🧰 Cement, Stories, and a Cane Pole

The Life of O.J. Bowman

🔎At a Glance

• Name: Oliver Jacob “O.J.” Bowman (1881–1962)
• Parents: William Henry Bowman & Alice Hutzell
• Marriage: Alice Evelyn “Allie” Rossman, August 1, 1906, Victor, Iowa
• Children: Grace (1908–1984), Thomas (1910–1951), twins Allyn (1914, died in infancy) & Alyce (1914–2003), George (1917–1993)
• Occupation: Mason, builder, contractor; founder of O.J. Bowman & Son; built the Bowman Cement Block House (1911)
• Died: February 19, 1962, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; buried in IOOF Cemetery, Victor

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Oliver Jacob “O.J.” Bowman was born on September 13, 1881, in Victor, Iowa, the sixth child of William Henry Bowman and Alice Hutzell. He grew up in a family of hands-on craftsmen — his grandfather Jacob L. Bowman had been a cabinetmaker and carpenter, his father William the town butcher who also built with wood. O.J. inherited that tradition of working with his hands, but he carried it forward with stone, mortar, and cement. As a mason, he constructed buildings in the summer and crafted burial vaults in the winter.

O.J. and daughter Grace

In 1906, O.J. married Alice Evelyn “Allie” Rossman. Their early married life began with a dramatic story: they moved into a rental house near the Catholic Church that had been built on an old dump. One morning, Allie opened the door to find the screen covered in rats. She told O.J. she wouldn’t stay another night. That very day, O.J. found them a new place and soon began planning the cement block house that would become the Bowman family home.

Bowman Cement Block House

By 1911, O.J. had drawn the plans and built the home on the corner of 5th and Harrison in Victor. Being a mason, he made all the cement blocks by hand, plastered the walls, and finished nearly every detail himself. The Bowman Cement Block House became a landmark; a solid, practical structure where Allie raised their children, pies cooled on the back porch, and O.J. filled the air with jokes, stories, and a touch of mischief.

O.J. was known as gregarious, fun-loving, and ornery. His children called him “O.J.,” never “Dad.” He wore a nightshirt and stocking cap to bed, Ebenezer Scrooge–style, which his grandchildren never forgot. He loved to fish, but never with a modern rod; he preferred a cane pole. For bait, he had a trick: he drove two metal rods into the ground, ran an electric current between them, and watched as the worms wriggled up to escape. He always caught more fish than anyone else.

O.J. and Allie

He also had a dog named Judy. Each morning, O.J. stopped by his father’s butcher shop on the way to work, picked out the evening’s meat, and told Judy to take it home. Judy trotted across town and delivered it faithfully to Allie, who prepared supper. The meat always arrived in one piece.

Tom, Alyce, Grace, O.J., George 1950s

O.J.’s professional life was as enduring as his stories. With his brother Ellis and later his son Tom, he built vaults, stonework, and countless structures under the name Bowman Brothers and then O.J. Bowman & Son. His obituary noted he worked in masonry and carpentry for nearly six decades and that his reputation was for clean work, fair prices, and “honest methods.”

On February 19, 1962, O.J. Bowman died at the age of 80. His funeral drew a wide circle of family, neighbors, and friends — the same community who had lived in the homes and walked past the buildings he had helped create. He left behind not only the Bowman Cement Block House but also a legacy of humor, craftsmanship, and stories that continue to be told.

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Sources

• Victor Record, February 1962, obituary of O.J. Bowman
• Bowman family clippings: Bowman Cement Block House article & masonry features
• Family oral histories and photographs (Bowman & Rossman lines)
• Iowa County, Iowa vital records

📖 This post is part of my Bowman Family Stories series, which follows four generations from Pennsylvania and Maryland to Iowa and beyond. You can read the full series here →.