Mabee, James Edmund

Dr. James Edmund Mabee was born in 1851 near Beamsville, Ontario (Lincoln County). At the age of six he and his family moved to Odessa, Ontario, his home for the next eighty-three years. Mabee attended Sydenham High School and later Toronto Normal School. He entered Queen's University in 1884, and three years later he obtained his M.D. and C.M. degrees. After graduation he purchased a practice in Odessa where he remained until his death on August 20, 1940. He was Medical Health Officer for Ernestown Township for sixty-three years, thought to be a record for Canada. His long service as an active practitioner brought him many honours including a gold cane from the Frontenac Medical Society. Mabee was involved in the work of the Red Cross during World War I and was for a time Commanding Officer of the 47th Regiment.

Mabee married twice and his son, Dr. Horace Carleton Mabee (1891-1970) also became a physician.