Matthiessen And Hegeler Zinc Company
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The Mattheissen and Hegeler (M&H) Zinc Company was a zinc manufacturing company headquartered in
LaSalle, Illinois LaSalle or La Salle is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States, located at the intersection of Interstates 39 and 80. It is part of the Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. Originally platted in 1837 over , the city's boundaries ...
. At one time, the family-owned company was the largest zinc manufacturing plant in the United States. The company brought zinc ore from Wisconsin and Missouri to the coal fields of Northern Illinois. The company and its founders had a large influence in the development of LaSalle &
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
, Illinois.


History

Frederick Matthiessen and Edward Hegeler met while studying at the School of Mines in Freiberg, Saxony. They identified that the United States did not have a strong zinc industry and felt it was an opportunity. They were also interested in iron, coal, and zinc exporting. The pair sailed from Germany to Boston in 1856 and studied several sites in Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Zinc ore had been discovered at
Mineral Point, Wisconsin Mineral Point is a city in Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,581 at the 2020 census. The city is located within the Town of Mineral Point and is part of the Madison metropolitan area. Mineral Point was settled in 182 ...
and they selected
LaSalle, Illinois LaSalle or La Salle is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States, located at the intersection of Interstates 39 and 80. It is part of the Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. Originally platted in 1837 over , the city's boundaries ...
as the location for their plant due to its coal fields, since it required about two tons of coal to smelt one ton of zinc ore. LaSalle was also connected to the zinc mining region of Wisconsin by the
Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, ...
. LaSalle's mayor, Alexander Campbell, encouraged the enterprise and helped them get a deal with the railroad. The plant started in 1858 and occupied a broad flat site above the Little Vermilion River. The Civil War interrupted production, but by 1863, they began supplying zinc for arms and cartridges. They started with zinc smelting and added a rolling mill in 1866. The company incorporated in 1871. While not the only US Zinc producer, M&H commanded a large part of the early market. Between 1881 and 1910, M&H solidified their position as the largest spelter producer in the nation and perhaps the world. In 1880, the Census of Manufacturing recorded 570 employees. Competition increased during this period, especially in LaSalle-Peru, with the arrival of Illinois Zinc Company in Peru, the Mineral Point Zinc Company in DePue, and the Collinsville Zinc Company near St. Louis. Lanyon and Company and Thomas Kinsman also ran small smelters in LaSalle. The zinc industry in LaSalle-Peru created related businesses such as sheetmetal, zinc dipping, and weather stripping companies. Natural gas discovered in Kansas near sources of zinc ore in 1896 made Kansas and Oklahoma attractive to the zinc industry and signaled the beginning of the end for M&H. They held out through diligent work and technical expertise. In 1913 they built a zinc smelter in Joplin, Missouri. By the 1950s they had subsidiary interests throughout eastern North America. Edward's daughter,
Mary Hegeler Carus Mary Hegeler Carus (January 10, 1861 – June 27, 1936) was an American engineer, editor and entrepreneur. In 1882 she was the first woman to graduate in engineering from the University of Michigan. Early life Marie Hermine Henriette Hegel ...
, ran the company from 1903 until her death in 1936. She was one of the first female students at the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
, and in 1882 the first woman engineering graduate. In 1885 -1886 she studied at the
Bergakademie Freiberg The Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (abbreviation: TU Bergakademie Freiberg, TUBAF) is a public university of technology with 3,471 students in the city of Freiberg, Saxony, Germany. The university's focuses are exploration, mining ...
in Germany, the first woman to be legally registered as a student there. She was ahead of her time in running a company. In 1924, the Hegeler-Carus family bought out the Matthiessen family interests in the company. Around the early 1900s, Julius and Herman Hegeler left to start their own zinc works in
Danville, Illinois Danville is a city in Vermilion County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The populations was 29,204 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Danville micropolitan area. History The area that is now Danville was on ...
. Coal mining stopped in 1936. In 1950, the company purchased Meadowbrook Corporation, a zinc smelter near
Clarksburg, West Virginia Clarksburg is a city in Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 16,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in West Virginia, tenth-most populous city ...
, and New Castle Chemical Company near
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
from Dow Chemicals. They gave M&H problems in the 1960s due to strikes and inefficient production. The company stopped smelting zinc in 1961. Sulfuric acid discontinued in 1968 and only rolling operations remained. Today the LaSalle factory's location is a superfund site.


