Henry Fitz Explained

Henry Fitz Jr.
Birth Date:	31 December 1808
Birth Place:	Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA
Resting Place:	New York City, USA
Known For:	manufacturer of telescopes, early photography
Occupation:	businessman

Henry Fitz Jr. (December 31, 1808 - November 7, 1863) was an American engineer, scientist, locksmith, optician, inventor and a pioneer of photography in the United States.

Personal life

Fitz was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts on December 31, 1808.^[1] He married Julia Ann Wells of Southold, Long Island in June 1844.

Career and death

After returning from a trip in Europe in December 1839, he entered partnership with Alexander Wolcott and John Johnson to solve the problem of making daguerreotype portraits. Johnson fell ill, however, and work only resumed in January 1840. These experiments led Wolcott to patent a special mirror camera.

Wolcott and Johnson opened the first photo studio in the world in March 1840. Fitz opened his own daguerreotype studio in Baltimore in June 1840. A group of daguerreotypes, from the early experimentation with Wolcott and Johnson as well as later studio portraits, were discovered and sold at auction in 2021.^[2]

Fitz’s telescope business was highly profitable, so in 1863, he started construction of a new house. However, he died suddenly on November 7, 1863.^[3] Obituaries report that his demise was from tuberculosis.^[4] Before his final illness, he was about to sail for Europe to select a glass for a 24inches telescope and to procure patents for a camera involving a new form of lens.

References

Peter Abrahams. 1994 . Henry Fitz, 19th Century American Telescope Maker . Journal of the Antique Telescope Society. 6 . 6. Fitz was the first important American telescope maker because his pioneering techniques of local correction of poor-quality glass allowed him to construct the largest American made refractor on five different occasions..
News: . Museum gets tools of telescope maker . Chattanooga Daily Times . 31 . Chattanooga, Tennessee . October 16, 1959 . . April 12, 2021 . July 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210717121459/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75599510/chattanooga-daily-times/ . live .
. 1888 . American Telescopes . The Observer. 11 . 395. 142. Henry Fitz, of New York, is credited with being the first American who obtained special distinction for the manufacture of refractors; he constructed 30 with object-glasses varying from 6 to 16inches in diameter..
. 1986 . Astronomical Instruments in the United States . The Griffith Observer. 50 . 9. attributes the initial rise of the American observatory - building movement to the American telescope - maker Henry Fitz (1808-1863) and he seems to be right. Fitz made big telescopes, setting the record five times for constructing the largest refractor ever made in the U.S.
News: . Where Timeis Made. Pittsburgh Dispatch. 17. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. April 21, 1889. . April 13, 2021. July 17, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210717121442/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75666208/pittsburgh-dispatch/. live.
News: . Erskine to present historic 1849 Henry Fitz Telescope to the S.C. State Museum. The Index-Journal. 9. Greenwood, South Carolina. September 18, 1985. . April 11, 2021. July 17, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210717121438/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75561983/the-index-journal/. live.
News: . Stargazer restores Erskine's classic telescope. The Greenville News. 25. Greenwood, South Carolina. October 9, 1983. . April 12, 2021. July 17, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210717121445/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75602878/the-greenville-news/. live.
News: . Historic telescope . The Index-Journal . 5 . Greenwood, South Carolina . May 13, 1984 . . April 13, 2021 . July 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210717121446/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75663782/the-index-journal/ . live .
News: . Alfred students 'See Stars' . Democrat and Chronicle . 20 . Rochester, New York . December 25, 1966 . . April 13, 2021 . July 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210717121437/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75682747/democrat-and-chronicle/ . live .
News: . Study of the stars at Alfred University a thing of the past, is now Resurrected . Wellsville Daily Reporter . 3 . Wellsville, New York . December 24, 1966 . . April 13, 2021 . July 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210717121503/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75667243/wellsville-daily-reporter/ . live .
Web site: The History of Erard Matthiessen's 8" Henry Giles Fitz Refractor . Fried . Bart . Telescopes & Reflectors . Poloris Interactive . 2009 . April 11, 2021 . April 11, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210411144256/http://www.polarisinteractive.com/vmht/exhibit/tel_HGFitz_text.html . live .
News: . Early Telescope Maker Honored . The Baltimore Sun . 48 . Baltimore, Maryland . January 24, 1960 . . April 11, 2021 . July 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210717121504/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75559333/the-baltimore-sun/ . live .

Sources

Book: English, Neil . Classic telescopes : a guide to collecting, restoring, and using telescopes of yesteryear . 2013 . Springer . 978-1-4614-4424-4 . New York, NY . 809794115.
Book: Lankford, John . History of astronomy : an encyclopedia . 1997 . Garland Pub . 0-8153-0322-X . New York . 35042300 .
Book: Smithsonian Institution. 1877 . United States Printing Office. Bulletin . 761267914.
Book: Smithsonian Institution . 2019 . United States Printing Office . Smithsonian American women : remarkable objects and stories of strength, ingenuity, and vision from the National Collection . Jill Lepore, Michelle Anne Delaney, Victoria Pope, Christine Schrum, Nancy Bercaw, Lisa Kathleen Graddy . 978-1-58834-665-0 . . 1084632898.
Book: United States National Museum. 1962 . Smithsonian Institution. Development of the Electrical Technology in Nineteenth Century. 988840144.

Notes and References

News: . 1860s telescope by Fitz still in use . The Akron Beacon Journal . 32 . Akron, Ohio . June 12, 1985 . . April 11, 2021 . July 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210717121444/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75563530/the-akron-beacon-journal/ . live .
Hindman . 2021 . The Henry Fitz Jr. Archive of Photographic History .
News: . Obituary / Death of Henry Fitz . Chicago Tribune . 2 . Chicago, Illinois . November 13, 1863 . . April 12, 2021 . July 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210717121446/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75601682/chicago-tribune/ . live .
Web site: The Cryptic Case of Jacob Cambell's Clark Refractor . Fried . Bart . Telescopes & Reflectors . Amateur Astronomers Association of New York . 2019 . April 13, 2021 . April 13, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210413204117/https://eyepiece.aaa.org/the-cryptic-case-of-jacob-campbells-clark-refractor/ . live .