San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JAMES F. BOWMAN
For a number of years James F.
Bowman was identified with the agricultural interests of San Joaquin County;
but in May, 1922, he disposed of his vineyard in the Live Oak district and
became the proprietor of the Imperial Hotel at Lodi, where he now makes his
home. He has made a general success of
his undertakings, and is known throughout this section of the county as a
substantial man of affairs. He was born
at Des Moines, Iowa, on January 19, 1866, a son of John and Jane Bowman, who
were the parents of eight children, as follows:
Elizabeth, James F., Sarah, Clara, Caroline, Anna, John and Wallace.
James F. Bowman received his
education in the public schools of Iowa.
When he was seventeen years old he began to make his own way. Going to Texas, he drove cattle on the trail
at Dallas. From Texas he went to Montana
and there became a cowboy. Later he went
into the horse raising business on the plains near Cheyenne, Wyoming. He soon had 100 head of horses, which ranged
over the government land. Later he took
them to the Powder River country in Montana, where he had a ranch near Buffalo,
and there in time he had a herd of 1,000 head, including fine draft horses,
saddle horses, and drivers. He remained
in Montana about thirty years and then drove his horses into the Dakotas, where
he sold them to farmers. After that he
came to California and settled at Lodi in 1916.
At first he ran a ten-acre
alfalfa ranch near Lodi for one year; then he purchased a ten-acre prune
orchard on the Acampo-Lockeford Road east of Youngstown, which he kept for one
year. Next he bought a ten-acre Tokay
vineyard and almond orchard three miles northwest of Lockeford. This he later disposed of, and purchased
twenty-six acres six miles east of Lodi, east of the Live Oak schoolhouse. Fourteen acres of this ranch was planted to
vineyard and the balance was unimproved; he further improved the ranch with a
good pumping plant, insuring the proper cultivation of the land and
vineyard. In May, 1922, he disposed of
his ranch and purchased the Imperial Hotel at Lodi, and this is his present
residence.
Mr. Bowman’s first marriage occurred
in British Columbia in 1896, and united him with Miss Lucy Dallas, a native of
British Columbia. She passed away eight
years ago. His second marriage, on
October 18, 1916, at Spokane, Washington, united him with Mrs. Anna R.
(Campbell) Sogrodneck, a daughter of James and Anna
Campbell. She was born at Ludington,
Michigan, and received her education in the grammar and high schools of that
city. She married Frank Sogrodneck, an employee of the Great Northern Railroad
Company at Superior, Wisconsin. He
passed away fifteen years ago, leaving her with two sons, Joseph Gordon and
Francis Keith, both of whom have taken the name of Bowman. Mr. Bowman is a Democrat in politics and in
many ways has manifested his interest in the affairs of his community.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1571-1572. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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