern: Archäologischer Dienst des Kantons Bern, 2012. p. 113. See also: Open Access
  20. ↑ "Worber Geschichte: Grabplatte restauriert". Worber Post 09/22, 28. September 2022. Accessed on 4 June 2023.
  21. ↑ Ancestry of Laura Welch Bush
  22. ↑ Ellen Anderson Gholson Glasgow, Novelist
  23. ↑ Béla I of Hungary
  24. ↑ Richeza of Poland
  25. ↑ [1]
See Also:
  • Some emigrants to Virginia : memoranda in regard to several hundred immigrants to Virginia during the colonial period whose parentage is shown or former residence is indicated by authentic records, Stanard, William Glover, 1859-1933., page 21
  • "De Graffenreidt Family" (Vol. 15, No. 3 (Jan., 1907), pp. 59-62) The William and Mary Quarterly. Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, JSTOR.org accessed October 13, 2015
  • Walter Havighurst, Alexander Spotswood: Portrait of a Governor (1967).
  • Vincent H. Todd and Julius Goebel, eds., Christoph von Graffenreid's Account of the Founding of New Bern (1920).
  • "Framed Oil Portrait Of Baron Christopher De Graffenried. Picture., Accession #: P.TP.1958.029.001." 20th Century for copy here. North Carolina Tryon Palace.
  • The Old Free State: A Contribution to the History of Lunenburg County and Southside Virginia, Landon Covington Bell, Genealogical Publishing Com, 1995, page 47.

Born into an influential Swiss-German family, Christoph von Graffenried heard stories about riches and free land in the New World. Soon he was making plans to go see for himself. It was early in the 18th century, wars and famine were ravaging Europe and his family was in debt. Here was a chance for a new start, a chance to quickly get out of debt. He was so enthusiastic about going it was not difficult to influence other people to take a chance and join him. He made arrangements to delay payment on the family's debt and even found financing for enough ships to transport nearly 1,000 German and Swiss people to what was called the Province of Carolina. Once at sea bad luck cropped up. Von Graffenried's ships were attacked by French pirates who stole everything of value from Christoph and his people. Undaunted, they went forward and landed in Jamestown where they sold anything they had left of value leaving them with just the clothes on their backs. Then they purchased needed tools and proceeded overland to the confluence of the Neuse and Trent rivers where von Graffenried had purchased 19,000 acres. He personally drew up plans for a settlement to be called New Bern in honor of his home in Switzerland. The craftsmen among the group were set to building the settlement and farmers were spread out along the rivers. It was only months later that the local Indian tribes took exception to their lands being stolen from them. It didn't take long for many of the colonists to be killed and their possessions put to the torch. Von Graffenried and his friend and business partner, the English surveyor John Lawson, were captured by the Iroquoian Tuscarora. They were held in captivity for six weeks before the tribal elders finally decided to let Christoph go, but Lawson wasn't allowed to go along too. He was ritualistically tortured to death. This was one year after the Swiss-German immigrants had arrived. Getting back to Jamestown, Christoph had had enough. He sailed home to Bern, Switzerland in 1711 where he worked down his many debts over the years. He eventually inherited the family estate becoming the Baron von Graffenried and finally died, hopefully a happy man, in 1743.






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Images: 7
Christopher von Graffenried
Christopher von Graffenried
Christopher von Graffenried Memorial
Christopher von Graffenried Memorial
Christopher von Graffenried Coat of Arms
Christopher von Graffenried Coat of Arms
DeGraffenried's Worb Castle
DeGraffenried's Worb Castle
Baron Christoph von Graffenried
Baron Christoph von Graffenried
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Comments: 3

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Green-16402 Robert Green
Von Graffenried-13 and Von Graffenried-4 appear to represent the same person because: Andrew, I'm sorry I put together a profile on this man. I used the first name Christoph and nothing came up when entering under "New Person". The sources I used had his first name as Christoph too... Please merge these two profiles. I'm not looking to get my name on the profile, I'm just attempting to add historically important people to WikiTree's domain. Thank you and again I'm sorry for the duplication. Your profile of the man is much more in depth and well thought out than mine... Robert Green
posted by Robert Green
Billups-130 Cynthia (Billups) B
For long quotations, the blockquote tags are recommended in the Style Guide. This is so that everyone knows what is a quote (to prevent future editing which might make a quote look like original work). Please see http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Quotations
posted by Cynthia (Billups) B
Billups-130 Cynthia (Billups) B
In an effort to be helpful, a recent clarification, that at WikiTree, we paraphrase and cite sources (not cut & paste). Please see http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Copying_Text for further information.

This is an important ancestor. Would be nice to see him have the original biography he deserves.

Thanks!

posted by Cynthia (Billups) B

Christopher is 22 degrees from Emeril Lagasse, 22 degrees from Nigella Lawson, 23 degrees from Maggie Beer, 44 degrees from Mary Hunnings, 27 degrees from Joop Braakhekke, 25 degrees from Michael Chow, 19 degrees from Ree Drummond, 22 degrees from Paul Hollywood, 23 degrees from Matty Matheson, 23 degrees from Martha Stewart, 26 degrees from Danny Trejo and 27 degrees from Molly Yeh on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.

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