Joseph Hert was born on June 29, 1830, in Indiana to James Hert. He married Sadie Jane Selsor on June 29, 1850, and they had at least nine children: James, born around 1851; Nancy, born around 1853; Mary, born around 1862; Ada, born around 1865; Jackson, born around 1868; Nevada, born around 1870; Rose, born around 1873; Troilus, born around 1875; and Charles, born around 1878.
They lived in Indiana until around 1852, when they moved to Illinois. They moved to Trenton, Missouri, in the late 1860s, and Hert worked as a stock dealer there. By 1900, they were living in Jackson, Missouri. He died of “la grippe” there on May 12, 1912.