Born in Langenfeld, Prussia, German Confederation,[1] Krekel emigrated to the United States in 1832.
Krekel served in the Union Army throughout the American Civil War as colonel of a regiment of Missouri volunteers.
[3][1] Krekel was nominated by President Abraham Lincoln on March 6, 1865, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri vacated by Judge Robert William Wells.
He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 9, 1865, and received his commission the same day.
[1] He was a founding Board Member of the Lincoln Institute (later Lincoln University) and helped raise funds for the institution along with James Milton Turner, an African-American reconstruction-era political leader and educator.