He was born to Elizabeth and James Seldon on Christmas Eve 1819, in a small snow-bound house in the New England coastal village, Mount Desert Island. Even though a doctor couldn’t get there, mother and baby did fine.
Today, the village has become one of America’s most loved
treasures. And rightly so. But a 30-minute ferry ride from Bar Harbor brings
you to this fishing village gem along the Schoodic Peninsula. The six-mile Loop
Road around the peninsula to Schoodic Point bestows breathtaking sea views that
have brought artists here for years. In 1873,
the time of our story, there were fewer than 500 people living in the village
and it was only accessible by boat.
John Seldon went to the one room schoolhouse in the village. He went through all the grades and graduated
from high school in 1837. He was recommended
to Dartmouth College and graduated from there, pre-med.
He continued his medical education at Geisel School of Medicine at
Dartmouth. It is
the graduate medical school of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The fourth oldest medical school in the United States, it was founded in 1797 by New England physician Nathan Smith. It is one of the seven Ivy League medical schools.
Upon finishing his
internship, he returned to Mount Desert Island and became the village doctor in
1852. He continued to practice medicine
there, caring for the people in the village and surrounding area, until he
retired at the age of 71 in 1891. He remained
in the village until his death in February 1904.
During the time of his practice, he assisted in the birth of every child born during his career. Most of them were village babies and he tended to their needs as they matured to adulthood.
There were few major
medical issues involving the community.
Those that did occur were quickly handled by him and his connections to
Geisel. There were
few major medical issues involving the community. Those that did occur were quickly handled by
him and his connections to Geisel.
In addition to his
medical practice, he was active in the politics of the community. He never, however, sought or was elected to
any office. The local government was
about as transparent as possible since the village was so small.
He married Hermione Smith on June 14, 1892. They had three children, all of whom went on to careers after graduating from University. Their children produced six grandchildren, none of them lived in the local area. The family became scattered in different New England states but always made their way back to Mount Desert Island during the holidays, weatherwise the worst time of the year.
During the Civil War,
Maine contributed an inordinately high number of volunteer soldiers to the
Union cause. Dr. Seldon was among the
physicians that screened volunteers to determine their fitness to serve.
The 20th Maine fought in the battle of Gettysburg suffering many casualties. It was he who saw to the continuing care of those that returned from the war with injuries that required attention for years.
He was considered the most popular, best loved man in the town.
