James H. Gower was an early pioneer of Iowa City, Iowa, who served in 1844 as a delegate to Iowa's first constitutional convention. The six children born to Gower and his wife were sons James Otis, John H., Robert H. and Charles H., and daughters Mary C. and Hebe. As a leading Iowa City businessman and entrepreneur, James H. Gower operated the Gowers' Land Agency in partnership with his sons. During the Civil War, his son James served in the 1st Iowa Cavalry, which was engaged in battles in Missouri and Arkansas, including the Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, on December 7.

In 1874, James H. Gower extended his business ventures to Lawrence, Kansas, where electrical power to businesses had been made possible that year by completion of a dam across the Kansas River. He joined other investors in the construction of a flour mill, called the Douglas County Mills, contracting with the Lawrence Land and Water Company for the mill's water power. The Gower family moved from Iowa City to Lawrence in 1877, as did Gower's married daughter Mary and her husband Justin DeWitt Bowersock. Within days of their arrival, a part of the Kansas River dam washed out, forcing the Lawrence Land and Water Company into receivership. The company, sold by order of the Court, was purchased by Gower. Following Gower's death in 1879, Bowersock oversaw the company and the dam's repair.