John Scharbauer

John Scharbauer
Born	December 28, 1852 Albany County, New York, U.S.
Died	October 20, 1941 Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Cause of death	heart attack
Resting place	Greenwood Memorial Park, Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Residence	Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Rancher
Spouse(s)	Kate Tompkins
Relatives	Clarence Scharbauer (nephew) Clarence Scharbauer, Jr. (great-nephew)

John Scharbauer (1852-1941) was an American rancher. Born in New York, he moved to Texas in 1880 and became a large rancher in the Southwest. By the time of his death, his business empire included "operations in banking, corporate investments, oil lands, real estate and ranches which sprawled across four Texas counties and into New Mexico."

John Scharbauer was born on December 28, 1852 in Albany County, New York. His father was an immigrant from Germany.

Scharbauer moved to Texas in 1880, at the age of twenty-eight, with US$2,000. He first worked as a restaurant dishwasher in Eastland, Texas to "get acquainted" with the local residents. Scharbauer had stopped at Eastland because that was the last stop on the railroad.

Scharbauer purchased 450 sheep with his US$2,000 and raised them near Sweetwater, Texas. By 1882, he moved to Abilene, Texas, where he worked with another investor. However, two years later, in 1884, his business partner bailed out and Scharbauer moved his sheep to Mitchell County, Texas. In 1885, he purchased the Mallet Cattle Company with David M. DeVitt and registered the brand in Hockley County, Texas; it later became known as the Mallet Ranch.

Meanwhile, in 1887, Scharbauer purchased a ranch near Midland, Texas, in present-day Stanton, Texas. Within a year, by 1888, he was able to ship between 48,000 and 49,000 sheep to the markets in Chicago. Two years later, in 1890, he was the first rancher to raise Hereford cattle in West Texas. The first cattle came from Illinois. He also raised Texas Longhorn, which were driven to Amarillo, Texas and subsequently shipped to Montana and Wyoming. By 1892-1893, due to the winding down of open range, Scharbauer sold his sheep and refocused his investments on cattle. Over the years, his cattle won many blue ribbon competitions. Eventually, Scharbauer founded the Scharbauer Cattle Company, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. Scharbauer also conducted business out of Midland, Texas and Hobbs, New Mexico. By 1939, Scharbauer had reinvested in sheep, and he owned 10,000 sheep and 15,000 cattle.

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