James Girard Blower papers

Finding Aid

Prepared by Cara Gilgenbach, July 31, 2002; Last Updated: April 2020

Inclusive Dates: 1952-1965
Extent: .16 cubic foot (1 slim document case)
Physical Location: 11th floor

Biographical Note: Ohio physician and author James G. Blower was born in England in 1878. His family emigrated to the United States and settled in Glouster, Athens County, Ohio, part of the coal mining region of southern Ohio. In 1901, Blower entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Baltimore, Maryland, graduating in 1905. He practiced medicine in Glouster for some time before moving to Akron, Ohio, for an appointment as staff surgeon at the Peoples Hospital. In addition to serving there as Chief of Staff for several years, Blower was also appointed to the Ohio State Medical Board of Examiners.

Blower's books include two regional histories of Trimble Township, where Glouster is located, and at least four novels including The Son of Emma, The Handlemaker of Seldom-Seen, The Secret of the Seldom Seen Valley, and A Call to the Hills.

Scope and Content: This collection consists of typewritten drafts of Blower's novel The Secret of the Seldom Seen Valley (also called The Treasure of Seldom Seen Valley). Folder 1 contains biographical information on the author.

Box 1
Folder -- Contents

1. Biographical information, 1952-65
2. The Secret of the Seldom Seen Valley, [typewritten document; draft], 256 p., [1963]
   [Accompanied by a letter, dated Aug. 3, 1963, from Blower to "Mrs. Grey" with suggestions for changes to the manuscript].
3. The Secret of the Seldom Seen Valley, [typewritten documents; drafts], [1963]