View source for Flip City Wiki:Laura Secord

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{{short description|Canadian heroine of the War of 1812}}
{{about|the War of 1812 contributor|the chocolate company|Laura Secord Chocolates}}
{{featured article}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Laura Secord
| image              = Mrs James Secord.jpg
| alt                = 
| caption            = Secord in 1865
| birth_name         = Laura Ingersoll
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1775|9|13|df=yes}}
| birth_place        = [[Great Barrington, Massachusetts|Great Barrington]], [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]]
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1868|10|17|1775|9|13|df=yes}}
| death_place        = [[Chippawa, Ontario]], Canada
| nationality        = Canadian
| known_for          = [[War of 1812]] heroine
| children           = 7
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[James B. Secord|James Secord]]|1797|1841|end=d}}
}}

'''Laura Secord''' (<!-- {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|iː|k|ɔɹ|d}} {{respell|SEE|kord}}; <- This needs a citation. -->{{née|'''Ingersoll'''}}; 13 September 1775&nbsp;– 17 October 1868) was a Canadian woman involved in the [[War of 1812]].  She is known for having walked {{convert|20|miles|km}} out of American-occupied territory in 1813 to warn British forces of an impending American attack. Her contribution to the war was little known during her lifetime, but since her death she has been frequently honoured in Canada. Though Laura Secord had no relation to it, most Canadians associate her with the [[Laura Secord Chocolates]] company, named after her on the centennial of her walk.

Laura Secord's father, [[Thomas Ingersoll]], lived in [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]] and fought on the side of the [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriots]] during the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] (1775–1783).  In 1795 he moved his family to the Niagara region of [[Upper Canada]] after he had applied for and received a land grant.  Shortly after, Laura married [[United Empire Loyalist|Loyalist]] [[James B. Secord|James Secord]], who was later seriously wounded at the [[Battle of Queenston Heights]] early in the War of 1812.  While he was still recovering in 1813, the Americans invaded the [[Niagara Peninsula]], including [[Queenston]]. During the occupation, Secord acquired information about a planned American attack, and stole away on the morning of 22 June to inform Lieutenant [[James FitzGibbon]] in the territory still controlled by the British.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Amazons to Fighter Pilots – A Biographical Dictionary of Military Women (Volume Two)|last=Pennington|first=Reina|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=2003|isbn=0-313-32708-4|location=Westport, Connecticut|pages=390}}</ref>  The information helped the British and their [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]] allies repel the invading Americans at the [[Battle of Beaver Dams]].  Her effort was forgotten until 1860, when [[Edward VII|Edward, Prince of Wales]], awarded the impoverished widow £100 (£12,955.64 in 2022) for her service on his visit to Canada.<!-- the Canadian Pound lasted until 1858.  Should it be assumed this is the British pound? -->

The story of Laura Secord has taken on mythic overtones in Canada.  Her tale has been the subject of books, plays, and poetry, often with many embellishments.  Since her death, Canada has bestowed honours on her, including schools named after her, monuments, a museum, a memorial stamp and coin, and a statue at the [[Valiants Memorial]] in [[Ottawa|the Canadian capital]].

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==Personal history==

===Family history and early life===

Her father, [[Thomas Ingersoll]] (1749–1812) married seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Dewey on 28 February 1775.  Their first child, Laura, was born in [[Great Barrington, Massachusetts|Great Barrington]] in the colonial [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]] on 13 September 1775.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=16}}  Thomas's family had lived in Massachusetts for five generations.  His paternal immigrant ancestor was Richard Ingersoll, who had arrived in [[Salem, Massachusetts]], from [[Bedfordshire]], England, in 1629.  Thomas was born in 1749 in [[Westfield, Massachusetts]].  Elizabeth, daughter of  Israel Dewey and his wife,{{sfn|Currie|1900|p=49}} was also born in Westfield,{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=16}} on 28 January 1758.{{sfnm|1a1=Currie|1y=1900|1p=49|2a1=Leavey|2y=2012|2p=16}}  Thomas moved to Great Barrington in 1774, where he settled into a house on a small piece of land by the [[Housatonic River]].  Over the next several years, his success as a [[Hatmaking|hatmaker]] allowed him to marry, increase his landholdings, and expand his house as his family grew.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|pp=16–17}} He spent much time away from home, as he rose through the ranks in the military on the side of the [[patriot (American Revolution)|American revolutionaries]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]].  Upon his return to Great Barrington, he was made a [[magistrate]].{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=25}}

Elizabeth gave birth to three more girls: Elizabeth Franks on 17 October 1779; Mira (or Myra) in 1781; and Abigail in September 1783.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=19}} They gave up Abigail for adoption in 1784 to an aunt with the surname Nash.{{sfnm|1a1=Currie|1y=1900|1pp=49–50|2a1=Leavey|2y=2012|2pp=15–16, 24}}  Elizabeth Ingersoll died 20 February 1784.{{sfn|Currie|1900|p=50}} Thomas remarried the following year to Mercy Smith, widow of Josiah Smith,{{sfn|Currie|1900|p=50}} on 26 May 1785.  Mercy had no children.  She has been credited with teaching her stepdaughters to read and do [[needlework]] before her death from [[tuberculosis]] in 1789.  By adolescence, the eldest daughter Laura was caring for her sisters and looking after the household affairs.

