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NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES
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Reprinted from Deutsch-Amerikanische Geschichtsblaetler
Baron Christoph von GrafFenried's
New Bern Adventures
BY
VINCENT HOLLIS TODD. Ph.D.
Professor of German in Greenville College, Greenville, Illinois
DEUTSCH-AMERIKANISCHE HISTORISCHE
GESELLSCHAFT VON ILLINOIS
1608 maller's building
CHICAGO. ILL.
1913
Reprinted from Deutsch-Amerikanische Geschichtsblcetter
y
Baron Christoph von GrafFenried's
New Bern Adventures
M
BY
VINCENT HOLLIS TODD, Ph.D.
Professor of German in Greenville College, Greenville, Illinois
DEUTSCH-AMERIKANISCHE HISTORISCHE
GESELLSCHAFT VON ILLINOIS
1608 maller's building
CHICAGO. ILL.
1913
I THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
MTWl, UNOK AND
TILBEN FOUNDATiONt
Dedicated to my
Father and Mother
PREFACE
The following study of the origin and incipient history of
one of the early German settlements in America presents the
introduction to a critical edition of hitherto unpublished
German and French documents left by Baron von Graffenried
which I have prepared for the North Carolina Historical Com-
mission and which will be published in the near future. In
this edition there will appear also the philological apparatus
consisting of notes and a glossary of the many unusual words
contained in the documents.
My interest in the history of the German settlements of
this country goes back to my boyhood days in Pennsylvania
where I knew many of the so-called 'Pennsylvania Dutch'
people. No one among my American acquaintances, however,
seemed to know much about them, nor could I learn anything
concerning them from the school books on American history
which were then used in the public schools. The best informa-
'tion I could get was that these people w^ere descended from
Hessian soldiers who had remained in America after the
Revolutionary War.
"When later my scientific interest in the history of the
Germans in America was aroused by the lectures of Professor
Julius Goebel at Harvard University and afterwards at the
University of Illinois, I continued to make inquiries in order
to learn whether others had had experiences similar to my
ow^n in seeking to find out more concerning this important
ethnic element of our nation. To my astonishment I found
that the story of the German settlements was little known
even among teachers of American history, despite the fact that
in recent years much has been done in this field and that the
story itself is as important and interesting as many stories
with which we are more familiar.
In conclusion I wish to acknowledge my gratitude to the
members of the German and French departments of the Uni-
versity of Illinois, and to Professor Julius Goebel especially,
for kindly advice and encouragement. It was at his sugges-
tion and under his direction that I undertook this study for
which he put at my disposal the ricli manuscript material
which has collected on the Graffenried episode.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PHEFACE
INTRODUCTION
Relative ratios of English and German elements in the white popu-
lation of the United States. — The contribution of the German element
to American culture neglected by historians^ — Importance of the at-
tempt of the Swiss and Palatines to found a colony in 1709-10 1
PART I.
Chapter I.
The generally accepted causes of the Palatine migration — The in-
tellectual movements of the Reformation and the Counter Reformation —
Friendship between the protestant reformers of England and Germany —
Cromwell's policy of making England the champion of Protestantism
continued by Queen Anne — Terrible conditions in Germany as the result
of wars carried on by Louis XIV — The Protestants of the Palatinate
alarmed by harassing persecutions — The Anabaptists of Switzerland ex-
posed to persecution by the Lutheran, Reformed, and Catholic churches
alike — Extravagance of the petty princes produces hardship among the
poorer classes — Kocherthal's colony — The hard winter of 1709 3
Chapter II.
The decisive cause of the Palatine migration — The causes mentioned
in Chapter I not sufficient to account for the great movement of 1709 —
Queen Anne subsidizes colonists — Kocherthal's book and the Golden
Book appear to be one and the same — Hopes held out to prospective
colonists — The Queen's policy meets with favor in England — The bill to
naturalize foreign protestants — Temporary relief given to the immi-
grants — Germans come in embarrassing numbers — Report of an investi-
gating committee implicates the Queen and the Earl of Sunderland — â–
Kochertlial's I)ook shows that official help was given to his company
before they reached England — Direct statement that Queen Anne at her
own expense caused many to be brought from Germany to England, and
from there they were sent to America 7
Chapter III.
