Tamera J. Buzick has long been passionate about the story of Ellison (“Eilley”) and Lemuel Sanford (“Sandy”) Bowers.
As she writes in the fun introduction to her new book, “Bowers Mansion: The Legacy of a Comstock Family,” she first wrote about them in her first U.S. history class as a student at the University of Nevada, Reno, and returned to their story for several other papers over the years.
Later, after embarking on her career as a high school math teacher, she found herself returning to their story, spending the next two decades researching them. She began working on a biography, but then put it away for another two decades, while still continuing her research.
In the early 2020s, Buzick, who by then had retired and become a curator at the Bowers Mansion, decided to finally complete her biography. With the aid of former Nevada State Preservation Officer and prolific author Ronald M. James, she was able to complete and expand her manuscript, including incorporating an architectural history by Michael “Bert” Bedeau.
The result in a comprehensive look into the lives of Eilley and Sandy Bowers, who built Bowers Mansion, with a particular emphasis on the former. Their story also coincides and is interconnected with many of the major events in early Nevada.
The focus on Eilley Bowers is warranted because she was a fascinating and often-misunderstood figure in Nevada history.
Eilley Bowers was born Alison Oram in Scotland on September 6, 1826. According to Buzick, little is known about her childhood, but in April 1842, she married Stephen Hunter, who was four years older than her.
In 1848, Hunter embraced the then-new religion of the Church of Latter-Day Saints and the pair decided to relocate to Salt Lake City, Utah, to help with the establishment of that community. The transition apparently put a strain on their marriage and, in 1850, they divorced.
Three years later, Eilley, who had remained in Salt Lake City, married Alexander Cowan, another Scottish emigrant who had joined the Mormon Church and journeyed to Salt Lake City. In 1855, the two relocated to the settlement of Genoa in the far western Utah Territory.
Buzick continues Eilley’s story through her time in Washoe Valley, the end of her marriage to Cowan, her move to the booming Comstock region, and her meeting and, eventually, marrying, Sandy Bowers.
From this point, the Bowers story becomes more familiar, with Sandy Bowers success in the silver mines in the early 1860s, which resulted in them being considered among the first millionaires on the Comstock.
In 1863, they completed work on the magnificent sixteen-room home in Washoe Valley that became known as the Bowers Mansion. They filled the house with furnishings acquired during a lengthy trip through Europe and, with adopted daughter Persia, lived in splendor for a handful of years.
In 1868, however, Sandy Bowers died at the age of 35, leaving his family with the mansion, mining properties, but also serious debt. Eilley managed to resolve part of the debt, but was left nearly destitute. She turned to leasing out the mansion as a boarding house and resort, and to her growing fame as a “prophetess,” who could allegedly see the future.
Over the next decade, Eilley faced the sudden and unexpected death of Persia in July 1874, a financially-disastrous effort to expand the mansion to make it more profitable as a resort in 1875, and, in 1876, the loss of the mansion.
Buzick recounts the rest of Eilley’s story and the eventual saving of the mansion, which, today, is a county park. The final chapters include Bedeau’s excellent architectural history of the building and one by James that provides an historical context for the Bowers’ story.
“Bowers Mansion: The Legacy of a Comstock Family,” by Tamera J. Busick is published by the University of Nevada Press and available from the press website (https://unpress.nevada.edu/9781647792237/bowers-mansion/) and from local bookstores and online retailers.
