“In connection with her chief act of heroism
the following anecdote has been told me:—Three
American soldiers called at her log house at Queenston
to ask for water. One of them said, ’You
have a nice place here, missis, when we come for good
to this country we’ll divide the land, and I’ll
take this here for my share.’ Mrs. Secord
was so nettled by the thoughts expressed that although
the men were civil and respectful, she replied sharply,
’You scoundrel you, all you’ll ever get
here will be six feet of earth!’
“When they were gone her heart reproached her
for her heat, because the men had not molested her
nor her property.” (Yet her indignation was
righteous, since they were invaders in the worst sense
of the term, having no lawful cause for their invasion.)
“Two days after two of the men returned.
They said to Mrs. Secord, ’You were right about
the six feet of earth, missis! The third man
had been killed.”
In speaking of the heroine, Mr. James B. Secord, of
Niagara, says in a letter to me, “My grandmother
was of a modest disposition, and did not care to have
her exploit mentioned, as she did not think she had
done any thing extraordinary. She was the very
last one to mention the affair, and unless asked would
never say any thing about it.”
This noble-minded and heroic woman died in 1868, aged
ninety-three years. She lies in Drummondville
Churchyard, by the side of the husband she loved so
well. Nothing but a simple headstone, half defaced,
marks the place where the sacred ashes lie. But
surely we who enjoy the happiness she so largely secured
for us, we who have known how to honour Brock and
Brant, will also know how to, honour Tecumseh and LAURA
SECORD; the heroine as well as the heroes of our Province—of
our common Dominion—and will no longer
delay to do it, lest Time should snatch the happy
opportunity from us.
S. A. C.
TORONTO, 4th August, 1887.
NOTE.—The headstone of Laura Secord is
three feet high, and eighteen inches wide, and has
the following:
HERE RESTS
LAURA,
BELOVED WIFE OF JAMES SECORD,
Died, Oct. 17, 1868.
Aged 93 years.
The headstone of her husband has the following:
IN MEMORY OF
JAMES SECORD, SENR.,
COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS,
Who departed this life on the 22nd day of Feb.,
1841,
In the 68th year of his age.
Universally and deservedly lamented
as a sincere Friend,
a kind and indulgent Parent, and an affectionate
Husband.
THE HEROINE OF THE WAR OF 1812.
* * * *
*
British:
LAURA SECORD, the Heroine, wife of James Secord.
ELIZABETH SECORD, widow of Stephen Secord,
the Miller at St. David’s.
