Overview James H. Gower was an Iowa City, Iowa businessman and entrepreneur in Iowa's formative years of the 1840s. In 1874, he extended his business interests to Lawrence, Kansas--interests continued by his son-in-law, Justin DeWitt Bowersock. Included is an 1879 letter to Gower from his son Robert concerning his father's business affairs. The papers contain two Civil War letters from Gower's son James O. Gower of the 1st Iowa Cavalry--one in which he describes the Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas...