Augustine Herrman

Augustine Hermann was a merchant and landowner of Bohemian origin who became the largest exporter of tobacco in America.

Herrman was born in Prague, a city in the eastern European country of Bohemia. Educated as a surveyor, he was skilled in sketching and drawing, and talked several languages including Latin.

He left Bohemia and moved to the Netherlands where he entered the service of the Dutch West India Company. In their service he sailed to the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, located on the site of present-day New York City where he became the important member of the Dutch community, and eventually the largest exporter of tobacco in America.

In history Herrman was remembered as the first naturalized citizen of Maryland. He first came to Maryland as one of the ambassadors sent by New Amsterdam's governor, Peter Stuyvesant in 1659. Highly impressed, he decided to return back the next year with his family. At this time the English, Dutch and Native Americans all had territorial claims on the Eastern Shore. Herrman proposed to Lord Baltimore that he would draw an accurate map of Maryland colony in return for the land. He was granted 5,000 acre of land for his services. He named the property “Bohemia Manor” and became a prominent plantation owner and public figure.

During his last years he was disabled by paralysis.