It was in late August of 1709 that Queen Anne instructed her ministers to prepare instructions to the Governor of Virginia telling him to allocate land to the Swiss Colony that had been proposed by Graffenried and Michel. This was a very hectic time in London as more than ten thousand Germans were in London hoping to obtain transportation to America. This large number was creating severe problems for the English government. Of the many proposals floating around, several of the colonial proprietors proposed to take some of the Germans if the Crown would pay for the transportation. Graffenried and Michel had a similar problem in providing transportation for their colonists and they too were looking for free or low cost transportation.
The search by Michel and Graffenried, being conducted even while their Virginia colony proposal was before the Queen, led them to the proprietors of North Carolina. The proprietors were hoping to get several hundred of the Germans. They told Michel and Graffenried that they also would take the Swiss convicts (the Anabaptists) and colonists to North Carolina if Graffenried would take charge of the Germans. This would be a diversion from the original plan for a colony in Virginia and even the free transportation would hardly be a sufficient inducement for such a change of plans. The point that sold Graffenried is that the proprietors were empowered to offer a title of Landgrave or Baron to anyone who purchased five thousand acres of land from them. Thus the America venture could yield Graffenried two things: money from the silver mine, and a title from the North Carolina venture. He was heavily in debt and had left Switzerland under a cloud. This was his chance to redeem himself. On 4 August 1709, Graffenried paid fifty pounds sterling for five thousand acres of land in North Carolina.
So uncertain were the plans of the North Carolina proprietors, on the date that Graffenried purchased his land, the proprietors had not obtained the Crown's approval for assistance in transporting the Germans to North Carolina. So Graffenried had invested his fifty pounds in an enterprise which was not yet approved. With the purchase of the land (and the title), Graffenried became the most important man in the "Swiss Colonization Society". Also from this time forward, it becomes hard to distinguish Graffenried's actions on his own personal behalf from the actions on behalf of the "Society". Over the course of September, the proprietors sold twenty-five hundred acres to Michel and ten thousand acres to the Society. They also issued an option for one hundred thousand acres to Graffenried and his heirs but this land was intended for the Society. Thereafter, Graffenried starts referring to the 17,500 acres (his 5,000, Michel's 2,500, and the Society's 10,000 acres) as "his."
On the 10th of October, the proprietors of North Carolina were allowed six hundred of the Germans (later increased by another fifty). The Queen was to pay five pounds and ten shillings toward their transportation costs (below cost). She gave each German twenty shillings worth of clothing. Lacking a minister in the group, the Bishop of London authorized Graffenried to perform baptisms and marriages.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.