Henry Fitz

For the Australian politician, see Henry Bates Fitz.

Henry Fitz Jr.
Henry Fitz Fitz, circa 1840-42 daguerreotype
Born	(1808-12-31)31 December 1808 Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA
Died	7 November 1863(1863-11-07) (aged 54)
Resting place	New York City, USA
Occupation	businessman
Known for	manufacturer of telescopes, early photography
Spouse	Julia Ann Wells ​ (m. 1844)​

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. He married Julia Ann Wells of Southold, Long Island in June 1844.

1878 College Observatory

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

1850 advertisement

Henry Fitz 1850 shop advertisement

Fitz workshop reconstructed at Smithsonian Institution

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

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.

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. Obituaries report that his demise was from tuberculosis. 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.