Baron Christoph de Graffenreid of Bern, Switzerland, was of an ancient and illustrious family. In order to relieve the suffering of a number of his countrymen, and also to improve his own fortune, he brought over a colony of Swiss and Palatine Germans to Carolina in 1709, founded the city of New Bern, and was created a Landgrave by the Lord Proprietors.

His oldest son, Christopher, born in 1691, accompanied his father to America and remained there, becoming the ancestor of most of the de Graffenreids, now living in the United States.