Meet the Family

By Tricia Kelly

If we’re going to send out a blog post talking about members of the Hegeler and Carus families, it makes the most sense to start at the beginning with Mr. Edward Hegeler and continue on to the present day.

Edward C. Hegeler was born in 1835 in Bremen, Germany.  His father had visited America and believed that Edward, the youngest, should be chosen to leave his homeland and make his mark in the much newer U.S.  He attended the Polytechnic Institute in Hanover and finished his vocational education at the Technische Universitat Bergakademie in Freiberg, Saxony.  One of Hegeler’s instructors was a physics professor by the name of Julius Weisbach.  The importance of this will soon become apparent.  It was at this school where he met Frederick Matthiessen, who would later become his business partner.  Upon graduation, they both traveled to America, arriving in Boston in the spring of 1857.

After travelling some time in Pennsylvania, St. Louis, Galena, etc. Matthiessen and Hegeler found what they wanted:  good quality zinc.  And cheap, too!  See, the miners in Mineral Point, Wisconsin weren’t looking for zinc.  They were looking for lead.  And lead is under the zinc.  Zinc was simply being tossed up into huge, ‘worthless’ slag piles.  Hegeler and Matthiessen were different.  They knew that zinc ore (sphalerite), when smelted in high heat, removes impurities that, upon “rolling”, will transform into a sheet of metal that is strong, flexible, and doesn’t rust.  Those sheets of zinc could then be sent across the nation by boat or by train and made into ice box liners, pie box liners, gutters, etc.  Zinc could even be used to galvanize nails, making them rust proof.  But from where would the fuel be obtained to burn a heat high enough for smelting?  Well, that’s where La Salle comes in.  Huge, rich coal deposits.  Bring up two tons of coal, smelt one ton of zinc, and blammo! 

Zinc wasn’t the only thing on Hegeler’s mind.  In 1860 he married Camilla.  Camilla Weisbach.  Sound familiar?  As the daughter of Hegeler’s professor, Camilla was intelligent, well-educated, outspoken, and honest—traits which Hegeler greatly admired.

By the time construction of the Mansion began in 1874, the M & H Zinc Co. was the nation’s leader in zinc production.  In addition, Camilla Hegeler had given birth to nine of their ten children.

Fast forward to 1887, when men of science began taking a look at religion.  A renaissance of religious fervor began during the bloodiest days of the American Civil War, and people like Darwin were shaking up the ideas of creation.  Hegeler, like many of his contemporaries, began looking at religion from a scientific point of view and opening discussion to the precepts of other religions, particularly those of Eastern influence.  It should be noted that Edward Hegeler was not at all interested in the fast-growing new ‘religion’ of Spiritualism.  In 1887, he founded the Open Court Publishing Company with the idea that anyone could discuss any type of religion and not be judged by anyone—in other words, an open court for dialogue.  He hired Dr. Paul Carus (who will be discussed in another blog) to be the editor, edging out the frustrated, increasingly spiritualist Underwoods.

Edward Hegeler passed away in 1910, age 74.  He is today remembered and respected as one of the true pioneers of American industry.

Mary Hegeler Carus

Mary Hegeler Carus was born on January 10, 1861 in a two-story frame dwelling which was located on the grounds of the M and H. Zinc company, founded by her father and F. W. Matthiessen three years earlier.   After the family moved from the home in which she was born to the Mansion, it was used for as the general office of the firm.

Mary Hegeler married Paul Carus
in 1888 at the
Hegeler Carus Mansion.

 Her parents were Edward C. Hegeler and Camilla Weisbach Hegeler, who commissioned the construction of the Mansion in 1874.  Both of her parents were natives of Germany. Her mother was the daughter of Julius Weisbach who was the head of the School of Mines at Freiberg, Saxony, Germany, which Mary later attended.

After studying in local schools, including the La Salle City high school, which was located on Third and Tonti street, Mary entered the University of Michigan and graduated from that institution in 1882.  She was the first woman ever to receive a B. S. degree in engineering at U of M. From there, she went to Germany and did post-graduate work at the Freiberg school, which at that time was one of the world’s three outstanding mining schools.

