MRS. ANNA SIERT

A PIONEER IS DEAD

MRS. SIERT DIES: WAS FIRST MOTHER IN PIONEER BLAIR

EARLY SETTLER'S SON WAS FIRST WHITE CHILD BORN IN BLAIR IN 1869

Mrs. Anna Siert, 89, who as a young wife of 18 became the mother of the first child born in Blair, died at her home, 611 west Washington Street, early last Friday morning. She had been in ill health the past year, but was not bedfast.

Mrs. Siert’s son, the late Henry Siert, born May 21, 1869, was Blair’s first birth. He was born only two months after the town lots had been sold here.

Funeral services for Mrs. Siert were held at the family residence at 2 p.m. Monday, the Rev. Arthur F. Mitchell of St. Mary’s Episcopal church officiating. Six grandsons and the husband of a granddaughter served as pallbearers. They were Harry Siert of Omaha; Harold Siert of Omaha; Robert, Paul and William Siert of Blai; and Kenneth DeLong of Florence. Mrs. Siert was buried in Blair cemetery beside the grave of her husband, Henry, Sr., who died in 1899.

Anna Satorious, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Joseph Satorious, was born September 17, 1850, at Cologne, Germany. When 15 years old, she came to America with her family and they settled first in Omaha. The family later moved to the St. Helena community in Cedar county, but Anna meanwhile had been married in 1868 to Henry Siert, and remained in Omaha with her husband.

HERE IN 1868

Mr. and Mrs. Siert arrived here in the fall of 1868 by stagecoach, the year before Blair was founded. Mr. and Mrs. Carl Beekmann were then farming on the present site of Blair, and the Sierts spent the winter of 1868-69 at their home.

In all the ensuing 70 year, Mrs. Siert had been a continuous resident of Blair. She had not even left the city on vacations. Mr. and Mrs. Siert were well-known in pioneer Blair. Mr. Siert, a carpenter and contractor, built many of Blair’s residences and business buildings.

Mrs. Siert was the last of 12 daughters. Two sisters, Cecelia, 91, and Helena, 93, died last October only four days apart.

Surviving Mrs. Siert are two daughters, Kate and Margaret, at home; four sons: Frank, Paul, Charles and Fred Siert, all of Blair; 13 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. A brother, Christian, of Wynot, also survives. Three sons, Henry, George and Peter, and a daughter, Martha, preceded her in death.

#2-25 Jan., 1940 - The Enterprise

RITES HELD FOR MRS. ANNA SIERT ON MONDAY

Pioneer Woman the Mother of First child Born in Blair

Father Time has again taken toll of the pioneers of this county. This time the call has been made for Mrs. Anna Siert, a resident of the state in 1866.

Mrs. Siert was born in Germany on September 17, 1850, and with her parents came to Omaha in 1866, and two years later was married to Henry Siert and has made this county her home since that time.

To Mr. and Mrs. Siert ten children were born; the first a son, Henry Siert, bore the distinction of being the first child born in Blair. The family lived for a time on the farm southwest of Blair where the husband went into business.

The husband died in 1899, and since that time Mrs. Siert continued to made this her home. Of the children six are still living, and they proved to be a great comfort to her in her declining years and during her last lingering illness when every wish was fulfilled.

Being a pioneer mother she knew the hardships of that early period, but she learned to bear them with a cheerful spirit which clung to her to the end and which leaves with her children most pleasant memories of her care and devotion.

Those left to survive her are Kate and Margaret and Frank, Paul, Chris and Fred, and they mourn deeply her passing.

Funeral services were held last Monday at 2:30 p.m. at the home on West Washington street with Father A. F. Mitchell of the local Episcopal church in charge, and interment was made in the Blair cemetery.

~~~~~Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society, and of descendant Barb (Siert) Sandvold. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair, Nebraska library.~~~~

FindaGrave memorial # 112677243