Christoph von Graffenried

Coat of arms pane Christoph von Graffenried (1661–1743) in the Worb church (1730)

Christoph von Graffenried (born November 15, 1661 in Worb ; † November / December 1743 ibid) was the founder of the New Bern colony in North Carolina and a Bernese patrician .

His parents were Anton von Graffenried (1639-1730) and his wife Katharina Jenner . His father was the owner of the estate Worb, mayor of Murten, governor of Yverdon, genealogist, employee of Bucelin and a corresponding member of the Royal Society in London.

Life

After studying law, history and mathematics in Leiden and Cambridge , he became a member of the Council of Two Hundred in Bern in 1691 and served as governor in Yverdon from 1702 to 1708 . In 1710 he founded the colony of New Bern with the support of the British Crown , but returned to Worb after attacks by the Tuscarora Indians and the loss of his entire fortune. In 1730 he became administrator of the estate at Worb, Wikartswil and Trimstein in the name of his son .

On April 25, 1684, he married Regina Tscharner (1665–1731), daughter of Beat Ludwig Tscharner, landowner in Sutz in Bern. The couple had several children including:

• Christoph († October 27, 1742), died as successor to his father in America ⚭ 1714 Barbara Tempest Needham († June 26, 1744)
• Franz Ludwig (* 1703; † 1762) heir to the Worb rule, 1749–1756 Governor of Baden ⚭ NN

literature

• Karin Marti-Weissenbach: Graffenried, Christoph von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Alfred Senn:  Grafenried, Christof von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 6, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1964, ISBN 3-428-00187-7 , p. 728 f. ( Digitized version ).
• History of the de Graffenried family from 1191 AD to 1925 , digitized

Web links

• Online text of the English translation of Graffenried's report on the establishment of New Bern
• Descendants of Graffenried in America (USA)