The first doctor to settle in Seeley’s Bay was Dr. George H. Bowen who came to the village after his graduation in 1877 from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons at Queen’s University.
Dr. Bowen purchased the house at 145 Main St. and carried on his practice there until 1892 when he moved to Gananoque.
Dr. Bowen attended the church picnic held in the village on July 11, 1889 where everyone in attendance fell ill from eating ice cream that had been stored overnight in zinc containers. Dr. Bowen diagnosed the problem and summoned colleagues from other towns who assisted in administering an antidote to over 300 persons.
Dr. Bowen’s practice was taken over by Dr. William J. Christie, the son of a Hudson Bay factor, who had trained in England and served as a surgeon in the British Navy. Dr. Christie returned to Canada to live with his aging parents in Brockville and later moved to Seeley’s Bay bringing his parents with him in the house he purchased from Dr. Bowen.
Dr. Bowen’s removal from Seeley’s Bay to Gananoque offered an opportunity to another young doctor, Robert Gardiner, the son of a prosperous local farmer.