Jacob Fritz was buried at
Fernhill Cemetery, St John, New Brunswick, Canada. He was naturalized; Master Mariner. He Jacob was lost at sea, off Canso, NS, in the wreck of the 'SS Cedar Grove' (Canso is on the northeastern tip of Nova Scotia, and is where the Atlantic and the Chedabucto Bay/Strait of Canso happen to meet.
Date : December 9, 1882
County : Saint John
Place : Saint John
Newspaper : The Daily Telegraph
Drowned on morn. of Nov. 30th, from on board S.S. 'Cedar Grove' off Cape Canso, N.S., Julia A. FAIRALL of London, England, age 19. (London and Manchester, England please copy)
Family in 1881 Canada Census for Prince Ward, Saint John City, Saint John Co., New Brunswick:
Jacob FRITZ M Male English 58 Nova Scotia M. Mariner Baptist
Eliza F. FRITZ M Female English 54 Nova Scotia Baptist
Ervlin J. FRITZ Male English 28 N. B.
Baptist
Edwin J. FRITZ Male English 2? N. B. Baptist
Mary H. FRITZ Female English 26 N. B. Baptist
Annie G. FRITZ Female English 20 N. B. Baptist
Howard D. FRITZ Male English 17 N. B. Student Baptist
Jacob, Horatio (Ervlin/Joration) and Edwin were all master mariners and, at one time or another, all worked for/with J.V. Troop & Son out of St John, NB.
SS Cedar Grove (Official Number - 86978):
Canadian Registration
Built 1882, registered same
Built in Hylton, England
Registered in Saint John, NB
It was a brig with a 1437 tonnage rating
Hull material was iron.
It wrecked near Cranberry Island, Nova Scotia,
on 30-Nov-1882, registry closed on 22-Dec-1882.
Obviously, it had a very short 'life':
Voyages:
1) On 26-Nov-1882, vessel departed London, England,
returning their on 08-Nov-1882 (R/T voyage)
2) On 17-Nov-1882, vessel departed London, England,
Destination was Nova Scotia, 'arriving' there on
30-Nov-1882.
Does this indicate that Jacob Fritz helped crew the
Cedar Grove from London, and it never actually returned
to Nova Scotian shores? This vessel was registered as
only making these two voyages, so my suspicion is that
she sank on her maiden voyage to her first real owner,
never, ever seeing actual service. I can only hope the
owner had a good insurance policy!
Further research indicates Jacob was master of the Cedar Grove
from 20-Sep-1882, until her demise on 30-Nov-1882, so yes, he
was in charge of the ship when she went down of Cranberry Island.
J. V. Troop & Sons were the owners. I would be surprised if
any pictures of the veseel even exist, given its short 'life.'
J. V. stands for Jacob Valentine.
According to ship database at: http://daryl.chin.gc.ca:8000/SEARCH/
Jacob Fritz, cert #73493
Born Wilmot, Annapolis, NS, Canada
Was master of the following vessels:
1 SILVER OAR 42655 (1861-1868, a brigantine, first owned by Jacob, then JV
Troop, mastered by Jacob from May to Jul-1868)
2 TWILIGHT 42671 (1861-1866, a barque, first owned by Jacob, then Troop &
Son, then JV Troop, mastered by Jacob from Oct-1862 to 20-Mar-1863)
3 BESSIE PARKER 50533 (1864-1888 - wrecked off Hog Island, Nassau, Bahamas,
nearly 6 years after Jacob died at sea, a barque, first owned by Andrew
Gibson, then Lamport & Holt, then Troop & Son, then Howard Douglas Troop,
then JV Troop) - apparently Jacob was master but never owner of this
vessel, he mastered her from 10-Aug-1866 to 10-Dec-1866, 10-Jan-1867 to 30-
May-1867, 20-Jun-1867 to 10-Oct-1867, 10-Nov-1867 to 20-May-1869, )
7 JACOB V. TROOP 59267 (1869-1876 - abandoned at sea on 21-Mar-1876,
a 'ship' of 1232 tonnage, mastered by Jacob from Nov-1869 to 20-Jan-1873)
8 LIZZIE C. TROOP 66890 (1873-1890 - wrecked on Loo Choo Island, China,
mastered by Jacob from 10-Jul-1873 to 10-Aug-1873)
9 MINISTER OF MARINE 66961 (1874-1892 - discovered on fire en route from
Liverpool to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, mastered by Jacob from 20-Jul-1874 to
10-Apr-1877, and 20-May-1877 to 30-Aug-1877)
11 LOW WOOD 72335 (1878-1905, sold at auction in Barbados in 1908, a bargue
of 1336 tonnage, mastered by Jacob from 10-Jul-18778 to Apr-1879, and 20-
Jul-1879 to 20-Apr-1880 - Note: Also mastered by Haratio/Horatio J. Fritz,
b. St John, NB. He was also, apparently, a master for the Troops, having
mastered the Annie Troop, the Low Wood, and others)
13 ST. JULIEN 80042 (1880-1896, sold to Russians in Jun-1897, mastered by
Jacob from 20-Sep-1880 to 10-Mar-1881, also mastered by Edwin John Fritz,
probably related to Haratio/Horatio, as born St John, NB, from 10-Nov-1880
to 20-Jan-1886 - NOTE: He also mastered the JV Troop from 20-May-1891 to 20-
Aug-1893 - Haratio J. mastered the Annie Troop, Crown Jewel, Micmac, Low
Wood, the Cyprus and the Arbutus)
14 CEDAR GROVE 86978
11/20/1882 - The wreck of the Cedar Grove off Saint Andrew's Island, Nova Scotia. As a result of strict obedience to stupid Naval discipline, the captain, two crew members and a passenger are lost. The ship sinks.
