1842-1873
First Generation - John Oman
The first Oman roots to be put down in the "Athens of the South" were planted by John Oman. Born in Thurso, Scotland, in 1842, he was apprenticed as a stone mason and later became a partner in a successful construction firm - Oman and Manson of Edinburgh. While still a young man, he decided to try his luck in America and came to this country in 1873. The following year he returned to Scotland to assist his family on the difficult ocean crossing and, upon their safe arrival, first settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the northern USA.
It was while on a business trip to the South that John Oman made the decision that was to result in his name being perpetuated as an institution in that particular part of the country. He liked the looks of what he saw in Nashville, Tennessee, on that trip and in 1877 moved his family there and set up shop.
He operated his stone business as Oman & Stewart for years then as Oman Stone Company. These firms did cut stone and stone masonry work in various locales, including the St. Thomas Church in New York City, buildings in Washington, D.C., and bridge abutments throughout the South. Their first contract was a bridge for the old Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railroad in 1881. Up until the late 1980's, the Oman Company continued to perform work for that same railroad, then known as the Louisville and Nashville System - a relationship which in itself speaks much for the Oman reputation.
John Oman had three sons. David a dentist, and George, and John Jr., who went into the stone business with their father.
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