Thomas remarried four months after Mercy's death, on 20 September 1789, to Sarah "Sally" Backus, a widow with a daughter, Harriet.  The couple had an additional four girls and three boys.  The first boy, Charles Fortescue, was born on 27 September 1791.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|pp=24–26}}  Charlotte (born 1793) and Appolonia (born 1811)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Appolonia Albelonia Secord|url=https://www.geni.com/people/Appolonia-Secord/6000000002778276751|access-date=26 March 2021|website=geni_family_tree|language=en-US}}</ref> were the last members of this branch of the Ingersoll family to be born in Massachusetts.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=31}}

Thomas helped suppress [[Shays' Rebellion]] in 1786, which earned him the rank of [[major (United States)|major]]. In the years following, he witnessed and was offended by the continuing [[Expulsion of the Loyalists#Attacks on Royal officials and Loyalists|persecution of Loyalists]] in Massachusetts.  He realized that in the depressed economic conditions that followed the Revolutionary War, and with his own deep debts, he was unlikely to see his former prosperity again.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|pp=26–27}}  In 1793, Thomas met in [[New York City]] with [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]] leader [[Joseph Brant]], who offered to show him the best land for settlement in Upper Canada, where the Crown was encouraging development.  He and four associates travelled to [[Upper Canada]] to petition Lieutenant Governor [[John Graves Simcoe|John Simcoe]] for a land grant.  They received {{convert|66000|acre|ha sqmi|lk=on}} in the [[Thames Valley, Ontario|Thames Valley]], and founded Oxford-on-the-Thames (later known as [[Ingersoll, Ontario]]), on condition that they populate it with forty other families within seven years.  After winding up their affairs in Great Barrington, the Ingersoll family moved to Upper Canada in 1795.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|pp=29–31}}

===Upper Canada, marriage and children===

Thomas Ingersoll supported his family in their early years in Upper Canada by running a tavern in Queenston while land was being cleared and roads built in the settlement.  The family stayed in Queenston until a log cabin was completed on the settlement in 1796.  After Governor Simcoe returned to England in 1796, opposition grew in Upper Canada to the "Late Loyalists", such as Thomas, who had come to Canada for the land grants.  The grants were greatly reduced, and Thomas's contract was cancelled for not having all of its conditions fulfilled.  Feeling cheated, in 1805 he moved the family to [[Credit River]], close to York (present-day [[Toronto]]), where he successfully ran an inn until his 1812 death following a stroke.  Sally continued to run it until her own death in 1833.{{sfnm|1a1=Leavey|1y=2012|1pp=33, 35–37, 47|2a1=McKenzie|2y=1977|2p=29}}

Laura Ingersoll remained in Queenston when the family moved.  She married the wealthy [[James B. Secord|James Secord]], likely in June 1797.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=42}}{{efn|The exact date has not been determined as the marriage records were destroyed when the town was burned by the Americans in July 1814.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=42}} }}  The [[Secord family]] originated in France, where the name was spelled ''D'Secor'' or ''Sicar''.  Five Secord brothers, who were Protestant [[Huguenot]]s, fled from persecution in France and founded [[New Rochelle, New York]] in 1688.  At the time of the American Revolution, Loyalist members of the family [[Anglicisation|anglicized]] their surname to ''Secord''.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|pp=41–42}}

The Secord couple lived in a house built in <!-- no apostrophe in St. Davids -->[[Niagara-on-the-Lake|{{not a typo|St. Davids}}]],<!-- no apostrophe in St. Davids --> the first floor of which was a shop.  Secord gave birth to her first child, Mary, in St. {{not a typo|Davids}} in 1799.  Mary was followed by Charlotte (1801), Harriet (10 February 1803),{{sfn|Leavey|2012|pp=42–43}} Charles Badeau (1809 – the only male child) and Appolonia (1810).{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=46}}

===War of 1812===

James Secord served in the [[The Lincoln and Welland Regiment|1st Lincoln Militia]]{{sfn|Firth|1966|p=180}} under [[Isaac Brock]] when the [[War of 1812]] broke out.  He was among those who helped carry away Brock's body after Brock was killed in the first attack of the [[Battle of Queenston Heights]] in October 1812.  James himself was severely wounded in the leg and shoulder during the battle.  Laura heard of his predicament and rushed to his side.  Some sources suggest that she found three American soldiers preparing to beat him to death with their gunstocks.  She begged them to save her husband's life, reportedly offering her own in return, when American Captain [[John E. Wool]] happened upon the situation and reprimanded the soldiers.{{sfnm|1a1=Bryce|1y=1907|1p=7|2a1=McKenzie|2y=1977|2p=15}}  This story may have been a later embellishment{{sfn|McKenzie|1977|p=15}} and may have originated with her grandson, James B. Secord.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|}}  When the Secords arrived home, they found that the house had been looted in Laura's absence.  Spending the winter in St. {{not a typo|Davids}},{{sfn|McKenzie|1977|p=16}} Laura spent the next several months nursing her wounded husband back to health.{{sfn|Karr|1938|pp=172–173}}

