VON BIEBERSTEIN, HERMANN ROGALLA (1823–1906). Hermann Rogalla von Bieberstein was born on March 12, 1823, in Brieg, a town in the province of Silesia in Prussia (present-day Poland). He was the son of royal Prussian Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Rogalla von Bieberstein. He studied at the University of Wroclaw from 1843 to 1845 before immigrating to the United States in 1846. Hermann arrived in Galveston on October 20 and moved to Winedale, Texas, in Fayette County. Von Bieberstein met Rudolph Melchior and the two helped found "Latin Settlement"—Latium in Washington County.
Von Bieberstein received his American citizenship on November 14, 1850, and lived as a farmer near Brenham. On September 24, 1855, Hermann married another German immigrant, Adele Hagedorn. The two had eleven children.
In 1866 Hermann became the Washington County surveyor, a post he kept for several years. Von Bieberstein was elected to the Texas House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1873. He served in the fourteenth and fifteenth state legislatures. While in the House, von Bieberstein dealt with issues including immigration and land assignment, and he was opposed to the railroad bills passed during his time in the state legislature.
Hermann was named a representative on the electoral committee on May 13, 1876, but he quit on August 18 because of the corruption he saw. Von Bieberstein withdrew to his farm, and by 1884 his land value was around $4000. In 1878 Hermann was named to the Grand Jury, and in February 1880 he was again named land surveyor for Washington County, a position held until 1898. Von Bieberstein was also one of the first members of the Texas State Historical Associationqv that was founded on March 2, 1897.
Hermann von Bieberstein died in Brenham on March 18, 1906, and he was buried two days later at the Jaeger–Witte Cemetery in Greenvine, Texas.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hermann Rogalla von Bieberstein (http://de.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Rogalla_von_Bieberstein), accessed January 22, 2007.
Michael Thetford