Survey of the final disposal of the Palatines — The English settle
great numbers of them in America under conditions which reveal such
mercenary motives as to rob the act of most of its claim to charity —
Contempt for the Germans shown to be characteristic both in England
and America 16
PART II.
Chapter I.
Graffenried's early life 23
Chapter II.
Literature which Graffenried studied before deciding to go to
America — Blome — Hennepin — Kocherthal i:7
Chapteh III.
The colonization project entered into by tiie Canton of Bern — -
Graifenried meets the agent, Franz I^ouis ^Michel and is persuaded to
go to America — He engages twelve miners and goes secretly to England
— Meets John Lawson 29
Chapter IV.
John Lawson and his Journal .M
Chapter V.
Graffenried and Miciiel unite their mining projects to form what
may be called the Bern Ritter colonization companj', of which Michel
is agent for the Canton of Bern — Graifenried is made Landgrave —
Negotiations for land and settlers — 650 Palatines secured — The first
shiploads start for America in January, 1710 — Convicts from Bern added
to the number secured in England — Difficulties encountered in getting
the convicts through Holland — Graffenried and Michel secure mining
concessions — Discussion of the contract with the George Ritter Com-
pany- — Assistance jjromised by the proprietors — The Swiss colony starts
in the summer of 1710 — Death of many of the first settlers 41
Chapter VI.
Discussion of the transportation facilities provided by the com-
missioners for the Palatines — The colony plundered by a French pri-
vateer — Graffenried and his company arrive September 10 — They learn
of the distress of the iirst sliiploads — Graffenried and his Swiss start
for North Carolina as soon as possible after landing 49
Chapter ^'II.
The earliest settlements in North Carolina — Early government —
Development of self-government — Imposition of Locke's Fundamentals —
Confusion resulting from attempts to enforce certain provisions and
navigation laws — Trouble growing out of test oaths — Cary in open
opposition to Edward Hyde, the appointee of the proprietors — Graffen-
ried met by a delegation and offered the presidency of the council —
Refuses a tempting offer for the sake of his colony 52
Chapter VIII.
Graffenried's precarious position — The pitiful condition of the Pala-
tines — Graffenried defrauded by Lawson — No help to be obtained from
the proprietors — Peace made with the Indians — Lawson's humane senti-
ments not borne out by his treatment of the Indians — Michel disturbs
the proceedings — Graffenried compelled by circumstances as well as by
inclination to join the Hyde faction 59
Chapter IX.
Founding of the city of New Bern — Leet Court system — Articles in
the Fundamentals relating to the Leet Courts — Discussion of Baronies,
Manors, etc., showing irregularities in appointments — An ideal once
given up revived in a modified form for Graffenried's colony — Reasons
for this — Contracts with tlie proprietors and colonists — Evidences from
the manuscri})ts of a paternal government and also of popular as-
semblies 64
Chapter X.
Hyde comes to North Carolina in January, 1711 — GraflFenried made
a colonel — Graffenried hopes to receive assistance from tlie Province —
Gary preparing for open rebellion — Condition of the town — Graffenried
sends a report to Bern^Appearances of prosperity deceptive — A letter
written by Urmstone shows the condition of New Bern to be as de-
scribed by Graffenried — Gary's attack and retreat — Peace of short
duration — The Governor of Virginia sends help — Disasterous effect of
the war on the German colony — An exploring trip — Lawson and Graffen-
ried captured by the Indians 75
Chapter XI.
Dociunents written by Lawson, Spotswood, and William Byrd to
show that the Indians had cause for resentment at their treatment by
the English 81
Chapter XII.
Graffenried a prisoner — Lawson killed, Graffenried held captive —
The Indians plan to massacre English and Germans — Discussion of the
cause of the massacre — The blame laid on the late rebels — Documents
to show that others besides Graffenried believed them guilty — Graffen-
ried's truce — Attack by the English and Palatines — Graffenried agrees
to a ransom and is allowed to go home — Spotswood apjDroves of the
truce — English and Palatines disapprove and plot against Graffenried's
life 84
Chapter XIII.