On 27 May 1813, the [[United States Army|American army]] launched [[Battle of Fort George|an attack]] across the Niagara River, and captured [[Fort George, Ontario|Fort George]].{{sfn|Collins|2006|p=109}}  Queenston and the Niagara area fell to the Americans.  Men of military age were sent as prisoners to the U.S., though the still-recuperating James Secord was not among them.  That June, a number of U.S. soldiers were [[billet]]ed at the Secords' home.{{sfnm|1a1=Karr|1y=1938|1pp=173–174|2a1=Bryce|2y=1907|2pp=9–10}}

===Secord's walk===

[[File:Laura Secord warns Fitzgibbons, 1813.jpg|thumb|alt=Painting of Laura Secord warning British commander James FitzGibbon of an impending American attack at Beaver Dams|Secord warns British commander [[James FitzGibbon]] of an [[Battle of Beaver Dams|impending American attack at Beaver Dams]]. ([[Lorne Kidd Smith]], {{circa|1920}})]]

On the evening of 21 June 1813,{{sfnm|1a1=Leavey|1y=2012|1p=89|2a1=Carstens|2a2=Sanford|2y=2011|2p=139|3a1=Richardson|3y=2006|3p=529|4a1=McKenzie|4y=2000|5a1=Jonasson|5y=2012}} Laura Secord heard of plans for a surprise American attack on Lieutenant [[James FitzGibbon]]'s British troops at Beaver Dams, which would have furthered American control in the [[Niagara Peninsula]].{{sfnm|1a1=Bryce|1y=1907|1pp=10–13|2a1=Carstens|2a2=Sanford|2y=2011|2p=139}}  It is unclear how she became aware of these plans.  According to tradition she overheard a conversation among the billeted Americans as they ate dinner.{{sfn|McKenzie|1977|pp=48–50}}

As her husband was still recovering from his October injuries, Secord set out early the next morning to warn the lieutenant.  She reportedly walked {{convert|20|miles|km}} from present-day Queenston through St. {{not a typo|Davids}},{{efn|While in St. Davids, Secord stopped at the home of her half-brother Charles, who was ill in bed.{{sfn|McKenzie|1977|pp=52–54}} }} Homer, [[St. Catharines|Shipman's Corners]] and [[Pelham, Ontario|Short Hills]] at the [[Niagara Escarpment]] before she arrived at the camp of allied Mohawk warriors, who led her the rest of the way to FitzGibbon's headquarters at the [[DeCou House|DeCew House]]. Based on her warning, a small British force and a larger contingent of Mohawk warriors were readied for the American attack.  They defeated the Americans, most of whom were casualties or taken prisoner in the [[Battle of Beaver Dams]] on 24 June.{{sfnm|1a1=Bryce|1y=1907|1pp=10–13|2a1=Carstens|2a2=Sanford|2y=2011|2p=139}}  No mention of Secord was made in reports that immediately followed the battle.{{sfnm|1a1=McKenzie|1y=1977|1p=70|2a1=Leavey|2y=2012|2p=112}}

===Post-war years===

After the war, with the Secords' Queenston store in ruins,{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=144}} the family was impoverished.  Only James's small war pension{{sfn|McKenzie|2000}} and the rent from 200 acres (81&nbsp;ha) of land they had in [[Grantham Township, Ontario|Grantham Township]] supported them.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=144}}

The Secords' sixth child, Laura Anne, was born in October 1815, and their last child, Hannah, was born in 1817.  The Secords' eldest daughter Mary wedded a doctor, William Trumball, on 18 April 1816.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=144}}  On 27 March 1817, Mary gave birth in Ireland to Elizabeth Trumball, the first of Laura and James's grandchildren.  Mary had another daughter, also named Mary, in Jamaica. Following her husband's death, Mary returned to Queenston with her children in 1821.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=146}}

[[File:Brocks Monument.jpg|left|thumb|alt=Painting with Brock's monument standing on the left side in a field, near a stone wall which runs diagonally along the bottom.|Secord was promised a position at [[Brock's Monument]], but the position was given to another woman. (1840 painting by Philip John Bainbrigge)]]

The struggling James petitioned the government in 1827 for some sort of employment.  Lieutenant-Governor [[Peregrine Maitland]] did not offer him a position, but offered something to Laura.  He asked her to be in charge of the yet-to-be-completed [[Brock's Monument]].  At first, she turned it down, but then reluctantly accepted it.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=148}}  When Brock's Monument opened in 1831,{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=150}} Secord learned the new Lieutenant-Governor, [[John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton|John Colborne]], intended to give the keys to the widow of a member of the monument committee who had died in an accident.<!-- Why is this significant? Could they charge a fee and have a type of pension? -->  On 17 July 1831, Secord petitioned Colborne to honour Maitland's promise, and included another certificate from FitzGibbon attesting her contribution to the war.  She wrote that Colonel Thomas Clarke had been told by Maitland, "it was too late to think of [the committee member's widow] Mrs. Nichol as I have pledged my word to Mrs. Secord that as soon as possible she should have the key."{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=151}}  Despite her pleas, Secord did not receive the keys to the monument.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=152}}

