A meticulous map of the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay regions served as the currency for Augustine Herman, a Bohemian-born merchant who traded his surveying expertise for a vast colonial estate. His work provided an accurate depiction of North American topography, securing his legacy as a significant, if often overlooked, cartographer and landowner in the 17th century.
From Bohemia to New Amsterdam
Born in Mšeno, Bohemia, around 1621, Herman arrived in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam by 1640. Operating as an agent for the Amsterdam-based firm Peter Gabry and Sons, he quickly established himself as a prominent figure in the local mercantile scene. Through his involvement in the fur and tobacco trades, alongside privateering ventures like the frigate La Grace, he amassed considerable wealth and property, including significant portions of land in present-day Yonkers.
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Herman became a central voice among the colony's leadership, serving on the Nine Men board created to advise the Director-General of New Netherland. Stuyvesant retaliated by hindering his financial interests, resulting in a brief imprisonment for debt in 1653, though Herman continued to perform official tasks, including negotiating land acquisitions on Staten Island.
The Chesapeake Cartographer
In 1659, Herman was sent to St. Mary's, Maryland, to act as a representative in a territorial dispute between New Netherland and Cecil Calvert, the 2nd Baron Baltimore. While the negotiation failed to resolve the ownership of the Delaware River watershed, the interaction led to a strategic proposal: Herman would produce a comprehensive map of the region for Lord Baltimore in exchange for a land grant. This project occupied him for a decade, culminating in the 1670 release of his map of Maryland and Virginia.
Bohemia Manor
Upon receiving the 4,000-acre grant in 1660, Herman relocated his family to Maryland, naming the estate Bohemia Manor in tribute to his origins. To secure his legal standing as a landowner, he obtained naturalized citizenship through the Maryland Assembly in 1666. Following the completion of his mapping work, he received further property grants, including Little Bohemia and St. Augustine Manor, before his death in 1686.
Fast facts
- Born: 1621, Mšeno, Bohemia
- Died: 1686, Bohemia Acres
- Naturalized Citizen: Maryland, 1666
- Spouses: Jannetje Marie Varleth (married 1651), Mary Catherine Ward
- Occupations: Merchant, land owner, cartographer, explorer, seafarer
- Languages spoken: French, German, Latin, Spanish, English, Dutch, Czech
- Burial site: Bohemia Manor Cemetery
Questions readers ask
Why was the map of Maryland and Virginia significant?
It was a remarkably accurate survey produced over ten years that resolved property service obligations and earned Herman his substantial manor estates.
What was his role in the Nine Men?
He served as a member and eventual chair of this body of prominent citizens who advised the Director-General of New Netherland.
Achievements
- Recorded as explorer, cartographer and seafarer
