Laura Secord

Laura Secord (September 13rd 1775 - October 17th 1868) was a Canadian heroin of the Guerre of 1812. It ran the kilometers to prevent the British armed forces of a ambush of the American soldiers. In Canada, the name of Laura Secord is inextricably related on the chocolates, the delicacies and the ice cream. However, few Canadians know that this chain of confectioners carries, in fact, the name of a heroin of the war of 1812.

Laura Ingersoll was born in 1775 in a rich person family from Massachusetts. His/her father had lined up as regards patriot during the war of American Independence and its business had thus thrived. But, following the economic depression which followed Independence, the family had financial problems. The father of Laura then let himself try by the ground promise at a cheap rate in High-Canada and he moved his family on other side of the border. With died of his/her mother, Laura helped to raise his/her many brothers and sisters.

Laura met her engaged couple, James Secord, in the tavern of his/her father, in Queenston. Laura and James, working together steadily, arrived to an enviable prosperity. In 1812, they had five children, two servants, a modest house of wood and a flourishing trade of clothing and domestic articles.

When the war burst in 1812, James was already sergeant of militia in the 1st Lincoln. In October 1812, the Americans attacked Queenston Heights and Laura and its family fled the city and took refuge in a friend. However, when she learned that her husband had been seriously wounded and that he claimed his presence, Laura left immediately for the battle field.

In spring of 1813, the Americans occupied Canadian bank of the Niagara river. All the quite bearing men of High-Canada were then considered as prisoners of war and were sent to the United States. The health condition of James allowed Secord to escape this test, but they accepted the order to lodge three American officers. One evening, during a reception in honor of colonel Boerstler, the commander of the American forces with Queenston, Laura and James surprised a conversation where Boerstler informed its fellow-members that the Americans " were going to attack Fitzgibbon with Beaver Dams ".

As James was always handicapped by his wounded leg, Laura decided to go, all alone, to warn lieutenant Fitzgibbon of the imminent attack of the Americans. It left before the paddle and it went, without stop, during eighteen hours, beam firm, marsh and forests. In addition to the risk to be located by an American sentinel, Laura had to face the torrid sun of June without counting the possible threat of wild beasts. Almost arrived at destination, it met warriors autochtones and asked them to lead it to the general headquarter of Fitzgibbon. After having transmitted this crucial information to the lieutenant, Laura collapsed of sleep.

The British forces and their allies autochtones surprised the Americans and gained the victory. If the Americans had been victorious in Beaver Dams, they could have seized all the area of the Niagara. The contribution of Laura to this victory was kept secret because at the time, the Secord family lived behind the enemy lines and that she feared the reprisals of the American sympathizers who lived within the community.

After the war, Laura and James addressed several requests to the government claiming money to him or a station in return of the services rendered to the country. During several years, these requests were ignored. Finally, at the age of eighty-five years, the role of Laura Secord was officially recognized and the Prince of Wales gave a pecuniary reward to him. She died eight years later in 1868.

Honors

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