The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
John Fritts was born in 1762 in Shenandoah County, Virginia, to Wooldrich and Janet Fritz, who moved to Rowan County, North Carolina, when John was an infant.
During the Revolutionary War, John served with his father and older brother, George Fritts, in the Rowan County Militia Regiment. They fought together at the Battle of Guilford Court House, which occurred only 30 miles north of their home. Six months later, his father and his best friend Valentine Leonard, also of the Pilgrim Church, were both shot and killed in their homes by Tories. A monument honoring their ultimate service was dedicated on 4 July 1896.
According to John's Revolutionary War Pension, he also served in Captain John Lopp's Company of Rangers. He patrolled through surrounding counties searching for Tories and spied on the movements of the British preceding the Battle of Guilford Court House on 15 March 1781. After his father's tragic November 1781 killing, the following summer of 1782, John reenlisted as a volunteer in Major General Nathanael Greene's army. He then served in Captain Peter Ford Company to guard British and Tories prisoners who had been captured in South Carolina and brought them to Salisbury for safekeeping.
After the war, on 18 May 1789, John purchased two tracts of land in Rowan County, North Carolina (Land Grant #1794) for 260 acres located on Abbotts Creek next to Michael Zink (Sinks), Frederick Smith, Valentine Beard, and John Avery.
Pilgrim Church records show John Fritz's daughter Anna Maria Fritz was born three years later on 31 May 1792, and she was christened on 27 July 1793. Her mother's name was Anna Maria.
John Fritts certified on his 27 May 1834 Revolutionary War Pension Application that he was 72 years old and a resident of Lee County, Virginia. However, he appeared in open court in Hawkins County, Tennessee, because it was more convenient. A few years later, on 6 November 1837, he applied to transfer his pension payments to his new residence in Monroe County, Indiana, where he is shown on its 1840 Census next to his son Henry. Then, in April 1843, he requested that his pension be transferred to Richmond, Virginia. Also in the Pension file is a letter dated 26 January 1859 from his grandson S. R. Fritts of West Liberty, Virginia (now West Virginia), requesting that his invalid grandmother, John's widow, continue to receive his pension.
Sources:
Pilgrim Church Records (John Fritz), page 22
1810 Census Rowan County, VA (John & George Fritz)
1820 Census Lee County, VA (John, Henry & John Fritts)
1830 Census Lee County, VA (John, Henry & John Fritz)
1834 Rev War Pension of John Fritz #S10701 (of Lee County, VA)
1837 Rev War Pension Transfer from Lee County, VA, to Monroe County, IN
1840 Census Monroe County, IN (John & Henry Fritz)
1842 Rev War Pension Transfer from Monroe County, IN, back to Lee County, VA
1843 Rev War Pension Transfer from Lee County, VA, to Richmond, VA
1859 Letter to Pension Office from S R Fritts of West Liberty concerning his invalid grandmother
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