THE LOSS OF THE CEDAR GROVE
Of late, a noble steamer, the Cedar Grove by name
Across the briny ocean, from London City came.
Whilst steering on one stormy night, too thick to see the land,
By some miscalculation near Canso she did strand.
The sailor at the helm he knew that he could tell
They were too near the shore, by the hearing of the swell.
He wished to give a warning, but he knew it not his place
For discipline it must be observed, whatever be the case.
The weather thick and stormy, the lookout at his post
The first he saw of danger it was breakers on the coast
The order it was given the engines to reverse
'Starboard your helm!' the captain cried, 'Our ship is off her course!'
But straight toward the breakers our noble ship steered on
One moment more, a fearful crash brought fear to everyone
The engineers and firemen were hard to work below
And through their perserverance our ship did backward go.
And soon she gained deep water, and yet her doom was sealed
The briny flood rushed into her and then to port she keeled,
The heavy weight of water from for'ard it did go
Bursting into aft compartments, and down the ship did go.
The saddest of my story, and yet it doth remain
Qe (She?) had a lady passenger, Miss Farrel was her name;
To visit some relations in the city of St. John,
She ventured o'er the briny deep, but now she's dead and gone.
A sailor said he saw her in the companionway stand by;
It grieved his heart with pity to hear her mournful cry,
He offered to console her, and said, 'You'll not get lost,'
But soon the tender maiden's form in the billows it was tossed.
Our steward he bravely held her all over the ship's side
A-waiting for a boat to pull up against the tide;
A heavy wave came rolling in which did release his grip
And soon the tender maiden went drifting from the ship.
That same sea took our captain and he was seen no more
Through heavy rain and darkness the boats still lingered near;
Two engineers were also lost --it was when the boat went down,
Their bodies and the lady's have never yet been found.
Our cargo being for Halifax and the city of St. John
And to the latter port the steamer did belong
She was well built on the banks of Clyde, two thousand tons or more
But her strength it proved of no avail on the Rocky Canso shore.
Oh, now the unlucky Cedar Grove to the bottom she does lie,
To save most of the cargo, the divers hard to try
A disfigured body was brought up and taken to the land,
Our brave and honored captain, who died all in command.
From Shantymen and Shanty Boys, Doerflinger
Collected from Captain Bernie Bell
Nov 20, 1882 - Wreck of the Cedar Grove off Saint Andrew's Island near Canso, Nova Scotia. She was on her way from London to Halifax. The 'Cedar Grove' sails from London to America. She runs aground off Canso because the helmsman cannot violate discipline. The captain, two crew members, and a passenger are lost, and the ship sinks. Naval discipline dictated that the helmsman could not speak or be spoken to. Normally this was a good idea -- it prevented distractions -- but here it proved disastrous.
There were a total of 23 souls on board, of which 4 (the Captain, the lady, and 2 engineers) perished. The remaining 19 were later rescued. The ship struck Walker's Reef and sank. Date of loss listed as 30-Nov-1882 in most records, and 20-Nov-1882 in others. Even the NY Times ran a short article on the wreck, running in its 1-Dec-1882 paper on page 1. It stated the 30th
of November, as well.
According to maps of the wreck area, it is just off the point of NS, south of the entrance to Chedabucto Bay.
NS Archives list position thusly - - - 'Walkers Head, Cape Island, Canso, 1/4 mile SE from' They also listed 5 lives
lost vice 4, so perhaps one of those rescued died later, or the original count was inaccurate?
Date : December 2, 1882
County : Saint John
Place : Saint John
Newspaper : The Daily Sun
Capt. Jacob FRITZ entered the employ of the late J.V. TROOP, Esq., founder of the house of Troop & Son about the year 1845, hardly five years subsequent to Mr. Troop's arrival in Saint John and continued with the firm up to the hour of his death. He sailed as a mate of schr. 'Relief', Capt. JOHNSON, the first vessel built here by late Mr. Troop. He was mate and subsequently Captain of schr. 'Kate'. He commanded the brig 'Emily', the schr. 'Josephene', brig 'Comet', brig 'Morning Light', brig 'Silver Ore', bark 'Twilight', bark 'Satellite', bark 'Bessie Parker' which he took in 1864; the ship 'J.V. Troop' built in 1873; and ship 'Minister of Marine' built in 1874 which he commmanded until 1877. He sailed 'Low Wood' over a year and retired. His son Capt. Horatio FRITZ took charge of the 'Low Wood'. He returned to sea in 1880. commanding the new ship 'St. Julian'. After a trip or two his place was filled by his son Capt. Edward FRITZ. He remained ashore until the 'Cedar Grove' was built when he went to England and took command of her. Capt. Fritz's age is about 58 years. He was married to the second daughter of the late Capt. Caleb SLOCOMB on 25th Sept. 1849. His family all reside here. They are Mrs. Fritz, three daughters, one of whom is Mrs. Peter McNAUGHTON, and the remaining two are single, Capt. Horatio Fritz, formerly of ship 'Low Wood', but living ashore for the winter; Capt. Edward Fritz, master of 'St. Julian', presently at sea and the youngest son presently studying at the New Brunswick University. ('Calendars of the House of Assembly indicate that Howard D. FRITZ graduated from the New Brunswick University in 1884 - D.F. Johnson). He was born between 13 January 1823 and 1824 at Nova Scotia, Canada. He was the son of John Fritz(s) and Helen Brown. Jacob Fritz married Eliza Jane Slocomb, daughter of Caleb Slocumb and Mary Hamilton, on 25 September 1849 at Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Jacob Fritz died on 30 November 1882 at at sea.