Discovery of the plot — Measures taken for the defence of the town —
Graffenried begins to make plans to go to Virginia — A letter by Spots-
wood showing the condition of the colonists — Brice's thoughtless attack
precipitates war — Graffenried's part in tlie war — Barnwell's breach ot
faith — The Indians prepare for a new massacre — The German colony
in very straightened circumstances — Graffenried visits Governor Hyde —
Loss of a boatload of provisions — Graffenried goes to Virginia to plan
for a new settlement 94
Chapter XIV.
The new location — Prospecting for silver — Governor Spotswood's
letter describing the same expedition — Graffenried's return to Carolina —
Governor Hyde's death — Graffenried disappointed in Michel, makes one
last effort — Graffenried in Virginia — Moore defeats the Indians March
20, 1713 95
Chapter XV.
The journey home — Graffenried meets his miners in London —
Arranges for their passage to America — His own affairs do not keep
him long in England — His language telling of his stay in England mis-
leading — Efforts to relieve his colony — Life as a Swiss official — Death. 98
Chapter XVI
Proof that Graffenried never came back to America to live — Debt
to Pollock unpaid — Last notices of the German settlers and end of the
New Bern adventures 103
PART IIL
Chapter I.
The discovery of new material relating to New Bern— Comparison of
the manuscripts and the following items of new material in Professor
Goebel's French version: The negotiations of Bern for land: Graffen-
ried considered going to Maryland: Graffenried's titles: Contract with
the proprietors: Voyage across the Atlantic: Illness of the colonists:
Treaty with the Indians: Troubles with Michel: Description of the city
of New Bern: Purchase of boats: Details of the exploration for silver
along the Potomac River: Additional indications of a treaty with
Penn: Details of the voyage to Europe: Details of Graffenried's care
for the miners: Additional efforts to secure help for Newbern: Maps
and a key to the one of the Potomac River 108
Chapter II.
Important additions in Professor Goebel's German version include
the following: A report to the Ritter Company: The contract with the
George Ritter Company: A Memorial or accoimt of life in the colony:
Letters from the colonists: — Contents of the report — The letters of the
colonists — Reliability of the report and the letters — Discussion of the
contract with the George Ritter Company — The Memorial — Criticism of
Graffenried's mortgaging the settlers' lands 114
Bibliography 120
CHRISTOPH VON GRAFFENRIED AND THE FOUND-
ING OF NEW BERN, N. C.
By Vincent H. Todd, Ph.D.
Professor in Greenville College, III.
Introduction
A carefully prepared and conservative computation made
within the last ten years gives the surprising result that of our
white population there are at least twenty-seven per cent of
German birth or extraction, while those of English origin
number but thirty per cent. With such a proportion of Ger-
mans, is it not strange that almost nothing is said in our his-
tories about this great element of our population; about the
causes that induced them to leave their homes ; about the cir-
cumstances of their first settlements ; about their influence
upon the growth of our common culture?
The reason of this lies, partly in the undeveloped prov-
incial character of American historiography, partly in the
fact that American History was first written by men from
New England. They wrote of the things with which they were
most familiar, their own Puritan commonwealths and the In-
stitutions developed from them. Biased by provincial preju-
dices they overlooked other events of equally great import-
ance, so that their histories read like a one-sided glorification
of their ancestors. A very powerful contributory cause for
this discrimination is the fact that the Germans made their
settlements comparatively late, and for the most part avoided
New England. By the time the first permanent settlements
were made at Germantown, near Philadelphia (1683), New
England had passed through some of its most epoch-making
experiences. The colonies about Massachusetts Bay, Con-
necticut and Rhode Island had been settled and their char-
acteristic institutions, which have come down to our own
time, were becoming fixed in laws and customs of the people.
American historiography as first conceived by the New Eng-
land historians has since followed the same or similar lines,
and until recently, when the German Americans themselves
took lip the work, very little, in general, was known about the
early life of this portion of our population.
