Notes
Note N818
Index
Following are the first two paragraphs of the reference for this family.
[The following translation of the original Family Record of John Godfrey Fritchey comes to us from his grandson, John Q. A. Fritchey, Esq., of St. Louis, a Dauphin County boy, who learned the art of printing on the "Telegraph" at Harrisburg, and followed Horace Greeley's advice and went West. A few years ago he purchased the old home in Dauphin County, and frequently visits the place of his early years].
I, John Godfrey Fritchey, was born in the town of Schoenlinder, Leitmeritache Creyse, about six miles from Dresden, and two from Zittan, in the year 1755, September 20th. Came finally, after many sea and land journeys to America, in the year 1784 and landed in Philadelphia, September 10th. I was married to Dorothea Bucher, by the Rev. [William] Stoy, July 24th, 1787 in Lebanon. Our children were as follows:....and the children are in the database.
In Notes and Queries, 3rd series, Volume 1, page 542 we read that Dorothea and Godfrey "had a large family of children, several of whom became quite prominent in the church. The remains of these worthies lie in the grave-yard of Wenrick church. This family settled very early in this country."
In the latter part of the eighteenth century there came from Germany to America one John Godfrey Fritchey, a young man of gentle birth and good education. In the beginning it had been his intention to return to the Fatherland, but the beauties of the Pennsylvania hills and the broad opportunities of the life in a new country proved so attractive that he decided to remain, and located near Harrisburg. Like so many of his countrymen,he was a musician of considerable merit. In his new home, he met and married Dorothy Bucher, a faithful and sincere member of the Reformed Church, and an aunt of Rev. John Casper Bucher, D.D., a noted divine of that denomination. Mr. Fritchey had been reared in the faith of the Roman Catholic Church, but was too broad to object to his children following the teachings of the church of their mother. Thirteen children came to brighten their home.
The place that many people think corresponds to the village of Schoenlinder is known today as Krasna Lipa, and is some 60 km S-SE of Dresden, Germany, across the border into Czeckoslovokia. At first glance, this doesn't match up with the distance of 6 miles stated by Fritchey in his statement above. However, Rainer Maaz (Rainer.Maaz@Fulda.net) says that in the 1700's, the definition of a mile was the distance one could walk in about two hours. So Fritchey's six miles would be the distance you can walk in about 12 hours. Most people walk about 3 mph, so this would be about 36 miles. 36 x 1.6 = ~58 km. So this seems to all work out.
Fritchey came to the US in the company of a young German doctor, John Wiestling. Fritchey and Wiestling married Bucher sisters.
June 2014: Fritchey home is now being used as "Mount Hill Tavern". 22120 Colonial Road, Harrisburg, Pa 17112-1409
Probate source 15 Mar 1822: Harrisburg Chronicle, Monday 18 Feb 1822, Vol. IX-No. 48: "Notice is hereby given that all persons interested in the estates of Rachel Reigart.....Godfrey Fritchey....that the executors and administrators have filed in the Register's Office for the county aforesaid, the administration accounts taken upon the estates of the said decedents, and that the said accounts will be presented to the Orphan's Court for confirmation and allowance on the fifteenth day of March next, at the Court House at Harrisburg."
Notes
Note N819
Index
Occupation - retired Pastor.
Notes
Note N820
Index
Baptized by Rev. Moeller (Mueller).
Notes
Note N821
Index
Confirmed by Rev, John Winebreuner, the popular pastor of Salem Reformed Church, five miles from Harrisburg, who had taught him the Heidelberg catechism.
Notes
Note N822
Index
In the latter part of the eighteenth century there came from Germany to America one John Godfrey Fritchey, a young man of gentle birth and good education. In the beginning it had been his intention to return to the Fatherland, but the beauties of the Pennsylvania hills and the broad opportunities of the life in a new country proved so attractive that he decided to remain, and located near Harrisburg. Like so many of his countrymen,he was a musician of considerable merit. In his new home, he met and married Dorothy Bucher, a faithful and sincere member of the Reformed Church, and an aunt of Rev. John Casper Bucher, D.D., a noted divine of that denomination. Mr. Fritchey had been reared in the faith of the Roman Catholic Church, but was too broad to object to his children following the teachings of the church of their mother. Thirteen children came to brighten their home.
