From A
Biographical History of Central Kansas, Vol. I, p. 307
published by The Lewis Publishing Co, Chicago & New York, 1902
JACOB HAUSCHILD
Nature has been lavish in her gifts to America. Each section of the country has been provided with at least one rich source of income. New England has its splendid lumber regions, Pennsylvania its coal fields, the south produces cotton, the west has its rich mineral deposits and the broad Mississippi valley is the agricultural district of the country, and it is upon the agriculturist more than any other class of citizens that the prosperity and upbuilding of the country depends. Central Kansas is one of the best wheat producing portions of the entire land. Its corn crops are also extensive and the rich pasture lands afford ample opportunity to the stock-raiser. Mr Hauschild is among those who are devoting their time and energies to farming, his home being in Washington township, Rice county, upon section 13. He was born in Schleswig, Germany, near the Denmark line, June 4, 1845. His father, John Hauschild, wedded Eva Thode, and they became the parents of five sons, four of whom came to the new world, the eldest, John, however, remaining in his native land. The other are: Hans, who died upon his farm at the age of forty-four years; J F, an enterprising agriculturist of Washington township; Jacob, of this review; and Joseph, who owns about seven hundred acres of land in this township. George Hauschild was the first of the name to come to America, crossing the Atlantic in the spring of 1865.
In the following fall our subject made the long journey across the Atlantic and took up his abode in Macoupin county, Illinois, where he secured employment as a farm hand, working for seventeen dollars per month. He was not only without capital when he arrived but was indebted to his cousin for the sum of seventeen dollars. In the fall of 1869 he came to Kansas, making his way to Topeka, and in that locality he secured farm work, at which he made twenty-five dollars per month. He was employed in that way until 1872, when he began the operation of his homestead farm of eighty acres, which he had entered from the government on the 17th of June, 1871. He is one of the pioneer settlers of Washington township, Rice county, and is familiar with the early history of this section of the state. He lived alone until 1878 and then completed his arrangements for a home by his marriage to Huldah Jenkins, who was born in Johnson county, Ohio. They began their domestic life in a little board cabin fourteen by sixteen feet. He owned two good teams, was energetic and determined and therefore has made a success of farming. He mortgaged his homestead for seventeen hundred dollars and added this to one hundred dollars which he had already saved. He then gave the entire amount for a quarter section of land. This he afterward traded for a half section of raw prairie land and continuously he has added to his property until his landed possessions now comprise four hundred and eighty acres, constituting a fine, fertile farm, which is under a very high state of cultivation. It is fenced and improved with all modern accessories. He has erected a large farm residence, substantial barns and outbuildings and has planted an orchard and shade trees. He works four double teams of horses and mules and four young ones. He raises large crops of corn and wheat, having two hundred acres planted to wheat and one hundred and forty acres to corn. His soil is rich and productive and for seventeen consecutive years he has raised good corn crops in the same fields, producing from twenty-five to thirty bushels per acre.
Mr and Mrs Hauschild have nine children, namely: Eva, Laura, May, Anna, John, Della, Dora, Arthur, Frederick and Jacob, and they also lost an infant. The father is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to both the subordinate lodge and encampment. He votes with the Populist party and he and his family are connected with the Lutheran church. Coming to Kansas without capital, he began life as a farm hand here, but is now numbered among the prosperous agriculturists, a fact which indicated that his life has been a busy, active and useful one.