It is to be hoped that this regrettable division in matters
of historical truth will be done away with, and since no one
nationality can rightfully claim all the honor of having made
America what it is, Germans as well as Puritans and Cava-
liers will come to be recognized for what they are or have
done, and not be excluded from consideration for what they
have not done. To illustrate : It was not a German woman 's
pig to which we traced the bicameral system of Government
in Massachusetts; but it is to the German settlers at Scho-
harie that we, in a large measure, owe the fortunate outcome
of the French and Indian war, for it was they who kept the
Six Nations from joining the French, when such an event
would have spelled disaster to the New York and New Eng-
land colonies: they did not give us theocracies from whicli a
doubtful ideal of the state eventually evolved ; but they helped
to give us freedom of conscience, the very corner-stone of
modern polities, and it is to the German printer in New
York, that we owe an untrammeled public press. Who shall
say which is the worthier?
It is not sufficient then to know that in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries a large number of Germans came to
America, and made or tried to make certain settlements. "We
want to go farther and learn about their life and work and
be able to appreciate them as we do the other pioneers. It
is for this reason that a study of Baron Christoph von Graf-
fenried's settlement may be considered worth while.
This colony in North Carolina would have consisted of
only a few Swiss adventurers but for the events of the year
1709. These enlarged the scope, increased the prestige of
the undertaking, gave the leadership to one of the few ever
to possess a title of nobility in Locke's new American order,
made this pioneer of several Swiss undertakings the nearest
approach to Locke's ideal that ever existed in America, and
taking it out of its isolation, made it a part of the great Ger-
man migration of 1709; a consideration of which may prop-
erly precede the study of Graff enried's own adventures.
Since a man should be judged by his intentions and by
the times in which he lived, as well as by the actual results
of his efforts, it has seemed well to quote from or make refer-
ences to the writings of contemporaries wherever possible.^
For instance, his expectation of becoming rich from silver
mines in JMaryland or Virginia seems to us absurd because
we know there is no silver in those parts in paying quanti-
ties; but if we find, that in his day, everyone believed that
there was silver to be found there, and if we remember that
the Secretary of the Loudon Royal Society in 1669 urged
Governor John Winthrop to look for mines in Connecticut
and if necessary to ' ' employ dogs of the best sent ' ' - for this
purpose, Graff enried's persistency in searching for silver
takes on a different aspect.
PART I.
The Palatine Movement
Chapter I.
The generally accepted causes of the Palatine migration.
The great stream of emigrants from Germany to England
and from thence to America, beginning rather feebly in the
latter part of the seventeenth century, then suddenly swell-
ing to such enormous proportions that more Germans had
come to New York, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina in
one year than had come to New England in the first ten
years of the settlements about Massachusetts Bay, has as its
fundamental cause the great intellectual movement of the
Reformation, and the equally intense Counter Reformation
which began in the latter part of the sixteenth century and
extended far into the seventeenth century.
Since the Protestant Reformation in England had come
rather later than in Germany, and had not been so radical
^ There is some assurance that this hoped for change of attitude will
come, when a historian like Channing in his History of the United States
(vol. II, pages 116, 395, 404 ff.) gives a rather extended and apprecia-
tive notice of the Germans in Pennsylvania. In a foot note on page 405
he mentions the manuscripts on which this paper has been based.
"Proceedings Mass. Hist. Society, 1878, pages 229-240.
at the start, English reformers long looked upon Germany
as the fatherland of the Reformation, and during the perse-
cution which accompanied the reaction under Mary (1553-
1558) those who escaped over seas found refuge in Holland,
Germany and Switzerland. Under Elizabeth protestantism
was again gradually restored, but there was no place for
any who disagreed with the church as established by the state,
and dissenters were severely punished, but still the senti-
ment of protest grew until after the revolution of 1642, when
Cromwell, having finally become a dictator, was able to in-
troduce a second reformation, which led to a wider separa-
tion from Rome. He hoped to secure the ground gained by
a union of the protestant states against the Catholic Spanish
world. He conceived England to be the champion protector
of protestantism, and by such a union, he hoped to make it
a world power. During the reigns of Charles II and James
II there was another reaction which, however, was not so
violent as that in the reign of Mary. When "William of
Orange became King of England protestantism was again
fully restored and there was even some relief given dissent-
ers. It was Queen Anne, however, who took up Cromwell's
work, and to the best of her ability carried out his program
of national and protestant expansion. Public opinion, more-
over, was, to a large degree, with her in this matter.
