Elijah Burritt - New Britain’s Astronomer
By Amy Melissa Kirby | New Britain Historical Society Director at July 16, 2024 | 6:00 pm | Print
In the wild forest land of the new Republic of Texas, a New Britain man sat by the firelight and looked across the bayou toward the expanse of prairie that would soon become the town of Houston. Elijah and his survey party was the first to arrive, and was enjoying a dinner of venison that they had purchased from a local Native American. The leader of the colony, a published astronomer and mathematician, was here with his engineer and two hired men to scout the site that they were to build a milling complex. Although they were optimistic in their assessment, Elijah Burritt and his men did not foresee the destructive forces that were headed their way.
The older brother of Elihu Burritt, Elijah had similar aspirations and accomplishments, first training as a blacksmith, and aspiring for further learning while working the forge. The family was very poor and so Elijah was very fortunate to be sent to Williams College. He completed most of his studies while working as a teacher to pay his way and even writing what would become an important mathematics textbook. Unable to pay for his final semester, Elijah found work in Georgia, as a teacher, surveyor, and editor of a political newspaper. It was this latter profession that led to a controversy as the “Elijah Burritt Affair.” Local authorities discovered that he had received and even distributed a very inflammatory pamphlet authored by an outspoken African-American activist, and Elijah fled for his life in 1829.
Back in New Britain, and just having sold his mathematics text copyright for $10,000, Elijah purchased the Stone Store on North Main Street, turning it into a schoolhouse and observatory. Here he helped Elihu with his primary studies and encouraged him to move to New Haven to continue his self-learning at Yale. Elijah soon published his second major work, Geography of the Heavens, an important atlas of the stars and constellations that was reprinted and referenced throughout the 19th Century.
A few years later, the founders of the town of Houston, Republic of Texas, convinced Elijah to bring a colony of skilled craftsmen to build the town’s industrial complex. These men would build and operate the proposed Texas Steam Company, a series of mills to support the new town. After a month of transporting themselves and heavy equipment via inland waterways from New Britain to Galveston, Elijah and his colony arrived in Houston in October of 1837. Days later, a hurricane struck, destroying their brig and disrupting operations momentarily. They had just begun preparations to break ground when Yellow Fever broke out, killing 44-year old Elijah and his brother William. The loss completely demoralized the company and the survivors eventually abandoned the site. Although Elijah Burritt’s final venture was a loss, his writings and atlas of astronomy would go on to be further developed and reprinted for decades to come. His loss was lamented at the time (and often still is) as a great blow to the development of astronomy.
