Hermann, George Henry (1843–1914)

Type: Biography

Published: 1952

Updated: February 15, 2017

George Henry Hermann, oilman and philanthropist, son of John and Fannie (Mitchell) Hermann, was born in Houston, Texas, on August 6, 1843. He served in Company A, Twenty-sixth Texas Cavalry, during the Civil War and saw action in both Texas and Louisiana. He operated a sawmill, in what is now Hermann Park, Houston, sold cordwood, and engaged in the cattle business. About 1885 he went into the real estate business. The discovery of oil at Humble in 1903 made him a millionaire. Afterward, he traveled extensively in America and Europe visiting physicians and hospitals. Before his death he donated Hermann Park to the city of Houston. He died at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 21, 1914, and was buried in Glenwood Cemetery, Houston. The bulk of his estate, evaluated at $2.6 million, was willed to the city of Houston for the erection and maintenance of Hermann Hospital.

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History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of the Cities of Houston and Galveston (Chicago: Lewis, 1895).

Categories:

Health and Medicine
Education
Educators
Founders and Pioneers
School Founders
Oil and Gas Industry
Oil Entrepreneurs and Wildcatters
Patrons, Collectors, and Philanthropists
Peoples
Swiss
Business
Ranching and Cowboys

Time Periods:

Late Nineteenth-Century Texas
Progressive Era

Places:

Houston
Upper Gulf Coast
East Texas

The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.

Andrew F. Muir, “Hermann, George Henry,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed May 26, 2022, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/hermann-george-henry.

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Original Publication Date:: 1952
Most Recent Revision Date:: February 15, 2017

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