Andrew Hirt Jr and Mary Ann Brost

Compiled by Jim Oehler (jimoehler3 at gmail.com).

Last updated: November 23, 2020.

Andrew and Mary Ann are the parents of Louis Hirt. As such, they are my generation's great grandparents. Andrew was born on October 24, 1854, in Lancaster, New York to Mary Smithers who was originally from Alsace-Lorraine, France, and Andrew Hirt Sr, originally from Bremen, Germany. Andrew Sr. was 44 at his son's birth and Mary was 42.

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Andrew Hirt in 1875 at age 21. He was a red head.

Andrew Jr. was Mary Ann's senior by nine years. She was born on December 25, 1863, in Alflen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Her father, Anton, was 28, and her mother, Katharine Steimers Brost, was 27. She migrated to the US with her family in 1882 when she was 19 years old. For more on Alflen and the Brost family's immigration to America, read the blog post for Anton and Katherine Brost. According to one family history, the travel agency through whom they made arrangements directed them to Taylor County, WI. Two years after arriving in Wisconsin she married Andrew Hirt, likely in Medford, WI where they settled on 160 acres in Hammel township, a few miles west of the city.

Andrew came to Medford from Lancaster, NY when he was 24 or 25. According to that same family history, he was the youngest in his family and was slated to take over the family farm in NY. However, his father had remarried after the passing of his first wife Mary Smithers and Andrew Jr. did not like his new stepmother so he left and went to live with his sister Frances Hirt Bockmier who lived about six miles west of Medford.

Andrew and Mary Ann Hirt's 1884 wedding picture.

Copy of section 24 of 1890 platt showing location of Andrew Hirt ownerships (two 80 acre plots located at the corner of current day County Hwy E and Center Ave.). Note little black squares indicate locations of buildings.

Current day aerial photo showing Andrew Hirt's original 160 acres.

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Andrew and Mary Ann raised their family on the farm initially in a log house and then in a wood frame house. They had 14 children in 23 years: Maria Katherine (1885-1972); Joseph Peter (1886-1967); John Henry (1888-1967); Mary K. (1889-1972); Francis Julianna (Sister Gratianna: 1891-1987); Andrew Oswald (1892-1946); Gertrude (Sister Adele: 1894-1987); Helen Theresa (1895-1988); Elizabeth (1897-1947); Martha Elizabeth (1899-2002); Agatha Margaret (1900-1999); Louis George (1904-1998: my grandfather who was perhaps named after Andrew Jr's oldest brother); George Frank (1905-1984); Anthony Robert (1908-1996). A few of their children stayed nearby, but most ventured far and wide across this country, settling in places such as Spokane, Tokoma, Hoquiam, and Seattle, Washington; Bar Nunn, Wyoming; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Sonoma, California; and Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

Andrew and Mary Ann's farm was about four miles south of Joseph and Maria Gruny's farm (parents of Clara). Clara and Louis (my grandparents) would eventually marry. Did they meet at a local swimming hole on the Black River, or at the local school, or perhaps at church? They were both Catholic and attended Holy Rosary Church in Medford. It's hard to know at this point, but fun to think about.

Approximate locations of Gruny and Hirt farmsteads.
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Andrew lived on his original farmstead for almost 30 years before he passed away on March 12, 1916 at the age of 61 of a cerebral abscess due to infected mastoids. In other words he died of a very severe ear infection, something that would be almost unheard of today. Mary Ann lived another 17 years living in the same house and farm that was inherited by their son John. According to her obituary in the local paper, she died of the "flu and complications" but according to her death certificate, she died of "acute cardiac insufficiency." She died on January 24, 1933 at the age of 69. She is buried along with Andrew at Holy Rosary Cemetery, Medford, WI, GPS Coordinates: 45.14100, -90.32131.