George Ellery Hale was born on June 29 , 1868 in Chicago , Illinois to William Ellery Hale and Mary Browne . He is descended from Thomas Hale of Watton-on-Stone , Hertfordshire , England , whose son emigrated to America about 1640 . His father acquired a considerable fortune manufacturing and installing passenger elevators during the reconstruction of Chicago , which had been destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 . The oldest of three children who lived passed childhood , George received strong encouragement from his father , who supported the boy 's active mind and curiosity , and his mother , who inculcated in him a love of poetry and literature . He spent his youth fascinated by the books and machinery given to him by his parents — one of his most prized possessions was a small microscope . With his father 's encouragement , he built a small shop in their house that turned into a laboratory . The microscope led to his interest in optics . At the age of fourteen , George built his first telescope . His father later replaced it with a second-hand Clark refractor that they mounted on the roof of their Kenwood house . Soon he was photographing the night skies , observing a partial eclipse of the sun , and drawing sun-spots
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
George Ellery Hale