Samuel C. Bowen, M.D.

Pandemic Influenza Storybook

Storyteller: Irene Bowen Wendell

Location: Virginia

Grave marker of Dr. Samuel C. Bowen

Grave marker of Dr. Samuel C. Bowen

Prominent eye, ear, nose and throat surgeon, Dr. Samuel Cecil Bowen was born at the Maiden Spring Homestead in Tazewell County, Virginia, on May 15, 1881. Dr. Bowen graduated with distinction as Doctor of Medicine from Virginia Medical College in 1905. He succumbed to the 1918 influenza at the age of 38 years on December 20, 1918. He had traveled to Chicago, Illinois, to treat his nephew, Harry Lee Thompson, who was also suffering from the flu. Dr. Bowen died in Chicago at the Palmer House Hotel.