Frederick William Matthiessen (March 5, 1835 – February 11, 1918) was a philanthropist, industrialist, and mayor of LaSalle, Illinois. He was instrumental in the creation of Matthiessen State Park. Matthiessen was the paternal grandfather of scholar and Harvard professor F.O. Matthiessen.

Early life and education

Born March 5, 1835 in Altona, which was then under Danish control as part of the

Duchy of Holstein The Duchy of Holstein (; ) was the northernmost state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It originated when King Christian I of Denmark had his County of Holstein-Rendsburg elevated to a duchy ...

. Matthiessen went on to attend university at the

Freiberg University of Mining and Technology The Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (abbreviation: TU Bergakademie Freiberg, TUBAF) is a public Institute of technology, university of technology with 3,471 students in the city of Freiberg, Saxony, Freiberg, Saxony, Germany. The u ...

. It was here that he met Edward C. Hegeler, a fellow engineering student studying mining. They immigrated together to the United States of America in 1856. After investigating several sites in the Northeast and Midwest of the country, they decided to set up their

smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zin ...

on the banks of the Little Vermilion River, in LaSalle, IL.

Business success

Matthiessen and Hegeler Zinc Works broke ground on Christmas Eve of 1858. The early years of the Matthiessen and Hegeler Zinc Company were difficult, with the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

breaking out 2 years after the company's inception. A lack of demand for

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

very nearly ended the company, but troubles proved to be short lived. By 1862, a burgeoning arms industry injected much-needed business, greatly driving up demand for zinc products. Matthiessen would later add rolling mills, coal mines, machine shops, and the forerunner of Westclox to his diverse portfolio. Edward's daughter, Mary Hegeler Carus, ran Matthiessen and Hegeler Zinc Company from 1903 until her death in 1936. In 1924, the Hegeler-Carus family bought out the Matthiessen family interests in the company. Matthiessen served as the mayor of LaSalle, IL between 1887 and 1897, elected to five consecutive terms.

Philanthropy

Matthiessen donated approximately $500,000 to various causes, such as LaSalle-Peru High School and Illinois Valley Community Hospital. Perhaps his best known donation is his former estate and private park known as "Deer Park". It is today known as Matthiessen State Park.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthiessen, Frederick William Mayors of places in Illinois People from Altona, Hamburg 1835 births 1918 deaths Emigrants from the Duchy of Holstein Immigrants to the United States 19th-century mayors of places in Illinois