Binger Hermann

Binger Hermann
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Oregon's 1st district
In office
June 1, 1903 – March 3, 1907
March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897
Preceded byPosition created
Thomas H. Tongue
Succeeded byThomas H. Tongue
Willis C. Hawley
29th Commissioner of the General Land Office
In office
March 25, 1897 – January 26, 1903
PresidentWilliam McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded bySilas W. Lamoreux
Succeeded byWilliam A. Richards
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Oregon's At-large district
In office
March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1893
Preceded byMelvin Clark George
Succeeded byPosition replaced
Member of the Oregon Senate
In office
1868–1870
Member of the Oregon House of Representatives
In office
1866–1868
Personal details
Born(1843-02-19)February 19, 1843
Lonaconing, Maryland
DiedApril 15, 1926(1926-04-15) (aged 83)
Roseburg, Oregon
Political partyRepublican
Signature

Binger Hermann (February 19, 1843 – April 15, 1926) was an American attorney and politician in Oregon. A native of Maryland, he immigrated to the Oregon Territory with his parents as part of the Baltimore Colony. Hermann served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly and as a Republican in the United States Congress.

Hermann served as the Commissioner of the General Land Office for a period of about five years. His written directives known as the Binger Hermann Policy, caused mineral claimants of several lode mining claims (Ex: Lucky Strike Gold Mining Co.) to suffer from what is referred to as "cadastral mayhem" Many locators looking for a cure had to wait until August 8, 1904, when Paragraph 147 of the Mining Circular was revised under the authority of the Act of April 28, 1904.[1]

In 1904, Herman was also caught up in the Oregon land fraud scandal and brought to trial for alleged land fraud. The jury failed to agree and Hermann was never retried. Hermann was posthumously exonerated by the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt.