Frederic Anton Eilers (14 January 1839 – 22 April 1917), considered the father of lead-smelting in the United States, was a successful smelting and refining entrepreneur who co-founded the American Smelting and Refining Company, known today as
ASARCO
Asarco LLC (American Smelting and Refining Company) is a mining, smelting, and refining company based in Tucson, Arizona, which mines and processes primarily copper. The company has been a subsidiary of Grupo México since 1999.
Its three larges ...
.
Early years
Frederic Anton Eilers was born in Laufenselden, Nassau, Germany, Jan 14, 1839, to Ernest Julius Adolph Friederich and Elizabeth Dielmann Eilers.
He grew up in the farming community of Mensfelden in the
Duchy of Nassau
The Duchy of Nassau (German: ''Herzogtum Nassau'') was an independent state between 1806 and 1866, located in what is now the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. It was a member of the Confederation of the Rhine and later of the G ...
, then attended the German High Schools of Weilburg and Wiesbaden. In 1856 he spent one year at the
Clausthal
Clausthal-Zellerfeld is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the southwestern part of the Harz mountains. Its population is approximately 15,000. The City is the location of the Clausthal University of Technology. The health resort ...
mining academy and two at the
University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
. Shortly after his graduation from college in 1859, he, his mother, and his twelve-year-old sister Emma left for the United States.
Early work
In 1863, he married Elizabeth Emrich. Soon after, Eilers was offered a position with Adelberg & Raymond, a partnership between Justus Adelberg and Rossiter W. Raymond that specialized in mining consulting. He worked there three years, learning about the American mining industry while becoming a close friend of Rossiter Raymond. A year later, Anton's first child, daughter Else, was born. The next year, in 1865, while Anton was on assignment for Adelberg & Raymond in Marietta, Ohio, boring for oil, his son Karl Eilers was born.
In 1866, following the Civil War, Anton secured a position as manager of the Hale Copper mine in Hillsville in Carroll County, Virginia. There, he restarted the copper mine, built a copper smelter, and experimented with copper refining. During the Eilers' time in Virginia, Anton & Elizabeth had two more children, Anna and Louise. In 1869, Anton developed plans to expand the Hale Copper mine, but a lack of experienced labor and the low quality of copper ore proved difficult obstacles for growth. In August of that year, Eilers appeared ready to work through the challenges in Virginia, as the family bought property near the copper mine. However, a few weeks later,
Rossiter W. Raymond offered Anton a new position back in New York. Raymond had been appointed Commissioner of Mines and Mining Statistics In and West of the Rocky Mountains and wanted Eilers as deputy commissioner. Anton accepted the offer and moved his family back to New York.
For the next 7 years, the Raymond and Eilers travelled the West, compiling information and reporting on issues related to mining. Every winter they published their findings in
Congressional House documents.
First tourists to enter a National Park
Normally, while executing their duties and doing their research in the West, Anton and Raymond travelled separately, but in 1871 they decided to explore a region of the United States now known as
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...
. Accompanying Anton and Raymond in August 1871 was J.S. Daugherty of Wabash City, Indiana, August F. Thrasher (photographer), Calvin C. Clawson (reporter for the New Northwest) and Gilman Sawtelle, who acted as their guide.
The
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
recognizes this party as the first group of 'tourists' to enter a national park for the purposes of simply touring a National Park.(the 1871
Hayden Survey
Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden (September 7, 1829 – December 22, 1887) was an American geologist noted for his pioneering surveying expeditions of the Rocky Mountains in the late 19th century. He was also a physician who served with the Union Ar ...
party was also in the park at the time). Both Rossiter Raymond and Calvin Clawson wrote accounts of their journeys in serial form. Rossiter would later bind his into a chapter of a book published in 1880 calle
Camp and Cabin Thrasher printed some of this photographs, exhibiting them for several groups of Montanians, before heading east to get them published in a book. At that point, the photographs disappeared, leaving the images’ location an ongoing mystery.
His years in the smelting industry
In 1876, Anton left his role as deputy to Rossiter. That January, he became manager at the Saints John smelter near
Montezuma, Colorado
The Town of Montezuma is a statutory town located in eastern Summit County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 65 at 2010 United States Census. The town is a former mining camp that sits at an elevation of , just west of the Con ...
, where he constructed works with the help of Franz Fohr, Henry Vezin, and Frank Cazin. In September of that year, Gustav Billing approached Anton about joining him at the Germania Smelting, a lead-silver ore smelter south of
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
, in what is now
Murray, Utah
Murray () is a city situated on the Wasatch Front in the core of Salt Lake Valley in the U.S. state of Utah. Named for territorial governor Eli Murray, it is the state's fourteenth largest city. According to the 2020 census, Murray had a populat ...
. Eilers was familiar with Billing's plant, having stopped there on several occasions during his time as deputy commissioner. To sweeten his offer, Billing offered to make Anton a partner. Eilers accepted and immediately went to Salt Lake with Billing. By early November 1876, Anton had the lead-silver smelter working day and night, an amazing feat at the time.
Anton was joined at the Germania by Otto Hahn and August Raht, both of whom had distinguished smelting careers. Together, these three refined Anton's concept of slag-types, a way of mixing ores depending on their mineral and chemical makeup to generate predictable products, including lead-silver
bullion
Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from t ...