When she returned to the United States, she became closely associated in the operation of M&H Zinc and throughout her lifetime she maintained an intimate contact with all the phases of operation at that plant, having served as president of the company from 1903 to 1917, succeeding her father upon his retirement from that office, as secretary from 1917 to 1933 and again as president from 1933 until her death in 1936.

Throughout her lifetime Mary avoided frills, always content with only the fundamentals of living. Hers was a life dedicated to doing things for her fellow man and scores of her works of benefaction never came to public light. She found keen satisfaction in making life easier for others by giving quietly, a trait that many of her children and grandchildren have followed today.

 

She is remembered lovingly by the hundreds of young men from the area who served their country in World War I, for through her each received a warm, woolen blanket before entraining for camp. The first of these blankets was made by her and her friends in the Mansion.  When the draft increased, it became impossible to continue supplying home-made blankets, so Mary met the situation by buying blankets and directing the distribution of them.

Mary also initiated the first classes in sewing for girls and in manual training for boys, financing this project for many years before the local board of education absorbed domestic science and manual training in the school curriculum.

The information above is taken from her Obituary, which was published in 1936.  For more information on Mary Hegeler Carus, visit the Hegeler Carus Mansion in La Salle, IL. 

160 years of Paul Carus

 

Paul Carus

Paul Carus was born 18 July 1852 in Ilsenburg, Germany. In 1887, he moved to America and soon after became the Editor-in-Chief of Open Court Publishing in La Salle, IL. In that role, he corresponded with and published the works of leaders in the fields of mathematics, philosophy, world religions, and related disciplines. 

Mary Hegeler Carus
and Paul Carus
1888

He married Mary Hegeler in 1888 and lived in the Hegeler Carus Mansion for the rest of his life.

During his lifetime, Carus published 75 books and 1500 articles, mostly through Open Court Publishing Company. He wrote books and articles on history, politics, philosophy, religion, logic, mathematics, anthropology, science and social issues of his day.

In addition, Carus corresponded with many of the greatest minds of the late 19th and early 20th century. Carus made a copy of the letters he sent, and kept them with those he received as a record of complete correspondence.  These letters from great thinkers of his time, such as Leo Tolstoy, Thomas Edison, Nichola Tesla, Booker T. Washington, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ernst Mach, Ernst Haeckel, John Dewey, and many more are now archived in the Special Collections at the Morris Library of Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

The World Parliament of Religions-1893

In 1893, Carus offered a thirty-minute talk at the Parliament of World's Religions, which was held in conjunction with the World's Fair and Columbian Exposition in Chicago.  He later wrote that he never expected to be so moved by this event, which was the first time all known religions were brought together.  He spent the remainder of his life working to
build understanding between different religions.

In 1894, Dr. Carus wrote The Gospel of Buddha, the classic text on Buddhism that first introduced many Westerners to Buddha and his teachings. Because it was written in chapter and verse like the Christian "gospels," it was easily understood by Christian audiences who were unfamiliar with Buddhists teachings.

Dr. Carus' passion and commitment to the quest for religious and spiritual understanding was illustrated by his lifelong dedication to providing an open forum for the ideas of such diverse scholars as Pierce, Russell, Mach, Dharmapala, Swami Vivekananda, Shaku Soyen, D.T. Suzuki, and thousands of other great thinkers. As a thinker, writer and publisher, Carus became a bridge-builder between religions and science, philosophy and society, and Buddhism and Christianity.  

The legacy of Paul Carus is honored through the efforts of the Hegeler Carus Foundation, the Paul Carus Award for Interreligious Understanding  by the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions (CPWR) and through Open Court Publishing, which is still operated by the Carus Family and specializes in scholarly and trade non-fiction, with an emphasis on philosophy, social issues, Eastern thought, education, psychology, Jungian analysis, and religion and science.

For more information on Paul Carus, the Parliament of World's Religions, The Hegeler Carus Mansion and the 1893 World's Fair and Columbian Exposition we suggest the following books, available at our gift shop.

