Binger Hermann
Encyclopedia
Binger Hermann was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 attorney and politician in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

. A native of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, he immigrated to the Oregon Territory
Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...

 with his parents as part of the Baltimore Colony. Hermann would serve in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly
Oregon Legislative Assembly
The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives, with 60 members elected to...

 and as a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 in the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

. Due to involvement in land deals, he was caught up in the Oregon land fraud scandal
Oregon land fraud scandal
The Oregon land fraud scandal of the early 20th century involved U.S. government land grants in the U.S. state of Oregon being illegally obtained with the assistance of public officials. Most of Oregon's U.S. congressional delegation received indictments in the case: U.S. Senator John H....

, but found not guilty and later exonerated.

Early life

Hermann was born the eldest of eleven children in Lonaconing, Maryland
Lonaconing, Maryland
Lonaconing is a town in Allegany County, Maryland, United States located along the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,205 at the 2000 census.- History :...

, in 1843 to immigrant parents: Henry Hermann, a German-born physician, and Elizabeth Hopkins, an English immigrant. He graduated from the Independent Academy (later called Irving College) in Baltimore.

Baltimore Colony

In the late 1850s, a group of Baltimore citizens, including Hermann's father, began to make plans to start a new life in the Oregon Territory
Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...

. Dr. Hermann and his son met with Oregon's territorial delegate
Delegate (United States Congress)
A delegate to Congress is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives who is elected from a U.S. territory and from Washington, D.C. to a two-year term. While unable to vote in the full House, a non-voting delegate may vote in a House committee of which the delegate is a member...

 Joseph Lane
Joseph Lane
Joseph Lane was an American general during the Mexican-American War and a United States Senator from Oregon.-Early life:...

 to obtain letters addressed to prominent people already in Oregon who would assist the settlers. The younger Hermann wrote in his diary that he was fascinated by the politics and politicians his father brought him in contact with during that trip.

In April 1859, led by Dr. Hermann, seven families and several single men, known as the Baltimore Colony, left to build a new life in Oregon's Coquille Valley. The Hermanns chose a homestead on the South Fork of the Coquille River
Coquille River
The Coquille River is a stream long, in southwestern Oregon in the United States. It drains a mountainous area of of the Southern Oregon Coast Range into the Pacific Ocean. Its watershed is located between that of the Coos River to the north and the Rogue River to the south.-Geography:The river,...

 where Broadbent
Broadbent, Oregon
Broadbent is an unincorporated community in Coos County, Oregon, United States. Broadbent is located along Oregon Route 242 south of Myrtle Point. Broadbent has a post office with ZIP code 97414....

 is now located, growing tobacco, sugar beets, flax seed, and raising honeybees. As Dr. Hermann found out information on Oregon's resources, he wrote articles for East Coast newspapers to inform other interested settlers.

Shortly after arriving, Binger Hermann nearly drowned trying to save a drowning child, before being saved himself by his father. He also witnessed a man accidentally shoot himself. Hermann later wrote in The Story of a Busy Life: "Discouraging as the accidents were, they only tended the more to inspire each one with new zeal and more determination to face the future."

Hermann would eventually open the first school in the Coquille Valley in 1860, and also taught in Yoncalla
Yoncalla, Oregon
Yoncalla is a city in Douglas County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,052 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and 1.61% is water.-Demographics:...

 and in Canyonville
Canyonville, Oregon
Canyonville is a city in Douglas County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,293 at the 2000 census, while the 2007 estimate is 1,640 residents...

.

Political career

Hermann studied law and was admitted to the Oregon State Bar
Oregon State Bar
The Oregon State Bar is a government agency in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded in 1890 as the private Oregon Bar Association, it became a public entity in 1935 that regulates the legal profession. The public corporation is part of the Oregon Judicial Department...

 in 1866. That same year, he was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives
Oregon House of Representatives
The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 57,000. The House meets at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem....

. He served one term in the Oregon House, and then served one term in the Oregon State Senate
Oregon State Senate
The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the state-wide legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the State Senate, representing 30 districts across the state,...

 from 1868 to 1870. Hermann also served as deputy collector of internal revenue for southern Oregon from 1868 to 1871 and receiver of public moneys at the United States land office in Roseburg
Roseburg, Oregon
Roseburg is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the county seat of Douglas County. The population was 21,181 at the 2010 census.-History:...

 from 1871 to 1873 and was a colonel in the Oregon State Militia from 1882 to 1884. He was instrumental in area river and harbor appropriations and for the establishment of lighthouses along the Oregon Coast and was the author of the Indian Depredation law, which provided payment for property damage committed by hostile Indians during the Indian Wars.

