Figure 5. — The telescope-makers shop of Henry Fitz as reconstructed in the U.S. National Museum. 



{Smithsonian photo 46^4^) 



by trade and the youngest son of Mark Fitz, who 

 for several years represented his city in the Mass- 

 achusetts General Court. 



Newburyport was then a prosperous and fast 

 growing maritime community and the Fitzes, 

 though not among its wealthy citizens, were a 

 public spirited and reasonably prosperous family. 

 As in other sections of New England, the War of 

 1812 made great changes in this pleasing picture. 

 The town's shipping and ship-building had been 

 brought almost to a standstill and all its business 

 suffered disasterously. After the war recovery was 

 very slow. Since few needed or could afford new 

 beaver hats, Henry Fitz in 1819 took his wife and 

 three small children first to Albany, New York, 

 where he worked at his trade for awhile, and later 

 to New York City. 



To young Henry, aged eleven, New York was an 



exciting and stimulating place and he watched all 

 its activities with eager interest. The father found 

 the city stimulating in a different way. An en- 

 thusiastic Universalist, he met in New York many 

 persons with similar leanings. He soon established 

 a religious weekly, The Gospel Herald, which he 

 edited for several years. It is therefore not suprising 

 that young Henry was set to learning the printer's 

 trade, but although he rapidly became skilled, he 

 didn't especially like the trade. What he most 

 enjoyed about it was tinkering with the machinery 

 of the shop. In this his mechanical ability soon 

 became evident. When his father relinquished his 

 editorship, Henry, then nineteen, gladly turned to 

 different work. 



He chose locksmithing, which he learned speedily 

 and well in the shop of ^\'illiam Day of New York. 

 The years 1830 to 1839 found him travelling between 



PAPER 26: THREE 19TH-CENTL1RY AMERICAN TELESCOPE MAKERS 



165 