In 1828, the Secords' daughter, Appolonia, died at 18 of [[typhus]],{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=150}} and James was appointed registrar of the Niagara Surrogate Court.{{sfn|McKenzie|2000}}  He was promoted to judge in 1833,{{sfnm|1a1=McKenzie|1y=2000|2a1=Leavey|2y=2012|2p=155}} and his son Charles Badeau Secord took over the registrar position.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=155}}  Charles Badeau Secord's first son, Charles Forsyth Secord, was born 9 May 1833.  His is the only line of Secords that survived into the 21st century.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=157}}

James became a customs collector in 1835 at the port of Chippawa.{{sfnm|1a1=McKenzie|1y=2000|2a1=Leavey|2y=2012|2p=155|3a1=Currie|3y=1900|3p=69}}{{efn|Chippawa is now part of [[Niagara Falls, Ontario]].}}  The position came with a home in Chippawa, into which the family moved. Charles Badeau Secord took over the Queenston home.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=156}}  Daughter Laura Ann and her son moved into the home in 1837 following her husband's death.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=168}}

===Later life and death===
[[File:Laura Secord statue.jpg|thumb|alt=Photo of a statue of a woman in a long dress and a bonnet.|Statue of Laura Secord at the [[Valiants Memorial]] in Ottawa]]
[[File:Laura Secord Grave Marker-Drummond Hill Cemetery.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Secord's grave at Drummond Hill Cemetery]]

James Secord died of a stroke on 22 February 1841.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=165}}  He was buried, according to his wishes, at Drummond Hill (now in Niagara Falls).{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=165}}  James's death left Laura destitute.  When his war pension ended,{{sfn|Leavey|2012|pp=164–165}} she was unable to maintain her land as profitable and sold off much of it.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=170}}  Governor-General [[Charles Poulett Thomson, 1st Baron Sydenham|Sydenham]] denied a 27 February 1841 petition which she sent, seeking to have her son to take over James's customs position.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|pp=166–167}}  Sydenham also denied a petition she sent that May for a pension for herself, as James had received a pension for decades.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=167}}

Possibly with help from better-off members of the family, Secord moved to a red brick cottage on Water Street{{efn|Water Street has since been renamed Bridgewater Street.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=167}} }} in November 1841.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=167}}  Daughter Harriet and her own two daughters joined her in May 1842, after Harriet's husband died of alcohol poisoning.  The three shared quarters with Secord for the rest of her life.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|pp=167–168}}  Youngest daughter Hannah also moved in when she was widowed in 1844, and brought two daughters with her.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=170}}  Though she lacked training, for a short time Laura Secord ran a small school out of the home in an effort to support herself.  This venture came to an end when the public [[common school]] system was introduced{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=168}} in the 1840s.{{sfn|Gestwicki|Bertrand|2011|p=215}}

Over the years, the Secords unsuccessfully petitioned the government for some kind of acknowledgement. In 1860, when Secord was 85, the [[Edward VII|Prince of Wales]] heard of her story while travelling in Canada. At Chippawa, near Niagara Falls, he learned of Laura Secord's plight as an aging widow and sent an award of £100 ({{Inflation|UK|100|1860|fmt=eq}}). It was the only official recognition that she received during her lifetime.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=11}}

Laura Secord died in 1868 at the age of 93.{{sfn|Carstens|Sanford|2011|p=140}}  She was interred next to her husband in the Drummond Hill Cemetery in Niagara Falls.{{sfn|Richardson|2006}}  Her grave is marked by a monument with a bust on top, and is close to a monument marking the [[Battle of Lundy's Lane]].{{sfn|Carstens|Sanford|2011|p=167}}

The inscription on her grave marker reads:

{{quote|To perpetuate the name and fame of Laura Secord, who walked alone nearly 20 miles by a circuitous difficult and perilous route, through woods and swamps and over miry roads to warn a British outpost at DeCew's Falls of an intended attack and thereby enabled Lt. FitzGibbon on 24 June 1813, with fewer than 50 men of the H.M. 49th Regt., about 15 militiamen and a small force of Six Nations and other Indians under Capt. [[William Johnson Kerr]] and [[Dominique Ducharme]] to surprise and attack the enemy at Beechwoods (or Beaver Dams) and after a short engagement, to capture Col. Bosler of the U.S. Army and his entire force of 542 men with two field pieces.{{sfn|Coates|Morgan|2002|p=197}} }}