In 1884, Hermann was elected to the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 for Oregon's At-large congressional district
Oregon's At-large congressional district
Oregon's At-large congressional district is a former United States Congressional District. During its existence, Oregon voters elected a Representative of the United States House of Representatives At-large from the entire state.-History:...

. The Republican defeated Democrat Robert A. Miller
Robert A. Miller (Oregon politician)
Robert Aubrey Miller was an American attorney and Democratic Party politician in the state of Oregon. Born in Oregon, he served in the Oregon House of Representatives and as an aide to Governor Sylvester Pennoyer.-Early life:...

 in the 1890 election to win another term, meanwhile Democrats picked up 78 seats in the U.S. House in that election. In 1893, after Oregon was granted another congressional district based on the 1890 census
United States Census, 1890
The Eleventh United States Census was taken June 2, 1890. The data was tabulated by machine for the first time. The data reported that the distribution of the population had resulted in the disappearance of the American frontier...

, Hermann continued to serve in Congress, representing Oregon's 1st congressional district
Oregon's 1st congressional district
Oregon's 1st congressional district consists of the northwest corner of Oregon. It includes Clatsop, Columbia, Washington, and Yamhill counties, and southwest Portland, part of Multnomah County, which belonged to the 3rd district before the 2002 redistricting....

.

Hermann did not seek reelection in 1896, and was appointed by President McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...

 as Commissioner of the General Land Office
General Land Office
The General Land Office was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department of the Treasury...

 in Washington, D.C. He soon clashed with Secretary of the Interior
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...

 Ethan A. Hitchcock
Ethan A. Hitchcock (Interior)
Ethan Allen Hitchcock served under Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt as U.S. Secretary of the Interior.-Early life:...

 over land matters. When Hermann's successor in Congress, Thomas H. Tongue
Thomas H. Tongue
Thomas H. Tongue was an American politician and attorney in the state of Oregon. Born in England, his family immigrated to Washington County, Oregon, in 1859. In Oregon, he would serve in the State Senate from 1889 to 1893 and was the seventh mayor of Hillsboro...

, died in 1903, Hermann resigned his post and returned to run for Tongue's seat. He won the special election to complete Tongue's term, and was reelected to another term in 1905.

Oregon land fraud scandal

During Hermann’s final term, Hermann was accused by Hitchcock of fraud against the government, claiming that information on land fraud in Oregon had been sent to Hermann and had been ignored, and that Hermann might have removed or disposed of several files and letters from the General Land Office concerning certain fraud investigations. This scandal, which included nearly all of Oregon's congressional delegation, came to be known as the Oregon land fraud scandal
Oregon land fraud scandal
The Oregon land fraud scandal of the early 20th century involved U.S. government land grants in the U.S. state of Oregon being illegally obtained with the assistance of public officials. Most of Oregon's U.S. congressional delegation received indictments in the case: U.S. Senator John H....

.

Hermann was found not guilty of destroying public documents in 1907, but remained under indictment for collusion of a land deal in the Blue Mountain Forest Reserve
Blue Mountains (Oregon)
The Blue Mountains are a mountain range in the western United States, located largely in northeastern Oregon and stretching into southeastern Washington...

 in Oregon. A trial was held on that charge in 1910 and ended in a hung jury. U.S. District Attorney Francis J. Heney
Francis J. Heney
Francis Joseph Heney was an American lawyer who served as Attorney General of the Arizona Territory between 1893 and 1895.- Early years :...

 declined to refile charges. In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt's Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes
Harold L. Ickes
Harold LeClair Ickes was a United States administrator and politician. He served as United States Secretary of the Interior for 13 years, from 1933 to 1946, the longest tenure of anyone to hold the office, and the second longest serving Cabinet member in U.S. history next to James Wilson. Ickes...

, exonerated Hermann of any wrongdoing.

After Congress

Hermann returned to Roseburg
Roseburg, Oregon
Roseburg is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the county seat of Douglas County. The population was 21,181 at the 2010 census.-History:...

, where he resumed his law practice and engaged in literary pursuits until his death in 1926.

External links

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