JAMES E. BOWEN

Sacramento County

Biographies

JAMES E. BOWEN

JAMES E. BOWEN.—A prominent place among the hardware dealers of the county must be accorded James E. Bowen, the well-known proprietor of the popular Bowen’s Hardware Store, in Sacramento. A Hoosier of the very progressive sort, he was born at Clay City, Ind., on October 2, 1885, the son of J. M. and Rose (Bailey) Bowen, who came to California with their family in 1893. J. M. Bowen was a master in the hardware trade, and with the cooperation of his son, he established the present firm, in 1917. Their headquarters are at 2951 Thirty-fifth Street, and there they carry the most complete stock of high-grade, but very reasonable, wares and furnishings and materials, making it a delight for either housewife or builder to inspect their display and reserves.

James E. Bowen went through the grammar and high schools, and then put in fifteen years with the Thompson-Diggs hardware concern, familiarizing himself with the business. He had already spent four years in San Francisco in getting a good introduction to the hardware trade; so that the almost twenty years of experience have enabled him, since joining with his father, to carry on an exceptionally successful business. Mr. Bowen takes a very live interest in furthering trade conditions generally, and he is a member of the Merchants’, the Retail Merchants’, and the Oak Park Merchants’ Club, and the State Hardware Association, and also of the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce.

In 1912, Mr. Bowen was married to Miss Hazel Woods, a native daughter of Sacramento, and they have three children, Lois, Beth and Gale. When the lure of outdoor life calls him away from work, Mr. Bowen delights in hunting and fishing, thus recuperating for another drive forward in the daily activities of one of Sacramento’s most representative commercial houses.

Transcribed 6-19-07 Marilyn R. Pankey.

Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches, Page 898. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.