George L. Herancourt

George L. Herancourt

• Born 1856 in Cincinnati, OH USA
• Died unknown

Biographical Information

George L. Herancourt was briefly the owner of the Cincinnati Red Stockings of the American Association.

He was the son of George M. Herancourt, a German-born brewery owner in Cincinnati, OH, and the first cousin of John Hauck, who emigrated from Germany in 1842 and worked for his father before starting his own brewing business. He helped manage his father's interests and was eventually named president of the Herancourt Brewing Company upon his father's death in 1880.

He began investing in the local baseball team in 1880, when he was elected treasurer of the Red Stockings, also known as the Stars, who were members of the National League. The club folded after that season, but in 1891 he was part of the ownership group that also included men such as Aaron Stern and O.P. Caylor, for a new Cincinnati franchise in the American Association, a second major league. That team would become the ancestors of today's Cincinnati Reds. He was named the team's first treasurer and in 1884 bought out most of Stern's shares to become principal owner. However, he overextended himself financially, and had to sell his shares to his cousin, Hauck, as he fell into bankruptcy.

His fall was swift and complete. He had been elected city treasurer of Cincinnati in 1883, but lost his bid for reelection in 1885 amid rumors that the treasurer's office had unexplained shortfalls. Newspapers said he was an "associate of gamblers and prostitutes". There were lawsuits and countersuits, and Herancourt fled the city. He was said to have gone to Los Angeles, CA where he worked as a day laborer, but nothing definite is known about the rest of his life following his fall into disgrace.