Whitaker, Mary

Joshua married Fritts, Mary on 14 Jan 1783 in Rowan County, North Carolina, USA. Mary (daughter of Fritz, Wooldrich Frederich and FRITZ, Janet) was born about 1754 in Shenandoah County, Virginia, British America. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name: Wooldrich Frederich Frits
First knowledge of Wooldrich is through a legal document in Augusta County, Virginia on March 21, 1759, when William McGee is summoned to pay freedom dues to his late servant Frederick Frits. Also on that same day, William McGee is to pay freedom dues to his late servant Janet Frits, wife of Frederick Frits.” Wooldrich would have been about twenty-seven years of age when he received his "freedom dues" from William McGee, it is our opinion that he and his wife, Janet indentured themselves to obtain money in order to establish the family in the Shenandoah valley.” (Records of Augusta Co., VA, 1745-1800, pp. 235—236.)



Hans Ulrich and Wooldrich (Frederick) Fritz are found listed as father and son in the Charlotte Observer Newspaper article, Five Generations In One N.C. Family ”Shot" At One Sitting, the photograph included William Fritz (1843) and members of his family. The article was written by Rev. Jacob C. Leonard, D.D., and appeared on Sunday, August 21, 1932. It indicated that Wooldrich arrived in America on the ship "Elizabeth" at the Port of Philadelphia. We have found that Hans Ulrich Fritz was listed as the father of Wooldrich Fritz in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) records Nos. 269266 and 539883, for Wooldrich Fritz and George Fritts, Sr., respectively. Also, that George, Sr. was the son of Wooldrich. It has and is taken for fact from this article, from Port of Philadelphia shipping records for 1738, and from an affidavit written by William Fritz in 1929, that Hans and Wooldrich were father and son. It is presumed that Rev. Jacob C. Leonard, D.D. received his material, from Wooldrich's grandson William Fritz (1843) who was discussed in the article.

Wooldrich married FRITZ, Janet about 1752 in Rowan County, North Carolina, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name: Jennett /FRITZ/
Date: 8 MAY 1783
Memo: On Thursday, May 8, 1783, two year after Wooldrich death we find the Fritz family mentioned in court records "Letters of Administration on Estate of Frederick Fritz, deceased, Ordered to issue to Jennett and George Fritz

Name:
Could possibly be Janet Feuerstein, daughter of Johann Nicholas Feuerstein.

Notes:

Married:
This is the closest thing I have found to a marriage record. Would I take this to the bank, no.

Notes:

Name: Hans George Fritz
Memo: Found on the Captain's List for the ship "Elizabeth". The ship arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania prior to 30 Oct 1738.
Name: Hans Uhllerick Fritz
Memo: This was an autograph duplicate of List that contained Hans Ulrich Fritz.
Found in a list that contained all the names of males above sixteen, who were required to repeat and subscribe to the Declaration of Allegiance with their own hand if they could do so and if they could not, their names were written by a clerk and they made their mark

Thought to be originally from the Rhine-Palatine area of Germany, the father, Hans Ulrich Fritz, aged 30 and his son Wooldrich (Frederick) Fritz, aged 7, arrived in Philadelphia abt 1738 on the ship "Elizabeth" from Holland. Moving to the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, Wooldrich married Janet and fathered at least 3 children. After 1763 the family relocated to the Lexington, NC area where 3 more children were born.
In 1781 Wooldrich served as Private in Major General Nathanael Greene's Army and fought his last battle at the Guilford Courthouse alongside his sons, George (1753) and John (1762), and his friend and neighbor, Valentine Leonard and his son Jacob. When this unit was partially disbanded, the friends returned home to their neighboring farms. On November 2, 1781, Valentine and Wooldrich were both attacked and shot at their homes by a band of Tories, Woodrich dying immediately and Valentine dying 11 days later. These 2 friends and battle comrades are buried in what was known as Leonhardt's Church Cemetery and is now Pilgrim Reformed Church Cemetery on Old Pilgrim Road.

The tall monument was erected 4 July 1896 for the 2 men who lost their lives so cruely after doing so much for their country and their community:
The inscription on the East Side reads: "This monument was erected by citizens A.D. 1896 out of veneration for our brave dead. These men are of those who fought for and gained our liberty. Unveiled with appropriate ceremonies July 4, 1896."
The West Side reads: "The heroes buried in this spot were cruelly assasinated in their own homes by Tories near the close of the Revolutionary War. They were Patriots and bravely fought for American independence."

The original soapstone marker for Wooldrich reads: "W. F. Wooldrick Frits, deceased November the second, 1781, age 50 yrs. Remember me as you pass by; As you are now, so once was I; As I am now, so must you be; Prepare therefore to follow me." On his footstone: "Lo, here doth lifeless Wooldrick lie, cut off by murder's cruelty."