Rev. James W. Bowles was a native of Virginia who came to Iowa as a coal miner in Monroe County by 1900. He became a minister around 1904 and pastor for Mt. Olivet (also Mt. Olive) Baptist Church in Enterprise, Polk County by December 1906. The Iowa State Bystander noted that Sunday, December 14, 1906, was his first Sunday as pastor. The church held a November 7, 1909 dedication service. A program for the event was printed in the Iowa State Bystander October 29 and November 5, 1909. It listed Rev. Bowles as pastor along with other religious figures and performers.

He married Genevieve Bell of Des Moines in 1910 and was profiled in the Iowa State Bystander of December 9, 1910. He served on the executive board of the Iowa Nebraska Baptist Association and was a pastor in Colfax for much of 1911 before moving to Fort Madison. Rev. Bowles finished his career at Antioch Baptist Church in Waterloo from late 1915 to his death in 1919. His funeral was held in Des Moines while his grave is in Elmwood Cemetery in Waterloo.