Interest in the German protestant situation was kept
alive by pamphlets which gave information about the condi-
tion of the Reformation in Germany and particularly in
the Palatinate to which they felt related because of the mar-
riage of Elizabeth, daughter of James I of England, to the
Elector Frederick, better known as the Winter King. This
interest was further increased since the cause had been com-
pelled to fight for its life in Germany as well as in England.
Not only the wars which came in Luther's time and im-
mediately following his death were caused by the Reforma-
tion ; but the Thirty Year's War and the wars in which the
French King, Louis XIV, involved Europe during his long
reign were also very largely incited by the same spirit of
enmity that animated the earlier Counter Reformation.
In all these struggles no portion of Germany suffered so
much as that part called the Lower Palatinate.* Lying as it
does on the eastern boundary of France, it was easily acces-
sible to the French soldiery; a fertile country, it offered ex-
cellent opportunity for maintaining an army ; and being Pro-
testant it was an especial object of resentment to the French
King. Turrenne in 1674 ravaged the province thoroughly, in
accordance with his policy of making the enemy support his
army. Then in the wars of 1688-89, while the rest of Ger-
many which might have given aid was busy warding off
the Turks, Louis XIV took the opportunity of weakening
the enemy, venting his malice against the Protestants, and
doing a pleasure to Madame de Maintenon by devastating the
province in a way unparalleled in modern history. He pur-
posed to make the country as nearly a desert as possible, and
to do so wantonly burned cities and towns as well as isolated
dwellings, cut down orchards and uprooted vines. Many of
the inhabitants were butchered, others died of exposure, others
fled, and the few who remained were left in a most miserable
condition. The treaty of Ryswijek gave a temporary relief
and many refugees returned to their homes. But in 1700 the
wars of the Spanish Succession broke out, and the Palatinate
was again over-run with troops. The destruction seems not
to have been so severe as in the previous war, but the new
Elector, now a Catholic, subjected the Protestants to a system
of persecution which was very annoying and disquieting;
for the persecutions which had long accompanied the Refor-
mation throughout Europe, were still fresh in men's memo-
ries and they dreaded the worst.
By the Peace of Westphalia (1648) the Lutheran and
Reformed Religions had been established in the Palatinate
and the Catholic religion was allowed only on sufferance of
the Elector. But now under John William (1690-1716) reli-
gious toleration was announced, and the Roman Catholic
faith thereby put upon a theoretical equality with the other
two. As a matter of fact, he went farther and took revenues,
churches, and schools belonging to the Protestants, whether
' Eccl. Rec. vol. Ill, page 1453 ff.
or not they had been Catholic property, and turned them to
Catholic uses, or else arranged for Catholic and Protestants
to have joint possession of the church edifices. He refused
to allow Protestant clergymen to sit in the Ecclesiastical
Council; and when the people protested, he said that the
"ministers were seditious rebels". Soldiers, moreover, were
quartered on the peasants to harass them. The persecution,
also, often took the form of bodily injury and death was fre-
quently the result. No wonder, then, the poorer subjects be-
came alarmed.
In Switzerland the Anabaptist having no legal status
had always been exposed to the doubtful mercies of the big-
oted Reformed Church.^ The martyrdom of many of the lead-
ers was a recent memory, and at this very time (1708-9) the
prisons were full of those whose greatest crime was obedience
to the scriptural injunction "swear not at all", and a dis-
agreement with the Reformed Church as to the time in the
candidate's life when baptism was to be administered.
In other provinces of Germany, as well as in the Palatin-
ate, there was great suffering among the poorer classes be-
cause of the oppressions of the petty princes who fashioned
their courts after the model of Versailles, plunged into ex-
travagance and excess of all kinds, the burden of which fell
upon the laboring classes who suffered severely from the'
exorbitant taxes and tolls demanded to defray these ex-
penses.
This wide spread poverty, and the religious persecu-
tions had for years been producing a general unrest, and those
who saw no hope of better conditions at home, began to look
to America as a place where they could go and be safe. A
rather small colony had gone to Pennsylvania ^vith Pastor-
ius as early as 1683, and a few families or single persons had
gone every year since.- Another small company, 50 persons