Hegeler furnace

They improved upon the Belgian and Silesian furnaces and patented the new Hegleler furnace in 1881. It decreased coal usage and increased ore efficiency, eliminated some expensive labor, and created a marketable residual product,
sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, ...
. The furnace gave them an advantage over other zinc producers.


Employee relations

M&H had a good relationship with their employees well into the 1920s. The company was noted for its safety records and employee involvement. It had high wages and reduced the daily work day to eight hours in 1885, nearly a decade before it became law. It gave loans to employees for the purpose of buying homes and was structured in a way to give its workers a significant voice. From the 1880s to 1910s when mines and factories throughout America experienced labor unrest, M&H did not have a single strike. After Matthiessen's death in 1918, contact with employees decreased. A union formed and the company had its first strike in 1936.


Zinc uses

During WWI, zinc was used for ammunition, weapons, sheet metal, and boiler plates. After WWI, zinc was used for auto parts, brass, linoleum, batteries, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and rubber tires.


Subsidiaries

M&H had a number of subsidiaries over the years: * Zinc Roofing and Ornament Company in Chicago, ended 1874. * LaSalle and Bureau County Railroad, started in 1876 was a six mile line connecting the zinc plant to a major railway junction. * Barnes Zinc Products, started in 1919 by the Caruses. It was bought by M&H in 1928. Renamed Barnes Metal Products Company, it produced various kinds of tools for Sears and Ace Hardware in the 1960s. * Apollo Metal Products, 1920s. Moved to Chicago by the 1940s. * The Sherbrooke Corporation, 1959-1971. Phosphoric acid manufacturing plant sold to the Electric Reduction Company in 1971. * Walker Metal Products Company, 1968-1972.


Family impact

Frederick Matthiessen became mayor of LaSalle and focused on civic improvements, helping bring about the LaSalle-Peru Horse and Dummy Railway and personally paying for the city waterworks, electrical light station, first library, high school buildings, and hygienic institute. He eventually donated his Deer Park estate as a public park, today
Matthiessen State Park Matthiessen State Park is an Illinois state park located a few miles south of the more famous Starved Rock State Park. The main entrances to both parks are located on Illinois State Route 178. History The park is near Oglesby, Illinois, Oglesb ...
. He had interests in the LaSalle Pressed Brick Company, the LaSalle Machine and Tool Company, and re-organized a bankrupt Clock Company to become the Western Clock Manufacturing Company, also known as Westclox. His children donated funds for the Matthiessen Memorial Auditorium at the highschool in 1918. Edward Hegeler interest in philosophy led him to establish the
Open Court Press Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979 * ''Open'' (Got ...
, which was instrumental in popularizing philosophy within the United States, particularly in translating Eastern religious works. He also had an interest in the DeSteiger Glass Works in LaSalle. He completed his home in 1876, now the Hegeler-Carus Mansion, a National Historic Landmark. He also donated four parks to the City of LaSalle. Across the street from the Hegeler-Carus Mansion is the Julius W. Hegeler Mansion. Edward Hegeler's grandson, Edward Carus founded the Carus Chemical Company in 1916, independent of M&H. It still exists today.


Notable employees

*
Fritz von Frantzius Friedrich Wilhelm "Fritz" von Frantzius (1865-1917) was a German-born American banker, broker and bookkeeper. Life and career Von Frantzius was born on May 17, 1865, in Zawda, Sawdin, West Prussia to parents Arthur (1823-1889) and Ida (Ehlert) v ...
, bookkeeper * C. Bai Lihme, Edward Hegeler's son in law, President of the Company *
William Donald Scherzer William Donald Scherzer (January 27, 1858 – July 20, 1893) was an American engineer and inventor who invented the rolling lift bridge. Early life Scherzer's parents were William and Wilhelmina Scherzer, who immigrated from Germany in 1847 ...
, Engineer


References

{{reflist Zinc companies Defunct manufacturing companies based in Illinois Metal companies of the United States Manufacturing companies established in 1858 American companies established in 1858 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1978 American companies disestablished in 1978 Family-owned companies of the United States Superfund sites in Illinois Organizations based in LaSalle, Illinois