Henry Fitz

Fitz was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts on December 31, 1808.[1]

Maria Mitchell in Vassar College Observatory June 1878 using a telescope made by Fitz[2]

Henry Fitz 1850 shop advertisement

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 24-inch (610 mm) telescope and to procure patents for a camera involving a new form of lens.[5]

Henry Fitz's workshop reconstructed at Smithsonian Institution at their Museum of American History

Fitz married Julia Ann Wells of Southold, Long Island in June 1844.[6]

• 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.
• "Museum gets tools of telescope maker". Chattanooga Daily Times. Chattanooga, Tennessee. October 16, 1959. p. 31. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
• "American Telescopes". The Observer. 11 (142): 395. 1888. 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 16 inches (410 mm) in diameter.
• "Astronomical Instruments in the United States". The Griffith Observer. 50: 9. 1986. 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
• "Where Timeis Made". Pittsburgh Dispatch. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. April 21, 1889. p. 17. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
• "Erskine to present historic 1849 Henry Fitz Telescope to the S.C. State Museum". The Index-Journal. Greenwood, South Carolina. September 18, 1985. p. 9. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
• "Stargazer restores Erskine's classic telescope". The Greenville News. Greenwood, South Carolina. October 9, 1983. p. 25. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
• "Historic telescope". The Index-Journal. Greenwood, South Carolina. May 13, 1984. p. 5. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
• "Alfred students 'See Stars'". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. December 25, 1966. p. 20. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
• "Study of the stars at Alfred University a thing of the past, is now Resurrected". Wellsville Daily Reporter. Wellsville, New York. December 24, 1966. p. 3. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
• Fried, Bart (2009). "The History of Erard Matthiessen's 8" Henry Giles Fitz Refractor". Telescopes & Reflectors. Poloris Interactive. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
• "Early Telescope Maker Honored". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. January 24, 1960. p. 48. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .

• English, Neil (2013). Classic telescopes : a guide to collecting, restoring, and using telescopes of yesteryear. New York, NY: Springer. ISBN 978-1-4614-4424-4. OCLC 809794115.
• Lankford, John (1997). History of astronomy : an encyclopedia. New York: Garland Pub. ISBN 0-8153-0322-X. OCLC 35042300.
• Smithsonian Institution (1877). Bulletin. United States Printing Office. OCLC 761267914.
• Smithsonian Institution (2019). 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. Washington, DC: United States Printing Office. ISBN 978-1-58834-665-0. OCLC 1084632898.
• United States National Museum (1962). Development of the Electrical Technology in Nineteenth Century. Smithsonian Institution. OCLC 988840144.