Page:Augustine Herrman, beginner of the Virginia tobacco trade, merchant of New Amsterdam and first lord of Bohemia manor in Maryland (1941).djvu/104

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THE LORD OF BOHEMIA MANOR
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ping from New Amsterdam.[1] But in 1662 he discontinued his career as a merchant and trader and began in earnest to live the life of a country gentleman on something of an exalted scale. In November of that year, among other guests at Bohemia Manor, we find Philip Calvert, brother of the proprietor of Maryland.[2] In 1663 he petitioned the General Assembly for naturalization, and the same year the legislative body of Maryland ordered that an “Acte of Naturalization be prepared for Augustine Herrman and his children[3] and his brother-in-law, George Hack, and his wife and children.”[4] This act was confirmed in 1666 and again in 1669.[5]

But Herrman was not long content with the easy and regular and no doubt to one of his active and energetic nature a monotonous life of a country gentleman. From an early age he had been accustomed to take part in the important affairs of the world and in organizing and directing some new enterprise molding the destinies of men and nations. In 1665 he was made a commissioner for Upper Baltimore County.[6] As a special deputy of Lord Baltimore he was authorized to issue warrants for arrests. On May 8, 1669 the General Assembly authorized that a log prison be built on Herrman’s manor for the purpose of detaining runaway servants and criminals convicted of the more serious crimes.[7] When he was successful in bringing

  1. Md. Arch. Proc. of Council, Vol. III. pp. 401–402. Proc. of Prov. Court, Vol. XLI. p. 344.
  2. Doc. rel. Col. Hist. of N. Y., Vol. XII. p. 416.
  3. Mrs. Herrman joined her husband in Maryland in 1661 but by the phrasing of the above entry it would appear that she died prior to 1663. Herrman remarried in 1666.
  4. Md. Arch. Proc. and Acts of Gen. Assembly, Vol. I. p. 462.
  5. George Hack died late in 1665 or early in 1666, before he became a naturalized citizen of Maryland. His wife and children became citizens of that colony, however. Herrman was naturalized in 1669.
  6. Md. Arch. Proc. Acts of Gen. Assembly, Vol. III. p. 22.
  7. Ibid. Vol. II. p. 224.