==Memory and legend==

Her granddaughter described Secord as being {{convert|5|ft|4|in|cm}} with brown eyes and a fair complexion.{{sfn|Currie|1900|p=73}}  James FitzGibbon wrote she was "of slight frame and delicate appearance".{{sfnm|1a1=Leavey|1y=2012|1p=96|2a1=Wilson|2y=2010}}  She was skilled at needlework, dressmaking and cooking.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=170}}  According to biographer Peggy Dymond Leavey, her many grandchildren enjoyed hearing their grandmother tell stories of her early life,{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=170}} and her Anglican{{sfn|Perkins|1989|p=166}} faith increased with age.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=169}}

In his report of the battle, FitzGibbon stated only that he "received information" about the threat; it is possible he omitted mention of Secord to protect her family during wartime.  He first wrote of Secord in a certificate dated 26 February 1820, in support of a petition by her husband for a licence to operate a stone quarry in Queenston.{{sfnm|1a1=McKenzie|1y=1977|1p=70|2a1=Leavey|2y=2012|2p=112}}  In 1827 FitzGibbon wrote:

{{Quote|text=I do hereby Certify that on the 22d. day of June 1813, Mrs. Secord, Wife of James Secord, Esqr. then of St. David's, came to me at the Beaver Dam after Sun Set, having come from her house at St. David's by a circuitous route a distance of twelve miles, and informed me that her Husband had learnt from an American officer the preceding night that a Detachment from the American Army then in Fort George would be sent out on the following morning (the 23d.) for the purpose of Surprising and capturing a Detachment of the 49th Regt. then at Beaver Dam under my Command.  In Consequence of this information, I placed the Indians under Norton together with my own Detachment in a Situation to intercept the American Detachment and we occupied it during the night of the 22d.&nbsp;– but the Enemy did not come until the morning of the 24th when his Detachment was captured.  Colonel Boerstler, their commander, in a conversation with me confirmed fully the information communicated to me by Mrs. Secord and accounted for the attempt not having been made on the 23rd. as at first intended.|sign=[[James FitzGibbon]]|source=letter dated 11 May 1827{{sfn|Moir|1964|p=313}} }}

[[File:Henry Sandham (1910) Laura Secord.jpg|left|thumb|alt=Painting of Laura Secord led by Mohawk warriors through the woods|Secord led through the woods by [[Mohawk people|Mohawk warriors]]. ([[Henry Sandham]], {{circa|1910}})]]

FitzGibbon wrote in a certificate dated 23 February 1837 that Secord did "acquaint" him with the Americans' intentions, but does not state whether he used the information.{{sfn|Cruikshank|1908|p=130}}  A diary entry of Mohawk chief [[John Norton (Mohawk chief)|John Norton]] talks of "a loyal Inhabitant {{interp|who}} brought information that the Enemy intended to attack", but does not name the "Inhabitant".{{sfn|Green|2013|p=6}}  [[Dominique Ducharme]], leader of the [[Kahnawake|Caughnawaga Mohawk]] in the Battle of Beaver Dams, made no mention of Secord in his reports, nor of receiving information from either Secord or FitzGibbon about the impending American attack.{{sfn|Green|2013|p=7}}

Secord wrote two accounts of her walk, the first in 1853,{{sfn|Cruikshank|1908|pp=127–128}} and the second in 1861.{{sfn|Wood|1920|pp=164–165}}  Neither account contains details that can be corroborated with military accounts of the battle, such as specific dates or details about troops.{{sfn|Green|2013|p=6}} Her account changed throughout her life.  Historian [[Pierre Berton]] noted that she never stated clearly how she learned of the impending attack.  She told FitzGibbon that her husband had learned about it from an American officer, but years later told her granddaughter that she had overheard the plans directly from the American soldiers billeted in her home. Berton suggested that Secord's informant could have been an American still residing in the United States, who would have been charged with [[treason]] had Secord revealed her source.{{sfn|Berton|1981|p=63}}  In the 1860s, as Secord's story gained prominence, historian William Foster Coffin added new details, which included the claim that Laura had brought a cow with her as an excuse to leave her home in case the American patrols questioned her.{{sfn|Morgan|1994}}

A number of historians have questioned Secord's account. [[William Stewart Wallace|W. Stewart Wallace]], in his 1932 book, ''The Story of Laura Secord: A Study in Historical Evidence'', concluded her story was mostly myth, and that she played no significant role in the outcome of the Battle of Beaver Dams.  Historian George Ingram contended in his 1965 book ''The Story of Laura Secord Revisited'' that Secord's debunking had been taken too far.  Ruth MacKenzie also burnished Secord's reputation with ''Laura Secord: The Legend and the Lady'' in 1971.{{sfn|Knowles|1997|p=206}}

The question of Secord's actual contribution to the British success has been contested.  In the early 1920s, historians suggested that Native scouts had already informed FitzGibbon of the coming attack well before Secord had arrived on 23 June.{{sfn|Wood|1920|pp=65–66}} Historian Ernest Cruikshank wrote in 1895 that "Scarcely had Mrs Secord concluded her narrative, when [Ducharme's] scouts came in ... they had encountered the advance guard of the enemy."{{sfn|Cruikshank|1895|p=15}} Later, two testimonials were found which FitzGibbon wrote in 1820 and 1827, which supported Secord's claim.  FitzGibbon asserted that Laura Secord had arrived on 22 June (not 23 June), and that "in consequence of this information", he had been able to intercept the American troops.{{sfn|McKenzie|2000}}

