Rev. Dr. William R. C. Hasskarl served as minister of Simeon Lutheran Church, Gratz, Dauphin County, from 1861 to 1865, the years of the Civil War. As no portrait photograph has been found of him, a early photograph of the church is pictured with a brief bio of him. The photo dates to 1883, about 18 years after Rev. Hasskarl left Simeon Lutheran Church.
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William R. C. Hasskarl was born in Doveran, Germany in 1809. He was a son of Rudolph Hasskarl, Professor at the Rostock University, Mecklenberg, Germany. He graduated from the famous Gynasium at Halle, after which he studied theology at the University of Muenchen. He received his Ph.D. at the conclusion of the course. In 1832, he enrolled in the University of Berlin, and read law, receiving the degree of L.L.D.
in 1851, Rev. Hasskarl was ordained, and emigrated to America in 1853. In 1857 he was received into the Ministerium and served congregations in the Conyngham area until 1859. From there he went to Wilmington, Delaware for a year. From 1861 to 1864, he served parishes in parts of what is now Line Mountain, Mahanoy, Pine Valley, and Lykens Valley, including Simeon’s in Gratz.
Christ Church in Hazleton, Pennsylvania was his next place of ministry, and he served there from 1864 to 1872. His last service was in Roxboro, Philadelphia from 1872, until his death in March 1875.
Rev. Hasskarl was married in 1854, to Elizabeth Lang. They had two sons who were Lutheran ministers, and another son who was a First Lieutenant in the United States Navy.
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A brief biography of Rev. Hasskarl appeared in a Gratz history published in 1997.
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