Edward C. Hegeler
Zinc magnate, builder of the mansion
Born in Bremen, German Confederation. Studied at the Polytechnic Institute at Hanover (1851-53), then the School of Mines at Freiberg, Saxony, where he met Frederick Matthiessen. Sailed to Boston in March 1857. Tested zinc-smelting prospects in Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Johnstown, and Missouri before picking LaSalle for its coal. Invented the muffle roast kiln, still used worldwide. Founded Open Court Publishing in 1887 to bring rigorous philosophy and Eastern religion to American readers. With his wife Camilla had ten children. Instituted an eight-hour workday at the zinc plant in 1885 — almost a decade before federal law required it.
Hegeler Carus Mansion. Edward Hegeler, the German-born zinc magnate, built it.
Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Works. Two twenty-one-year-old German immigrants — Frederick Matthiessen and Edward Hegeler — opened a zinc smelter on a hundred-and-sixty acres north of the Little Vermilion River in 1858.
Civic · Religion · LaSalle · 1850–1900
Hegeler Carus Mansion
Where Zen Buddhism arrived in America
1307 Seventh Street, LaSalle, IL
Industry · LaSalle · 1850–1900
Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Works
America's largest zinc producer — and the eight-hour workday, in 1885
Sections 10–15, T33N R1E, north of the Little Vermilion River, LaSalle, IL