==Legacy==

[[File:Laura Secord Homestead, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.jpg|alt=A white house in three-quarter perspective.  In the foreground are several picnic benches.  To the left is a tall tree with a man standing beside it.  To the right, partly obsured by the house, is an old well.|thumb|Laura Secord Homestead in [[Queenston, Ontario|Queenston]] ({{coord|43.16395|N|79.05523|W|region:CA}})]]According to legend, "it took her approximately 17 hours to travel the distance to warn James FitzGibbon of the impending American attack".<ref>{{cite web |last1=De Ruiter |first1=Brian |title=Did Laura Secord Run Alone? |url=https://champlainsociety.utpjournals.press/findings-trouvailles/2019/05/did-laura-secord-run-alone |website=The Champlain Society |date=2019}}</ref>

She has often been depicted as "a lone figure bravely travelling through approximately 30 km of wilderness from her home at Queenston to a British military detachment camped in DeCew House in what is today Thorold, Ontario."<ref>{{cite web |last1=De Ruiter |first1=Brian |title=Did Laura Secord Run Alone? |url=https://champlainsociety.utpjournals.press/findings-trouvailles/2019/05/did-laura-secord-run-alone |website=The Champlain Society |date=2019}}</ref>

Historian Cecilia Morgan argues that the Secord story became famous in the 1880s when upper-class women sought to strengthen the emotional ties between Canadian women and the British Empire.  She writes that they needed a female heroine to validate their claims for [[women's suffrage]].{{sfn|Morgan|1994}}  The first product of their campaign was [[Sarah Anne Curzon]]'s verse drama ''Laura Secord: The Heroine of 1812'' in 1887.  The play was a catalyst for "a deluge of articles and entries on Secord that filled Canadian histories and school textbooks at the turn of the 20th century".{{sfn|Bird|2012}}  Although critics gave the play negative reviews, it was the first full work devoted to Secord's story and popularized her image.{{sfn|Boyko-Head|2002|p=63}}

Secord has been compared to [[French-Canadian]] heroine [[Madeleine de Verchères]]{{sfnm|1a1=Karr|1y=1938|1p=172|2a1=Coates|2a2=Morgan|2y=2002|2p=3}} and to American Revolution hero [[Paul Revere]].{{sfn|Hunter|2012}}  Her story has been retold and commemorated by generations of biographers, playwrights, poets, novelists and journalists.{{sfn|Boyko-Head|2002|p=61}}

[[File:Laury Ingersoll Secord Monument db.jpg|left|upright|thumb|alt=An upright stone monument surrounded by a low hedge.  In the middle is an upright oval of an elderly woman's face in relief.|Laura Secord Monument in [[Queenston Heights]] ({{coord|43.160352|N|79.051103|W|region:CA}})]]

After discovering a newspaper clipping of the events, early feminist [[Emma Currie]] began a lifelong interest in Secord's life.  She tracked down information from Laura's relatives as far away as Great Barrington, and published a biographical account in 1900 called ''The Story of Laura Secord''. She later successfully petitioned to have a Secord memorial erected in Queenston Heights.{{sfn|Dagg|2001}}  The [[Ashlar|cut stone]]{{sfn|Collins|2006|p=111}} granite monument stands {{convert|7|ft|cm}} and was dedicated in 1901.{{sfnm|1a1=Acton Free Press staff|1y=1901|2a1=Colombo|2y=1984|2p=163}} In 1905, Secord's portrait was hung in Parliament.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=189}}  Playwright [[Merrill Denison]] wrote a [[Radio drama|radio play]] of her story in 1931 which mixed serious history with parody.{{sfn|Boyko-Head|2002|p=61}}

On the centennial of Secord's walk in 1913, and to capitalize on Canadian patriotic feelings, [[Frank Patrick O'Connor|Frank O'Connor]] founded [[Laura Secord Chocolates]].  The chain's first location opened on [[Yonge Street|Yonge]] and Elm streets in Toronto.{{efn|The chain's first store opened 20 October 1913 at 354 Yonge Street.{{sfn|Bradburn|2013}} }}  The chocolates were packaged in black boxes adorned with a [[cameo (carving)|cameo]] of Secord.{{sfnm|1a1=Boyko-Head|1y=2002|1pp=76–77|2a1=Carr|2y=2003|2pp=43–44|3a1=Jonasson|3y=2012}}  By the 1970s, the company had become the largest candy retailer in Canada.{{sfn|Carr|2003|p=117}}  Among most Canadians, the name Laura Secord is more strongly associated with the chocolate company than with the historical figure.{{sfnm|1a1=Holmlund|1a2=Youngberg|1y=2003|1p=9|2a1=Coates|2a2=Morgan|2y=2002|2p=47}}

