Augustine Herman

Augustine Herman, First Lord of Bohemia Manor (Czech: Augustin Heřman, c. 1621 – September 1686) was a Bohemian explorer, merchant and cartographer who lived in New Amsterdam and Cecil County, Maryland. In the employment of Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, he produced a remarkably accurate map of the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay regions of North America, in exchange for which he was permitted to establish an enormous plantation that he named Bohemia Manor in what is now southeastern Cecil County, Maryland. Trading furs and tobacco for wine and slaves, he quickly became wealthy and the owner of considerable real estate, including most of what is now Yonkers, New York.

At that point he was one of the most influential people in New Amsterdam, he was elected in 1647 to board of the Nine Men a body of prominent citizens organized to advise and guide the Director-General of New Netherland.

Herman married December 10, 1651, while he was in New Amsterdam. His wife was Jannetje Marie Varleth, the daughter of Caspar Varleth and Judith Tentenier, of New Amsterdam. They had five children, Ephraim, Casper, Anna, Judith and Francina. Jannetje died before 1665, and sometime after that Herman married again, this time to Mary Catherine Ward from Maryland.

Delaware Bay Stuyvesant would send Herman on a diplomatic mission to New England to resolve concerns about rumors of a Dutch and Native American alliance against the English. Of greater lasting importance, in 1659 he was sent to St. Mary's, Maryland with Resolved Waldron to negotiate the dispute between New Netherlands and Maryland's proprietor Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore over ownership of the lands on the western shore of the Delaware Bay, that were claimed by both parties.

Herman first articulated the argument that Lord Baltimore's charter was only good for lands that had not been previously settled, and that the short-lived, 1631 Swanendael settlement(usually spelled Zwaanendael), at present day Lewes, Delaware, gave the Dutch prior rights to the whole Delaware River watershed. Baltimore rejected the argument completely, but subsequently the English successors to the Dutch title, the Duke of York and William Penn, were successful in making the case, ultimately leading to the separate existence of the state of Delaware. Regardless of the success of the negotiations, Herman had made a good impression on the Calverts.

Bohemia Manor

Herman, weary of conflict with Stuyvesant and remembering the fine lands he crossed in the upper Chesapeake Bay, offered to produce Lord Baltimore a map of the region in return for a grant of land in the area of his choosing. The offer was accepted and the grant made in September 1660 so Herman began his 10 years of work on the map.

Herman selected his first grant of 4000 acres of land and named it "Bohemia Manor" after his birthplace. It included much of the land east of the Elk River and north of the Bohemia River.

Because he was of non-British origin, Herman was obliged to apply for citizenship of Maryland by an act of their Assembly. His petition, in 1666, was successful and he became a naturalized citizen of Maryland.

Children and grandchildren Ephraim George Herman, the eldest son, became Second Lord of Bohemia Manor. He was born in New Amsterdam in 1652. Ephraim lived in New York City in 1673, and was in New Castle County by 1676 where he was at various times Clerk of the Courts of New Castle County and Upland County and Surveyor for St. Jones County and New Castle County. About 1680 he became a Labadist, but was taken sick, lost his mind, and died on Bohemia Manor in 1689, surviving his father by only three years. He had married Elizabeth van Rodenburg, who survived him, subsequently marrying Major John Donaldson, a member of the provincial council of Pennsylvania. They had four children, but it is believed that all of Ephraim's children died before reaching maturity, and the Lordship passed to his brother when he died. Casparus Augustine Herman, the second son, became the third Lord of Bohemia Manor. He was born in New Amsterdam in 1656 and died on Bohemia Manor in 1704. Casperus lived in New Castle for a number of years and represented New Castle County in the general assembly of Pennsylvania and the Lower Counties from 1683 to 1685. He was later a member of the legislature of Maryland in 1694. Anna Margaritta Herman, the first daughter, was born in New Amsterdam before her baptism date of 10 March 1658. She married Thijs Jacobsz. She had issue. Judith Herman, the second daughter, was born 9 May 1660 in New Amsterdam. She married first to John Thompson and secondly to John Dowdall. She had issue with her first husband. Francina Herman, the third daughter, was born before her baptism date of 12 March 1662 in New Amsterdam. She married Joseph Wood Sr. Ephraim Augustine Herman, grandson of Augustine, was the fourth Lord of Bohemia Manor. He was born either on St. Augustine's Manor, or in nearby New Castle County, and died on Bohemia Manor in 1735. He was a member of the legislature of Maryland from Cecil County in 1715, 1716, 1728, and 1731. Casparus Herman, the son of Ephraim Augustine, became the fifth and final Lord of Bohemia Manor in 1735. He died four years later without any children and so the title became extinct. His elder sister, Mary Augustine Herman, was his primary heir, and she married John Lawson, who secured the inheritance. Eventually most of this passed to Richard Bassett through his step father, Peter Lawson, and his mother, Judith Thompson, a granddaughter of Augustine Herman, the first Lord, through his daughter, Judith Herman.

Other descendants Even beyond his numerous accomplishments during his lifetime, part of Augustine Herman's legacy have been the numerous distinguished descendants he left. Some of them are listed below.

Richard Bassett, Daniel Brewster, James A. Bayard, James A. Bayard Jr., Richard H. Bayard, Thomas F. Bayard, Thomas F. Bayard, Jr., Francis Beverley Biddle, James Bouldin, Thomas Bouldin, John B. Breckinridge, Lloyd Bryce, Ezekiel F. Chambers, Thomas Clayton, Henry W. Collier, Albert Constable, Robert Daniel, Lucius Q. C. Lamar, William B. Lamar, Harmon Cox, George E. Mitchell, Edmund Randolph, David Ross, and Joseph Tydings.

Place names Maryland Route 213 between Chestertown and Elkton is named the Augustine Herman Highway in his honor. There are two schools that are named in honor of Bohemia Manor; Bohemia Manor High School, and Bohemia Manor Middle School Augustine Beach Hotel derives its name from Augustine Herman.