John Lawson (explorer)
John Lawson (* December 27, 1674 in London, † September 1711 in Carolina ) was an English explorer, adventurer and writer. Lawson was significantly since 1700, involved in the exploration and development of the northern part of the former British colony of Carolina, now the U.S. state of North Carolina.
Life
About Lawson's life before his arrival in Carolina, little is known. He was the son of Dr. John Lawson and [ Isabella ] Love and possessed, according to the preface of his work on a good education.
In 1700 he traveled to America and arrived in Charleston on 15 August. On 28 December the same year, Lawson started from there with five other British and various Indian leaders a two-month expedition by canoe the Santee River up to explore the then unknown country north of Charleston. The expedition ended about 1000 miles to the north at the mouth of the Pamlico River ( today in Beaufort County). During the expedition Lawson extensive notes, which he published in 1709 is made ( see below).
After the end of the expedition Lawson acquired land in the area where the expedition had ended and worked there at first privately, then on behalf of the colonial administration as a surveyor. In the area settled by this time some scattered Europeans. From Lawson's possessions, the first permanent settlement in North Carolina, Bath, which flourished and soon became the main port of entry of North Carolina developed. Lawson was involved in 1710 with the Swiss Christoph von Graffenried and Franz Ludwig Michel of the founding of the second oldest town in North Carolina, New Bern, by Swiss and German immigrants.
Lawson in 1711 kidnapped by the Tuscarora and subsequently killed after they had noticed that Lawson had tried to take advantage of one of our trading. This event led to a deterioration of the climate between the Europeans and the Tuscarora, thus contributing to the outbreak of the Tuscarora War, which ended after initial successes, the Tuscarora with their expulsion.
A New Voyage to Carolina
Lawson worked during a stay in London in 1709 from his records, which he had made during the expedition. He published the same year under the title A New Voyage to Carolina. In it you will find both a diary-like chronicle the course of the expedition as well as a map and detailed descriptions of the flora and fauna of North Carolina. In addition, the publication contains a largely unbiased representation of the habits of the Indian tribes, with whom he had met, and a short dictionary of the language of the Tuscarora Indians. Lawson's records are in accordance with those of the Frenchman Jacques Cartier, the oldest available documents dealing with an Iroquoian language. The book became a bestseller and was published in several editions, also under the title The History of Carolina, and was among others translated into French and German. The wide distribution of the work attracted many settlers to North Carolina and thus contributed to the rapid development of the colony.