During the War of 1812, the Secords' Queenston homestead was fired upon and [[Looting|looted]].  It was restored in the late 20th century and given to the Niagara Parks Commission in 1971.{{sfnm|1a1=Carstens|1a2=Sanford|1y=2011|1p=140|2a1=Leavey|2y=2012|2p=213}} It is now operated as a museum and gift shop at Partition and Queen streets in Queenston.{{sfn|Collins|2006|p=110}} The [[Laura Secord Legacy Trail]] covers the 32 kilometer route of the journey she undertook from her homestead in Queenston to DeCew House in Thorold where she delivered her message to Lt. FitzGibbon on 22 June 1813.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.friendsoflaurasecord.com/ |title = Friends of Laura Secord – …She remains an iconic figure who, perhaps more than anyone, represents the quiet determination and exceptional resolve of ordinary citizens to preserve and protect the values central to Canadian society that we enjoy today}}</ref>

Thomas Ingersoll's old home on Main Street in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Laura Secord's birthplace, was used as the town's Free Library from 1896 until 1913. The Mason Library replaced it and was built on the site.{{sfn|Leveille|2011|p=12}}  The Great Barrington Historic District Commission made 18 October 1997 Laura Secord Day, and dedicated a plaque in her honour at the site of the Mason Library.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=196}}

Laura Secord is the namesake of a number of schools, including Laura Secord Public School (also known as Laura Secord Memorial School,{{sfn|Colombo|1984|p=163}} 1914–2010){{sfn|Berry|2010}}<!-- both names point to 5 Walnut St. in Queenston --> in Queenston, École Laura Secord School in [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]] (built 1912),{{sfn|Blanchard|2005|p=3}} [[Laura Secord Secondary School]] in St. Catharines, Ontario and [[School District 39 Vancouver|Laura Secord Elementary School]] in [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]].  Beaver Dams Battlefield Park has a plaque dedicated to Secord.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=197}}  In 1992, Canada Post issued a Laura Secord commemorative stamp.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|p=214}}  In 2003, the [[Minister of Canadian Heritage]] declared Secord a "Person of National Historical Significance",{{sfn|Carstens|Sanford|2011|p=140}} and in 2006 Secord's was one of fourteen statues dedicated at the [[Valiants Memorial]] in Ottawa.{{sfn|Leavey|2012|pp=197–198}}  To commemorate the 200th anniversary of her walk, Secord's image adorned a circulation [[Quarter (Canadian coin)|quarter]] issued by the [[Royal Canadian Mint]]{{efn|The coin was part of a War of 1812 series.{{sfn|Fraser|2013}} }} and a postage stamp from [[Canada Post]].{{sfn|Fraser|2013}}

==See also==
* [[Laura Secord Legacy Trail]]

