Fred G. Sierth Biography


	This biography appears on pages 957-958 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				FRED G. SIERTH. 

	Fred G. Sierth is interested in mining properties in the Black 
Hills and is also engaged in the farming and live-stock business, 
having seven hundred and forty acres near Hermosa and three hundred 
acres at Hayworth. He was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, 
September 25, 1837, and is a son of John and Eliza (Veola) Sierth, who 
remained residents of Germany to the time when they were called to 
their final rest. The father was a brickmaker by trade. 

	Fred G. Sierth attended school in his native town and when but 
seven years of age began working for others in the fatherland. He 
served for eighteen months in the regular army, thus complying with the 
laws of the country in regard to military service, and in 1863, when 
twenty-six years of age, came to the United States, landing at New 
York. He thence made his way direct to Douglas county, Illinois, at 
which time he was totally unfamiliar with the English language. He 
afterward removed to Cass county, Nebraska, where he rented a grist 
mill for two years, after which he removed to Omaha, where he engaged 
in railroad work for two years, being connected with the bridge gang at 
Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming On the expiration of that period he 
returned to Cass county, Nebraska, where he again engaged in the 
milling business, residing there until 1876, when he made his way by 
team to Custer, reaching his destination on the 16th of December, 1876. 
This was curing the period of pioneer development in the Black Hills 
country and he embarked in the sawmill business at Keystone, where he 
remained until the fall of 1877. He was then connected with the 
operation of a quartz mill at Hayworth for about six months but the 
venture did not prove profitable, although he is still the owner of the 
mill. He next engaged in placer and quartz mining in that vicinity and 
has devoted considerable attention to the business to the present time, 
having mines at Keystone and at Hayworth. He is also engaged in farming 
and the live-stock business, having a ranch of seven hundred and forty 
acres near Hermosa and three hundred acres at Hayworth. He operates his 
land as stock ranches and raises alfalfa and corn. He keeps on hand an 
average of one hundred head of graded Durhams and is one of the 
prominent stockmen of his section of the state, devoting the greater 
part of his time to the live-stock business, although he is also a 
stockholder in the Hermosa Telephone Company, of which he at one time 
served as a director. 

	In November, 1872, Mr. Sierth was married to Miss Georgia 
Jennings, who was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of George and Anna 
Jennings, both of whom were natives of Philadelphia. They went to 
Nebraska in 1855 and settled near Bellevue, where the father engaged in 
the milling business and also practiced law, for he was an attorney. 
Neither he nor his wife ever came to South Dakota to reside and both 
are now deceased, while their daughter, Mrs. Sierth, passed away in 
1892. There were three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Sierth but all are 
now deceased. John, born in 1873, died in 1883; Anna, born in 1874, 
died in 1883; and Dale died in that year at the age of six months, 
diphtheria being the fatal disease which carried them off. 

	Mr. Sierth is a very prominent Mason, belonging to the lodge, 
chapter, commandery and the Scottish Rite, in which he has attained the 
thirty-second degree. He has been senior warden and treasurer of his 
lodge and he also belongs to the Eastern Star chapter at Keystone. He 
has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new 
world, for here he has found the opportunities which he sought and has 
gradually worked his way upward in a land where ability and talent are 
unhampered by caste or class. His persistency of purpose has enabled 
him to overcome many difficulties and obstacles and step by step he has 
advanced until he is numbered among the substantial and valued 
residents of Custer county and the Black Hills country.