, matte,
speiss Speisses are alloys of heavy metals like iron, cobalt, nickel and copper White, L.A. "The development of the lead blast furnace at Port Pirie, South Australia", ''Transactions AIME, Vol 188, October 1950, Journal of Metals'', pages 1221–1228. with ...
,
slag
Slag is a by-product of smelting (pyrometallurgical) ores and used metals. Broadly, it can be classified as ferrous (by-products of processing iron and steel), ferroalloy (by-product of ferroalloy production) or non-ferrous/base metals (by-prod ...
, and flue dust. The use of slag-types allowed the Germania to produce bullion on a constant basis, no matter what lead-silver ore the facility received. For his insights at the Germania, Anton was considered the father of lead-silver smelting in the United States.
Eilers' partnership with Billing proved professionally and financially successful between 1876-1878. About this time, news arrived that Colorado's
Leadville
The City of Leadville is a statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 2,602 at the 2010 census and an estimated ...
area was rich in lead-silver ore. Seeing opportunity, Billing and Eilers turned over the Germania to Gustav's brother F.W. Billing and left for Leadville, where Anton built a state-of-the-art smelter. The Billing & Eilers smelter became a top tier producer in a short time. Between 1879 and 1881 the works made the pair very wealthy. However, the high mountain location, cold winters, and some health problems led the pair to a friendly split. Anton sold out to Gustav, then headed to
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, his first return to his mother country, with his oldest daughter Else for six months.
Anton returned to the United States in the summer of 1882. That fall, he was asked to consult on a mine in
Monarch, Colorado, called the Madonna mine. Anton told the mine's owners that the low-grade ore was perfect for smelting with nearby ores. He suggested a partnership, where the mine owners would put up the mine, while he raised money to build a smelter on the plains of Colorado. Anton secured the funds and the Colorado Smelting Company was formed. In July 1883, Eilers completed a smelting facility in
Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, Pueblo County, Colorado ...
. Over the next few years, the Eilers smelter as it was called smelted more than $4 million in lead and silver from the Madonna mine. In the process, the smelter also produced a number of internationally renowned metallurgists under Anton's tutelage, including Anton's own son Karl Eilers.
Four years later, sensing another opportunity, Anton led the formation of the Montana Smelting Company in
Great Falls, Montana
Great Falls is the third most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Cascade County. The population was 60,442 according to the 2020 census. The city covers an area of and is the principal city of the Great Falls, M ...
. However, unlike his previous smelters, this one didn't enjoy the success the others did. This was mainly caused by a lack of cheap lead-silver ore. By the late 1880s and into he 1890, the quantity of high grade ore was declining. Other issues, such as the demonetization of silver, impacted lead-silver smelter revenues as well. To counter these industry problems, Anton and other smeltermen attempted to combine forces.
Throughout the 1890s, the lead-silver smelting industry continued to struggle. There were too many smelters and too few lead-silver ore reserves nationally. Eventually, the independent minded smelting owners were forced to merge, creating in 1899 a large entity called the American Smelting & Refining Company (today known as
ASARCO
Asarco LLC (American Smelting and Refining Company) is a mining, smelting, and refining company based in Tucson, Arizona, which mines and processes primarily copper. The company has been a subsidiary of Grupo México since 1999.
Its three larges ...
). At its formation, American Smelting owned 2/3 of the smelting trusts in the nation, making them a critical player in the ore and mining industry. In 1901, the Guggenheims smelting and refining assets were added to American Smelting. At that time, the Guggenheims obtained a majority of American Smelting shares and began their dominance of the company.
Anton played an active role on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of American Smelting and on its sister company, American Smelting Securities Company, between 1901-1910. During this period, he was also on the Board of Directors of
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
, a director on the Seneca Mining Co, a director of the United Missouri River Power Co, and more. In 1910, he retired from the company so he could focus on technical issues he hoped to solve, such as reducing the pollution caused by smelting.
Following an illness, Anton died at Sea Cliff, Long Island, April 22, 1917.
Personal life
Anton and his wife Elizabeth raised 6 children (Else, Karl, Anna, Luise,
Emma
Emma may refer to:
* Emma (given name)
Film
* Emma (1932 film), ''Emma'' (1932 film), a comedy-drama film by Clarence Brown
* Emma (1996 theatrical film), ''Emma'' (1996 theatrical film), a film starring Gwyneth Paltrow
* Emma (1996 TV film), '' ...
, and Meta). Over the years, they lived in Ohio, Virginia, Salt Lake City, Denver, and Pueblo, but for nearly all their later years, the family shuttled between their home in Brooklyn and their summer home at Sea Cliff, Long Island. Karl Eilers married Leonie Wurlitzer, daughter of Rudolph Wurlitzer, founder of the
Rudolph Wurlitzer Music Company. Only one other daughter, Anna, married. The other four daughters were active in Brooklyn's social scene.
[SLAG: Western Smelters & Eastern Money, David Eilers, 2016]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eilers, Anton
1839 births
1917 deaths
American metallurgists
German emigrants to the United States
University of Göttingen alumni
Asarco
People from Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis
19th-century American businesspeople