Charles Friedrich Hassler (1864 - 1914)

Born 26 Jan 1864 in Graben, Baden, Germany

Ancestors

Husband of Rosalia Gretchen (Langer) Hassler — married about 1885 (to 1914) in Minnesota, United States

Descendants

Died 22 May 1914 at age 50 in Bismarck, Burleigh County, North Dakota, United States

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Biography

Charles Hassler was an immigrant pioneer who participated in the westward expansion of the United States. Join the Immigrant Pioneers Project.

Charles Hassler has German Roots.

Charles Hassler migrated from Graben, Baden to Minnesota, USA.

Charles was born in January 1864 in Baden, Germany to Jakob and Christina Hassler. When he was a small child, his mother passed away and his father remarried. He likely remembered little to nothing of his biological mother and was raised by his stepmother. Charles had one known full sibling, a sister; there may have been others however I have not been able to find evidence of them. His father and stepmother went on to have children so he had lots of half siblings.

When Charles was 14 or 15, the Hassler family left his hometown of Graben and began the long trip to the United States. First they traveled to Antwerp in Belgium, before boarding the ship S.S. Zeeland. On February 25, 1879, the Hasslers arrived in New York City.

Once arriving in the U.S., the Hassler family headed straight to the town of Northfield, Minnesota, which was a popular area for German immigrant farmers at the time. The Langers, another immigrant family from Germany, settled nearby. This is where Charles met his wife Rosalia Langer. They married shortly thereafter and their first child, Anna Hassler, was born.

In the spring of 1887, Charles and Rosalia Hassler sold their belongings and moved to McLean County, North Dakota to farm, just outside Underwood in the Weller Valley. Originally their home was a very modest, two-room "shack". Ten of their children were born there:

1. John Charles Hassler in 1889

2. Frederick Jacob Hassler in 1890

3. Louisa Jane Hassler in 1890

4. August Hassler in 1892

5. Isabelle Marion Hassler in 1894

6. Herman Edward Hassler in 1896

7. Margaret Gretchen Hassler in 1897

8. Joseph Albert Hassler in 1900

9. Minnie Martha Hassler in 1903

10. Ethel Ida Hassler in 1905

Charles' father passed away in 1890. He is buried in Northfield, Minnesota.

As time went on, the the Hassler farm grew and grew and became prosperous. The small shack was replaced by a thirteen room house.

On April 18th, 1914, Charles was birthing a calf when he contracted blood poisoning from the affair. By the next day he was in the hospital due to his illness. His last words before leaving the farm he built were "Goodbye old place, I shall never see you again." He never recovered and 33 days later, Charles passed away.

Today, Charles has hundreds of descendants living all across the United States.

Sources

• Barnes Williams, M. A. (1932). Fifty pioneer mothers of McLean County, North Dakota.
• "United States Germans to America Index, 1850-1897," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KD31-9F6 : 27 December 2014), Carl Hassler, 25 Feb 1879; citing Germans to America Passenger Data file, 1850-1897, Ship Zeeland, departed from Antwerp, arrived in New York, New York, New York, United States, NAID identifier 1746067, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
• "Minnesota State Census, 1885," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQXC-SJV : 18 November 2014), Charley Hortles in household of Fred Hortles, Eureka, Dakota, Minnesota; citing p. 10, volume Dakota, State Library and Records Service, St.Paul; FHL microfilm 565,737.
• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9VK-9SD : accessed 30 March 2018), C Hassler, Townships 144-150-Ranges 82-87 Coal Harbor village, McLean, North Dakota, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 249, sheet 4A, family 81, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,229.
• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLPM-CNZ : accessed 30 March 2018), Charles F Hessler, Longfellow, McLean, North Dakota, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 97, sheet 5B, family 100, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1144; FHL microfilm 1,375,157.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 11 May 2020), memorial page for Charles F. Hassler (1864–1914), Find a Grave Memorial no. 21101957, citing Coleharbor Cemetery, Coleharbor, McLean County, North Dakota, USA ; Maintained by Herb Schwede (contributor 46530188) .

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Herb Schwede for Find A Grave memorial.

Biography by G. Madewell