John Fritsch

 

John Fritsch, one of the old-time Sacramentans, now retired from active business, is a native of Alsace, born near Strasbourg, on the 10^th of June, 1815, his parents being Valentine and Caroline (Zwilling) Fritsch. Their family history is traceable back to the sixteenth century. His father and grandfather Fritsch were wagon-makers by trade, and on his mother’s side his ancestors were school teachers and professional people. Being Lutherans by faith, they were driven out by the Roman Catholics, and settled in various countries. John Fritsch spent his early boyhood days at his native place, and there received his education. In 1832 the family came to America, sailing from Havre on the three-masted vessel Martha. Their destination was Charleston, South Carolina, but on account of the trouble then existing there, they were not allowed to land.  A second attempt was made at Norfolk, Virginia, but with no better success, this time on account of the cholera quarantine. They then put into port at Baltimore, and from there proceeded to Washington City. There they saw the celebrated Indian chief, Black Hawk, who was then on his famous trip to the seat of Government. Work was plentiful at the National Capital, and they settled there. In 1834 the mother died, and the family soon afterward broke up. The subject of this sketch went with his father and brother to Berlin, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, where the father worked at his trade, and our subject worked with him. In 1836 they went to Cincinnati, and a couple of months later to St. Louis. Soon afterward they went to New Orleans, arriving there about the time the Rangers were returning from Texas, and the soldiers returning from the Seminole War in Florida. They resided in Joseph street, in Lafayette district, Parish of Jefferson. The father died in 1841. On the 4^th of June, 1842, John Fritsch became a citizen of the United States before Judge Francis Joseph Emil Dugui Livandais. He remained in New Orleans until the 10^th of February, 1852, when in company with his brother Jacob (now resident of Marysville) he took passage on the steamer Philadelphia for Chagres. They crossed the Isthmus of Panama, part of the way by boat and part on foot, and continued their voyage to California on the steamer Winfield Scott, landing at San Francisco. Mr. Fritsch remained in the city a short time, but some of his friends made him a present of a pick and shovel, and he started for the mines. He packed the implements, and with a blanket on his shoulders, all the way from Colusa to Shasta. He went to work on Clear Creek, and mined there until the following spring. He then returned to San Francisco, and there met his wife and children who had come out to join him. He worked there at his trade until 1855, when he came to Sacramento, and went to work for George Duden, on Ninth and K streets. After this he worked at different shops and also in the Central Pacific Railroad shops, where he was engaged for a long time. He has been retired since about 1879. Mr. Fritsch was married in New Orleans on the 15^th of May, 1842, to Elizabeth Lorch, a native of Bavaria, her parents being Simon and Margaret (Stauter) Lorch. Her father died in Bavaria, and her mother in New Orleans in 1854. She came to San Francisco via Panama, on the steamers Falcon and Golden Gate. Mr. and Mrs. Fritsch were the parents of eleven children, of whom five are now living. The eldest son, John Jr., who was a prominent young man, died on the 24^th of March, when about thirty- four years of age. Their oldest daughter, Phillipina, has been twice married. By her first husband, Louis Koenig, now deceased, there is one child living, Charles King, employed in a commercial house. She is now the wife of William Hoffman. The other living children of Mr. and Mrs. Fritsch are: Henry, Lizzie, Emma and Margaret (widow of William Keller). Mr. Fritsch joined Howard Lodge, NO. 6, A. F. & A. M., New Orleans, in 1848, and in 1857 he affiliated with Concord Lodge, Sacramento of which he is now a member. He is a Republican politically. His father, who was born in 1781, was a soldier under the great Napoleon.