The Gospel of Buddha
Catalyst for Controversy
The Devil in the White City (fiction)
Patina of Time





Alwin Carus

Most of the Stories from the Big House center around the Hegeler and Carus Families or the Mansion itself.


Alwin Carus


Today, we'd like to introduce our readers to Alwin Carus. 

Alwin was the last family member to live in the Hegeler Carus Mansion.  He is also the person to live in the mansion for the longest period of time.

Alwin was the youngest child of Mary Hegeler Carus and Paul Carus.  He was born in the Mansion on November 20, 1901 and he passed away in the Mansion on November 8, 2004-Just 12 days shy of his 103rd birthday.

In 1995 the Hegeler Carus Foundation was formed and operated in the Mansion while Alwin lived upstairs.  He was a wealth of knowledge and information and helped to guide the Foundation in the early stages of the preservation and restoration of the Mansion. 

Alwin's memories of his grandparents, Edward and Camilla, who commissioned the construction of the Mansion as well as his memory of family stories help our docents to interperet the house for our guests to this day.

He was also a benefactor for many orgaizations locally and worldwide.

Our Connection to The Parliament of World's Religions and the World's Fair Columbian Exposition of 1893

One of the most fascinating "Stories from the Big House" is the connection of the Hegeler and Carus Families with the Parliament of World's Religions, the first attempt to create a dialogue between faiths.

The first Parliament of World's Religions was held in 1893 in Chicago.  This event was held in conjunction with The Worlds Fair Columbian Exposition which many called The White City because of the white washed architecture of the fair buildings.  There has been renewed interest in the fair of 1893, due to the bestselling book, "The Devil in the White City."
The fair itself was a momentus occasion in history.  Many new things had their public debut at the fair, such as the Ferris Wheel, Cracker Jacks, Juicy Fruit Gum, the post card, Quaker Oats and shredded wheat.

People were coming to Chicago from all over the world to visit the fair.  Smaller conferences called "Parliaments" specialized in different areas of interest were scheduled. The Parliament of World's Religions was by far the largest of the conferences held in conjunction with the Exposition.  The Parliament ran from September 11 to September 27, 1893 had marked the first formal gathering of representatives of Eastern and Western spiritual traditions. Today it is recognized as the occasion of the birth of formal interreligious dialogue worldwide.

In 1893, Edward Hegeler and Paul Carus attended the Parliament of World's Religions.  While there they met many religious leaders of their time.  Carus is proposed to be a pioneer in the promotion of interfaith dialogue. He explored the relationship of science and religion, and was instrumental in introducing Eastern traditions and ideas to the West. Carus's book "The Gospel of Buddha" which he wrote and translated with D.T. Suzuki made him a key figure in the introduction of Buddhism to the western world.  Carus had a lifelong working friendship with Buddhist Master, Soyen Shaku. Carus’ interest in Asian religions seems to have intensified after he attended the World’s Parliament of Religions in 1893.

For years afterwards, Carus was a strong sympathizer of Buddhist ideas, but stopped short of committing fully to this, or any other, religion. Carus worked for the rest of his life trying to organize another Parliament of Worlds Religions.  The Parliament of World's Religions gives the Paul Carus Award to those who have great acheivment in peace among religions through interfaith dialogue.

TodayA fantastic Art installation has been on display in Chicago at the Art Institute for almost a year.  Public Notice #3 is presented on the grand staircase.  September 11, 1893 was the opening day for the Parliament which took place at what is now Fullerton Hall in the Art Institute.  The terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon happened on that very date, 108 years later.  Public Notice 3, has the speech given by Swami Vivekananda from 1893, which called for an end to all "bigotry and fanaticism" written in multi colored LED lights. Viewers enter the art work by climbing the stairs from two sides and follow the words of peace up the stairs to four cardinal directions. 

Some of our Hegeler Carus Foundation members were fortunate to be invited to walk through this space and view this very powerful art installation.  It is on display at the Art Institute of Chicago until September 11, 2011.