Nicholas Hasselbach

Nicholas Hasselbach ( – 1769 or 1770) was a German-American printer, part of a mass migration from Germany who emigrated to Philadelphia in the mid-18th century. (Thomas, 1874, maintains Hasselbach was born in Pennsylvania, which is not consistent with other historical accounts, that Hasselbach migrated from Germany to Philadelphia in 1749.) He was one of the few German speaking printers who that wanted to print religious literature in German. Hasselbach died unexpectedly as a relatively young man, leaving only one known example of his printing, a small book, now owned by a private collector. (The Elliot was commanded by James Adams, from Rotterdam.) a printer who for many years had printed numerous works in German, including school books and other small works, which he also printed in English. Hasselbach became his silent partner. During this time the newspapers of Philadelphia and Annapolis were the only source of news for the people of Baltimore, while there was no practical printer located in Baltimore proper, until the arrival of Hasselbach.

The only known surviving example of Hasselbach's printing bearing the name of Nicholas is a pamphlet entitled, A Detection of the Conduct and Proceedings of Messrs. Annan and Henderson ... at an Oxford, Pennsylvania Meeting-House, on April 18, 1764, authored by John Redick, a record involving a dispute between various members of a Presbyterian Church at Marshes Creek, near Gettysburg. The small forty-seven-page book, bearing his printer name is the earliest known example of printing produced in Baltimore, and the only known specimen produced by Hasselbach's Baltimore press.

Final years Hasselbach went abroad on a business venture, the details of which remain unknown, and was lost at sea in late 1769 or early 1770, leaving behind a wife and three children in Maryland. According to the Baltimore public record, his last business dealing in Baltimore involved a land transaction, conducted on October 26, 1769.

His widow, Catherine Hasselbach, in 1773, moved his business and printing wares from Chestnut Hill to Baltimore, after which she sold his printing materials to William Goddard, who in turn sold part of them to Francis Bailey, a printer in Lancaster. Among Hasselbach's personal effects was a collection of twenty-one violins. The total value of his estate was appraised at over £1,675 sterling, which would approximately be the equivalent of $355,000 in the 21st century.