Guthrie County IA Archives Biographies.....Fritz, Frederick C. 1837 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 29, 2011, 5:43 am

Source: See below
Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1896)

FREDERICK C. FRITZ, Justice of the Peace and Notary Public, who is engaged in
the loan and insurance business in Stuart, is a native of the Keystone State. He
was born in Franklin county, near Mercersburg, on the 7th of April, 1837, being
the son of Jacob and Jane (Cresup) Fritz, who were also natives of the same
county where their marriage was celebrated and where their entire lives were
passed. Both died on the farm where our subject and his father were born. The
latter carried on agricultural pursuits throughout his entire life. Both he and
his wife were of German lineage, and their family numbered five sons and seven
daughters, while ten are yet living, the eldest and the youngest having passed
away.

   The members of the family are William, who died of cholera in Illinois;
Margaret; Jacob, who follows farming in Franklin county, Pennsylvania;
Elizabeth, who lives near London, Pennsylvania; John, who is engaged in the
operation of the old home farm where all of the children were born and reared;
Catherine, wife of Adam Smith, a resident of Fort Loudon, Pennsylvania;
Benjamin, who carries on agricultural pursuits near Mercersburg; Frederick C.,
of this sketch; Jane, wife of Michael Ryder, who lives near Bridgeport,
Pennsylvania; Nancy, wife of Denton Bunn, a resident of Kewanee, Illinois; Mary,
widow of James Williams, a resident of Franklin county, Pennsylvania; and Ellen,
who became the wife of George McCleary, and died at the age of twenty-five, her
husband having also passed away in early life.

   The childhood days of Frederick Fritz were spent on his father's farm, and in
the field, orchard and meadow he worked through the summer months, enjoying the
advantages and freedom of the outdoor life. Although his school privileges were
in some degree meager, by private study and careful observation he has become
thoroughly well informed and is an exact and successful business man. He left
the parental home in the spring of 1859 and spent one year on an Ohio farm. In
1860 he emigrated to Henry county, Illinois, where he continued farm work until
1862, at which time he enlisted in his country's service.

   Mr. Fritz joined Company H, One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois Infantry, on the
22d of August, and received an honorable discharge, July 8, 1865, after three
years of valiant service. He was in Kentucky with the command of Green Clay
Smith and General Gil-more. In 1863 he went to Tennessee under General Burnside.
He was one of 2,000 picked men who were sent to that section of the State to
destroy bridges and supplies. They were successful in their mission, but when
they attempted to return they found that they had been surrounded by the enemy
and had to cut their way out. Going into Kentucky he eventually reached his
regiment. The command with which Mr. Fritz was engaged formed a part of the army
of the Ohio. He participated in twenty-four general engagements and in more than
one hundred skirmishes, took part in the Atlanta cnmpaign and was in several
battles in east Tennessee, including the siege of Knoxville. On the Georgia
campaign he was in all of the battles until Atlanta. was reached, including the
engagements at Buzzard Roost, Resaca, Kenesaw mountain and others. He then
returned with the Fourth and Twenty-third Army Corps to Tennessee, there taking
part in the hard-fought battles of Franklin and Nashville, and following Hood up
the Tennessee river, where they were loaded on transports and proceeded to
Cincinnati, Ohio, and thence to Alexandria, Virginia. After a few days they went
to Fort Fisher, crossed the Cape Fear river and met the enemy in battle at Fort
Anderson and Wilmington, North Carolina. He joined Sherman at Goldsboro, and
later the army marched to Raleigh, near which place Johnston surrendered. Mr.
Fritz went with his division to guard the citizens and maintain order among the
disbanded rebels in the headquarters at Greensboro, where the regiment was
mustered out, being finally discharged at Chicago. The soldiers were sent on
cattle cars from Greensboro to City Point, Virginia, by boat to Baltimore, and
thence by rail to Chicago, where they were paid and discharged. Mr. Ritzjeft the
ranks of the loyal army on the 8th of July, 1865, and on the 10th of the same
month attended a regimental reception at Geneseo, Illinois. Pie took part in
many hotly contested engagements and was always found at his post of duty as a
faithful defender of the stars and stripes, which now float triumphantly over
the united nation.

   Mr. Fritz spent the autumn of 1865 visiting his people in Pennsylvania, and
in 1866 resumed farming, which he followed six years in Henry county, Illinois.
In 1868 he went to Atkinson, Illinois, as a grain-buyer, and soon after
purchased an interest in a flouring-mill at that point. This proved a most
disastrous venture, for he lost over $10,000 in a single year. On the 7th of
April, 1870, he arrived in Stuart, Iowa, where he worked two years as a
carpenter and a year and a half as a blacksmith's helper in the employ of the
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company. For several years he engaged in
merchandising as a clerk, spent two years in a lumber office, and was two years
in the sewing-machine and music business. He was working earnestly and
persistently to retrieve his lost possessions, but again adversity overtook him,
in the loss of $2,000, through the malfeasance of dishonest employers! His next
undertaking was in the real-estate and loan business, which he is now following
with good success. He has also served as Notary Public for ten years and for
about eight years has been Justice of the Peace. He also does some work as a
pension agent, and receives a small pension from the Government on account of
injuries sustained in battle from a shell wound.

   Mr. Fritz was married in Stuart, May 11, 1877, to Miss Delia Birdsall, who
was born in Erie county, New York, December 29, 1847, and coming to Iowa to
visit relatives in 1870 was taken prisoner for life by the old soldier. They had
three children, but Minnie May, born April 21, 1882, died June 17, 1887;
Frederick B., born June 24, 1874, married Miss Nellie McKnight, and resides in
Winterset, Iowa, where he is engaged in the insurance business; Blaine Chandler,
born August 15, 1878, is still attending school.

    Mr. Fritz is a member of Maxwell Post, No. 14, Grand Army Republic, has
served as its Commander, and has been zealous in its work from the time of its
organization, in 1880. He also served for several years as Adjutant. He is a
member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Iowa Legion of Honor, and
has represented both orders in the Grand Lodges of the State for the past twelve
years. In politics he is a straight and uncompromising Republican, and has
served seven years as City Clerk of Stuart, and as a member of the Board of
Education for a number of years. He and his family are members of the
Congregational Church.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

A MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF IOWA

ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO: THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1896


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