My great grandfather, Jacob Achenbach, or "Uncle" Jake as he was called, was born
in Epplesheim, Germany, on March 22, 1846. He came to America with his father at age
six and settled in Green County, Illinois. He went to county school in the winter and
worked at home in the summer.
     On May 2, 1867, he was married to Elizabeth Rathgeber. He built a house on the
land his father gave him and rented some more land from Dr. Hardtner. He farmed Dr.
Hardtner's land for 13 years. In July, 1881, as he could rent no more land from Dr.
Hardtner, he took a trip to Kansas. He took a homestead of 160 acres in Kingman County
and bought 160 acres, the only quarter proved up in Chikaskia Twonship at the time.
It was located about 25 miles southwest of Kingman, in the forks of Sand creek and
the Chikaskia River. When he returned home he chartered 2 freight cars and shipped
his horses and mules, cows and machinery to Kansas. John Wetz, Joe Frei, and George
Ruhl accompanied the cars to take care of the livestock. In the spring of 1883, he 
moved to his homestead. There were so many emigrants coming in to take homesteads that
he was forced to move his cattle. Threfore, in the spring of 1884,he bought 6300 acres
of land in Barber County from Dr. Hardtner of Carrolton, Illinois, for $5.00 per acre
and drove his cattle to this ranch.
     He built a little house on the ranch which he purchased from Dr. Hardtner. Poney
Walker and his wife boarded the men while he erected permanent buildings and fences.
He moved to the ranch in Dec., 1885. At that time the weather was like spring and
continued so until the night of Jan. 6, 1886. Then came the worst blizzard ever known
in the southwest. It killed thousands of cattle and many people froze to death in
Western Kansas. The snow was 2 or 3 feet deep on the level, and this caused many
cattle to starve to death, as rangemen did not provide for feed in those days.
     At this time there was only one school house. It was located near William Sterling's
place. there wree no churches.
     He raised the first crop of wheat on his ranch which had ever been grown west of
the Medicine River. There was no market, and he had raised his second crop of wheat
before the railroad was built into Kiowa, Kansas.
     In 1886, he organized a town company and purchased 640 acres, Section 8, from
Dr. Hartner, which was laid out in town blocks and named Hardtner. The officials of
the town company were Ira Wadsworth, president; Jacob Achenbach, vice-president; and
George C. Smith, secretary.
     He farmed from 1885 to 1900, using all horses and mules. In 1900 he decided to 
give up farming because of his wife's health. During the 15 years from 1885 to 1900 
he sold a great many mules, and he still believed that livestock and the increase is 
the only way to make farming really profitable.
     He established a Post Office in Hardtner and was postmaster for 30 years. In 1916, 
he turned the office over to W.W. Dennis, who had been a post office inspector for
about 15 years.
     He built the first telephone line from Kiowa to Hardtner in 1896 and installed a
telephone in his store in Hardtner. The line was completed just before the election of
President McKinley. Everyone in this part of the country crowded into his store to get
the election returns over the telephone. This was quite an event, and many a bet was
won or lost that day.
     In 1908 he organized a company to build a railroad from Kiowa to Hardtner, a
distance of about 10 miles. He made applications to C.E. Denton, Secretary of State,
for their charter and named the company The Kiowa, Hardtner, and Pacific Railway
Company. The charter members were Jacob Achenbach, Ira B. Blackstock, W.H. Brownback,
A.B. Jarvis, J.W. Blunk, J.H. Decker, W.J. Sterling, and J.H. Morgan. He called the
first meeting July 9, 1908, and elected the following officers: Ira B. Blackstock,
president; Jacob Achenbach, vice-president; Peter Ballet, secretary; and W.J. Sterling,
treasurer. Directors: Jacob Achenbach, W.H. Brownback, A.B. Jarvis, J.W. Blunk, and W.J.
Sterling.
     They ahd a great deal of trouble crossing the main line of the Santa Fe. After
putting their crossing in on the Denver, Enid, and Gulf line on Sunday, they were
ready to cross the Santa Fe main line; but their superintendent, Mr. Shafer, had
blocked the crossing by having his private car stopped on the proposed crossing. About
40 or 50 cowboys gathered on Mule Creek and sent word to the superintendent that it
would be best for him to move his car, as they were going to put in the crossing that
day, and if he refused to move his car they would riddle it with bullets. Poley Tincher,
the Santa Fe attorney, was in Kiowa at the time this happended and was told that a
group of cowboys were gathering on Mule Creek determined to put in the railroad crossing
that day. He was advised to go and tell Mr. Shafer that it would be best for him to
move his private car before the angry crowd arrived, as they would start something
that would be hard to stop. When Mr. Tincher drove out to see Mr. Shafer, he said, "What
so all these guns and pistols mean?" He then informaed Mr. Shafer that he was connected
with the law department of the Santa Fe and not with the war department. He advised
Mr. Shafer to move his car, but Mr. Shafer thought that the raid was a bluff. However,
when he saw the cowboys coming over the hill on horseback, just as fast as their horses
could run, he ordered his engineer to move his car back to town. The cowboys had all the
tools necessary for putting the crossing in, and in less than three hours the crossing
was laid. The railroad is still in use today.
     When the Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railroad built into Beaver County in
Oklahoma, they stopped at Forgan. This left Beaver, the county seat, 7 miles away,
without a railroad. Some of the citizens undertook to build a railroad from Beaver to
Forgan, but they soon ran out of funds. As they had heard of The Kiowa, Hardtner, and
Pacific Railroad which Mr. Blackstock and Jacob Achenbach had built, they came to them
for assistance.
     When they commenced the construction of the Beaver, Meade and Englewood Railroad
west from Forgan, no other railroads were building in this country. The M.K.&T had
been satisfied to stay in Frogan, and the Santa Fe had stopped at Elkart, Kansas. For
years the B.M.&E. was the only railroad building a mile of track in the state of
Oklahoma. When they reached HOoker, the Rock Island sat up and took notice and as they
extended their road far west the Santa Fe became interested. They extended the road as
far as Keyes, Oklahoma, a distance of 105 miles.
     In the spring of 1931, they started what proved to be the final stretch of their
railroad building, the last 20 miles from Eva to Keyes.
     On July 1, 1931, they turned the B.M.&E. over to the M.K.&T. They had once refused
to buy this road saying that it would never earn sufficient revenue to buy grease for
the engine. This road was in use until the 1970's whent the M.K.&T. abandoned it.
     He still continued his feeding operations with his cattle until his death. He died
on November 29, 1937.
               
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 79 
     Submitted by: Charles Edward Achenbach