Jacob A. Schowalter

Who was Jacob A. Schowalter?

Jacob Abraham Schowalter was a Kansas farmer, business owner and Mennonite philanthropist whose estate formed the basis of the Schowalter Foundation.

Schowalter was born in Friedelsheim in the Palatinate province of Germany. He came to North American with his family in 1883, and with the help of Mennonite relatives, settled near Halstead, Kansas. Schowalter joined Halstead Mennonite Church in 1894. He attended Bethel College and later Kansas State Agricultural College at Manhattan, Kansas.

Schowalter's father died in 1885 and his mother in 1890. He received his share of the estate in 1903, 80 acres of the family farm near Halstead and purchased an additional 80 acres from a sibling. This was the start of the real estate fortune that Schowalter would build over his lifetime. In 1917 he purchased 320 acres near Newton, Kansas where he made his permanent residence. On the Newton farm Schowalter started raising livestock, keeping up to a thousand sheep and 150 cattle.

As a blacksmith, Schowalter was able to improve and repair his farm equipment. He patented an adjustable cultivator and a portable hoist.