Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Graffenried, Emanuel, Baron de

GRAFFENRIED, Emanuel, Baron de, pioneer, d. in 1735. In 1711, by request of Queen Anne, he undertook to colonize in America the Palatine refugees that had fled to England, and was granted a tract fifty miles square in North Carolina. Accompanied by Lawson, the surveyor-general of the northern provinces, he ascended the Neuse river in 1711 to discover how far it was navigable, and also to explore the neighboring country. They were seized by a party of sixty well-armed Indians and taken to a village of the Tuscaroras, where a council was assembled. Complaints were made of the conduct of the settlers in Carolina, especially that of Lawson, who had divided their territory into lots. After a discussion of two days, the death of the prisoners was decreed. A fire was kindled, a ring formed around the victims, and the council assembled. No reprieve was granted to Lawson, but after five weeks Graffenried was permitted to return, after promising to occupy no land without the consent of the tribe. He founded the town of New Berne, afterward established a colony in Virginia, and still later returned to Europe, where he died, leaving a fortune. His son remained in this country and left many descendants in the south.