His home training and his natural inclinations alike turned him toward the ministry, and at the suggestion of his beloved teacher and pastor, he entered a classical school at Sandy Hollow, taught by a Mr. Cummings, a graduate of Princeton College, where for two years he pursued a course in Latin and Greek, preparatory to a course in Theology. In the spring of 1825, at the invitation of Rev. Mr. Winebreuner, he accompanied that gentleman to Carlisle to attend the opening of the new theological seminary then and there established by authority of the Synod of Bedford. He witnessed the inauguration of the first Professor of Theology, Rev. Lewis Mayer, D.D., and became the first enrolled student of the institution.
Having completed the course, he in 1828 was ordained to be a missionary, his intention being to labor in the destitute regions of the West. With this idea he left home, traveling on horseback, with his face toward the setting sun. At Chambersburg, however, he came under the influence of the pastor of the Reformed Church, Rev. Mr. Rahauser, who had an extensive knowledge of the home missionary field, and who persuaded him to change his course southward, to the mountains of North Carolina. Arrived in the vicinity of Lincolnton, in that State, he found a field ready for the harvest, and for twelve years thereafter engaged in arduous labor, establishing many churches in that time, and rejuvenating the work of the church generally.
His field of labor extended over seventy miles down into South Carolina. In 1840, having secured a pastor for the South Carolina churches in the person of Rev. William C. Bennett, and being unwilling to rear his family amid the influences of the slave system, he returned North. He was successively pastor of churches at Mechanicsburg, Cumberland Co., Pl, East Berlin, Adams County, and at Taneytown, Md., being at the later place thirteen years. In each of these places Rev. Mr. Fritchey was a power for good, building up the churches and freeing them from financial burden.
In 1865 he moved his family to the town of Lancaster, and from that time to the date of his death engaged in active service for his Master in the county. He preached in many places, but was particularly helpful in New Holland, Millersville, Elizabethtown,k Maytown and at Shoop's Church. He was also very helpful to the Zwingli German Church in Harrisburg. His method of work was to go into a disorganized field, or in communities where the cause of religion was languishing for any reason, and by the magnetism of his energies, ban the dying embers into flame again. When the fire burned brightly he would secure the establishment of a regular minister at the place, and move on to other less favored communities. In this manner, he was instrumental in building up a number of churches in the county which are now lasting monuments to his efficient labor. At the Zwingli Church he was peculiarly effective in the raising of a large church debt that sapped the vital forces of the church, undertaking this work and carrying it through the weight of fourscore years. The missionary spirit, the carrying of the Gospel to those who had it not, was the all-consuming force in his character, and dominated his actions all through a long life of usefulness. No journey was too long, no day too unfavorable on account of the weather, to respond to a call in which he saw an opportunity to do good. --- Biographical Annals
Alternate birthplace is Dauphin county, PA per Find-a-grave
Alternate place of death is Lancaster county, PA per Find-a-grave
"Death of Rev. J. G. Fritchey. Rev. J. G. Fritchey, one of the oldest and best known ministers of the Reformed Church, died at his residence at Lancaster, Pa., on Thursday evening of last week, aged 83 years, 1 month and 6 days. He was born near Harrisburg, Pa., on February 6, 1802; was educated at the classical school of Francis D. Cummings, a graduate of Yale College, at Sandy Hollow; studied theology at the Theological Seminary at Carlisle; was ordained at Mifflinburg in 1828, and was continuously in the ministry until 1880, when he retired after a service of fifty-two years. His charges, after the first one, were all in Pennsylvania, except at Taneytown, in this county, were he had four congregations, and organized another at Mt. Union. His first charge was in North Carolina.
In the ministry he accomplished much good, organizing many congregations and building numerous churches.
In 1828 he married Miss A.E. Hendel, and was the father of thirteen children, one of whom was the late Theodore L. Fritchey, of this city. Only five of his children survive- A.H. Fritchey, a member of the Lancaster bar; J.U. Fritchey, jeweler; Alfred U., Laura J. now the wife of Dr. A.A. Roath, of Frederick, Md., and S. Ellen, wife of Joseph Eberly, a farmer near Mechanicsburg, Pa. Seventeen grandchildren and seven great-grand children also survive him. His remains were interred at Mechanicsburg, pa., on Monday last."--21 Mar 1885, The (Westminster, MD) Democratic Advocate