Individual Details
Christopher DEGRAFFENREID
(15 Nov 1661 - 1743)
The son of Anton and Catherine(Jenner)deGraffenreid, was born 21,nov,1661 in Berne, Swithzerland. He married Regina Tscharner, daughter of Noble Beat Lewis Tscharner, on 25 april; 1684. Regin's date of birth was 7 dec, 1665.
The Baron serving as an agent for the Canton of Berne, Switz., obtained in 1709, from North Carolina, a grant of 10,000 acres of land on the Neuse and Cape Fear Rivers. The purpose was to establish a Swiss Colony in America.
In Sept 1711, the Tuscarora Indians attacked the colony and killed 60 of the settlers. The Baron and Thomas Lawson, surgeon General of North Carolina, were taken prisoner. The Baron, finding that one of the Indians could understand some English, told them that he was a King, and if they took his life the Queen of England would avenge it. This was evidently the reason his life was spared, but not save the life of his fellow prisoner, Thomas Lawson. The Baron was kept a prisoner for several weeks while he made a peace treaty with them.
Pledging himself and the colony to perserve an attitude of neutrality, on his return to the colony, the other North Carolina settlers, learning of his treaty with the Indians, would not give him any assistance or sell supplies to him.
He then sent a vessal to Penn. but on the return trip, the ship loaded with flour, tobacco, and powder, caught fire and sank. Discouraged, the Baron with many of the settlers from the colony went to Virginia in May 1712. He returned to Switzerland in 1713 and died there in 1735. His son Christopher degraffenreid Jr. came in 1713 from Switzerland to succeed his father as head of the remaining colony.
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[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 10, Ed. 1, Tree #0296, Date of Import: 28 May 1998]
The son of Anton and Catherine(Jenner)deGraffenreid, was born 21,nov,1661 in Berne, Swithzerland. He married Regina Tscharner, daughter of Nobel Beat Lewis Tscharner, on 25 april; 1684. Regin's date of birth was 7 dec, 1665.
The Baron serving as an agent for the Canton of Berne, Switz., obtained in 1709, from North Carolina, a grant of 10,000 acres of land on the Neuse and Cape Fear Rivers. The purpose was to establish a Swiss Colony in America.
In Sept 1711, the Tuscarora Indians attacked the colony and killed 60 of the settlers. The Baron and Thomas Lawson, surgeon General of North Carolina, were taken prisoner. The Baron, finding that one of the Indians could understand some English, told them that he was a King, and if they took his life the Queen of England would avenge it. This was evidently the reason his life was spared, but not save the life of his fellow prisoner, Thomas Lawson. The Baron was kept a prisoner for several weeks while he made a peace treaty with them.
Pledging himself and the colony to perserve an attitude of neutrality, on his return to the colony, the other North Carolina settlers, learning of his treaty with the Indians, would not give him any assistance or sell supplies to him.
He then sent a vessal to Penn. but on the return trip, the ship loaded with flour, tobacco, and powder, caught fire and sank. Discouraged, the Baron with many of the settlers from the colony went to Virginia in May 1712. He returned to Switzerland in 1713 and died there in 1735. His son Christopher Degraffenreid Jr. came in 1713 from Switzerland to succeed his father as head of the remaining colony.
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The Baron serving as an agent for the Canton of Berne, Switz., obtained in 1709, from North Carolina, a grant of 10,000 acres of land on the Neuse and Cape Fear Rivers. The purpose was to establish a Swiss Colony in America.
In Sept 1711, the Tuscarora Indians attacked the colony and killed 60 of the settlers. The Baron and Thomas Lawson, surgeon General of North Carolina, were taken prisoner. The Baron, finding that one of the Indians could understand some English, told them that he was a King, and if they took his life the Queen of England would avenge it. This was evidently the reason his life was spared, but not save the life of his fellow prisoner, Thomas Lawson. The Baron was kept a prisoner for several weeks while he made a peace treaty with them.
Pledging himself and the colony to perserve an attitude of neutrality, on his return to the colony, the other North Carolina settlers, learning of his treaty with the Indians, would not give him any assistance or sell supplies to him.
He then sent a vessal to Penn. but on the return trip, the ship loaded with flour, tobacco, and powder, caught fire and sank. Discouraged, the Baron with many of the settlers from the colony went to Virginia in May 1712. He returned to Switzerland in 1713 and died there in 1735. His son Christopher degraffenreid Jr. came in 1713 from Switzerland to succeed his father as head of the remaining colony.
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[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 10, Ed. 1, Tree #0296, Date of Import: 28 May 1998]
The son of Anton and Catherine(Jenner)deGraffenreid, was born 21,nov,1661 in Berne, Swithzerland. He married Regina Tscharner, daughter of Nobel Beat Lewis Tscharner, on 25 april; 1684. Regin's date of birth was 7 dec, 1665.
The Baron serving as an agent for the Canton of Berne, Switz., obtained in 1709, from North Carolina, a grant of 10,000 acres of land on the Neuse and Cape Fear Rivers. The purpose was to establish a Swiss Colony in America.
In Sept 1711, the Tuscarora Indians attacked the colony and killed 60 of the settlers. The Baron and Thomas Lawson, surgeon General of North Carolina, were taken prisoner. The Baron, finding that one of the Indians could understand some English, told them that he was a King, and if they took his life the Queen of England would avenge it. This was evidently the reason his life was spared, but not save the life of his fellow prisoner, Thomas Lawson. The Baron was kept a prisoner for several weeks while he made a peace treaty with them.
Pledging himself and the colony to perserve an attitude of neutrality, on his return to the colony, the other North Carolina settlers, learning of his treaty with the Indians, would not give him any assistance or sell supplies to him.
He then sent a vessal to Penn. but on the return trip, the ship loaded with flour, tobacco, and powder, caught fire and sank. Discouraged, the Baron with many of the settlers from the colony went to Virginia in May 1712. He returned to Switzerland in 1713 and died there in 1735. His son Christopher Degraffenreid Jr. came in 1713 from Switzerland to succeed his father as head of the remaining colony.
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Events
| Birth | 15 Nov 1661 | Bern, Switzerland | |||
| Marriage | 25 Apr 1684 | Bern, Switzerland - Regina TSCHARNER | |||
| Death | 1743 | Worb Castle, Switzerland | |||
| Alt name | Baron Christopher DEGRAFFENREID V |
Families
| Spouse | Regina TSCHARNER (1665 - 1740) |
| Child | Christopher DEGRAFFENREID (1691 - 1742) |
| Child | Franz Ludwig DEGRAFFENREID (1703 - ) |
| Father | Anton DEGRAFFENREID (1639 - 1730) |
| Mother | Catherine JENNER (1640 - 1669) |
| Sibling | Living |