==Notes==

{{Notelist|30em}}

==References==

{{reflist|20em}}

===Works cited===

====Books====

{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book
|author-link = Pierre Berton
|last        = Berton
|first       = Pierre
|title       = Flames Across the Border: The Canadian-American Tragedy, 1813–1814
|url         = https://books.google.com/books?id=sJjTGA1mABQC&pg=PP1
|publisher   = [[Little, Brown and Company]]
|year        = 1981
|isbn        = 978-0-316-09217-3}}
* {{cite book
|last       = Blanchard
|first      = Jim
|title      = Winnipeg 1912
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=6ANn6s2Dm9cC&pg=PP1
|year       = 2005
|publisher  = [[University of Manitoba Press]]
|isbn       = 978-0-88755-684-5}}
* {{cite book
|editor1-last  = Sloniowski
|editor1-first = Jeannette
|editor2-last  = Nicks
|editor2-first = Joan
|last          = Boyko-Head
|first         = Christine
|title         = Slippery Pastimes: Reading the Popular in Canadian Culture
|chapter-url           = https://books.google.com/books?id=skTVwTzT27cC&pg=PA61
|year          = 2002
|publisher     = [[Wilfrid Laurier University Press]]
|isbn          = 978-0-88920-388-4
|pages         = 61–80
|chapter       = Laura Secord Meets the Candyman: The Image of Laura Secord in Popular Culture}}
* {{cite book
|title       = Laura Secord: A Study in Canadian Patriotism
|first       = George
|last        = Bryce
|author-link = George Bryce
|url         = http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Laura_Secord:_A_Study_in_Canadian_Patriotism
|year        = 1907
|publisher   = [[Winnipeg Free Press|Manitoba Free Press Company]]}}
* {{cite book
|last       = Carr
|first      = David
|title      = Candymaking in Canada
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=GKbqKA3W0FsC&pg=PP1
|year       = 2003
|publisher  = [[Dundurn Press]]
|isbn       = 978-1-55002-395-4}}
* {{cite book
|last1      = Carstens
|first1     = Patrick Richard
|last2      = Sanford
|first2     = Timothy L.
|title      = Searching for the Forgotten War&nbsp;– 1812 Canada
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=uybAm7NaF5YC&pg=PP1
|year       = 2011
|publisher  = [[Xlibris]]
|isbn       = 978-1-4535-8890-1}}
* {{cite book
|last1     = Coates
|first1    = Colin MacMillan
|last2     = Morgan
|first2    = Cecilia Louise
|title     = Heroines and History: Representations of Madeleine de Verchères and Laura Secord
|url       = https://archive.org/details/heroineshistoryr0000coat
|url-access = registration
|publisher = [[University of Toronto Press]]
|year      = 2002
|isbn      = 978-0-8020-4784-7}}
* {{cite book
|last       = Collins
|first      = Gilbert
|title      = Guidebook to the Historic Sites of the War of 1812
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=UmbQbOcdKngC&pg=PP1
|year       = 2006
|publisher  = [[Dundurn Press]]
|isbn       = 978-1-55002-626-9}}
* {{cite book
|last       = Colombo
|first      = John Robert
|title      = Canadian Literary Landmarks
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=0zbdUkJkm10C&pg=PP1
|year       = 1984
|publisher  = [[Dundurn Press]]
|isbn       = 978-0-88882-073-0}}
* {{cite book
|editor-last  = Cruikshank
|editor-first = Ernest Alexander
|title        = Documentary History of the Campaign upon the Nigara Frontier in 1812–1814
|publisher    = Tribune Press
|year         = 1908
|volume       = VI}}
* {{cite book
|url          = https://archive.org/details/fightinbeechwood00crui
|editor-last  = Cruikshank
|editor-first = Ernest Alexander
|title        = The Fight in the Beechwoods. A study in Canadian History.
|publisher    = Lundy's Lane Historical Society
|year         = 1895
|volume       = }}
* {{cite book
|url         = http://eco.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.06250/3?r=0&s=1
|first       = Emma
|last        = Currie
|title       = The Story of Laura Secord and Canadian Reminiscences
|year        = 1900
|publisher   = Briggs}}
* {{cite book
|last       = Dagg
|first      = Anne Innis
|author-link= Anne Innis Dagg
|title      = The Feminine Gaze: A Canadian Compendium of Non-Fiction Women Authors and Their Books, 1836–1945
|chapter-url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=IJwyLyaT9KYC&pg=PA76
|year       = 2001
|publisher  = [[Wilfrid Laurier University Press]]
|isbn       = 978-0-88920-845-2
|page       = 76
|chapter    = Currie, Emma Augusta Harvey}}
* {{cite book
 |title         = The Town of York: 1815–1834; A Further Collection of Documents of Early Toronto
 |editor1-last  = Firth
 |editor1-first = Edith G.
 |publisher     = Champlain Society
 |year          = 1966
 |url           = http://link.library.utoronto.ca/champlain/item_record.cfm?Idno=9_96838&lang=eng&query=laura%20AND%20secord&searchtype=Fulltext&startrow=1&Limit=All
}}{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{cite book
|last1      = Gestwicki
|first1     = Carol
|last2      = Bertrand
|first2     = Jane
|title      = Essentials of Early Childhood Education
|url        =https://books.google.com/books?id=wvQfSYlZyP4C&pg=PP1
|year       = 2011
|publisher  = [[Cengage Learning]]
|isbn       = 978-0-17-650244-7}}
* {{cite book
|last1     = Holmlund
|first1    = Mona
|last2     = Youngberg
|first2    = Gail
|title     = Inspiring Women: A Celebration of Canadian Lives
|url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=XhHUzUwJtA4C&pg=PP1
|year      = 2003
|publisher = [[Coteau Books]]
|isbn      = 978-1-55050-204-6}}
* {{cite book
|last       = Karr
|first      = William John
|title      = Explorers, Soldiers, and Statesmen: A History of Canada Through Biography
|chapter-url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=9wDFv-eaidYC&pg=PA172
|year       = 1938
|publisher  = Ayer Publishing
|isbn       = 978-0-8369-1577-8
|pages      = 172–175
|chapter    = XXIX: Laura Secord: The Heroine of Beaver Dams}}
* {{cite book
|last       = Knowles
|first      = Norman James
|title      = Inventing the Loyalists: The Ontario Loyalist Tradition and the Creation of Usable Pasts
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=lkrZ8Fay3y8C&pg=PP1
|year       = 1997
|publisher  = [[University of Toronto Press]]
|isbn       = 978-0-8020-7913-8}}
* {{cite book
|last       = Leavey
|first      = Peggy Dymond
|title      = Laura Secord: Heroine of the War of 1812
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=q3iq8CAmpGIC&pg=PP1
|year       = 2012
|publisher  = [[Dundurn Press]]
|isbn       = 978-1-4597-0367-4}}
* {{cite book
|last       = Leveille
|first      = Gary
|title      = Around Great Barrington
|url        = https://books.google.com/books?id=9hiR5QPZ35gC&pg=PP1
|year       = 2011
|publisher  = [[Arcadia Publishing]]
|isbn       = 978-0-7385-7476-9}}
* {{cite book
|last       = McKenzie
|first      = Ruth
|title      = Laura Secord: the legend and the lady
|year       = 1977
|publisher  = [[McClelland & Stewart]]}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Perkins
|first     = Mary Ellen
|title     = Discover Your Heritage: A Guide to Provincial Plaques in Ontario
|url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=pkp1MNny-c8C&pg=PP1
|year      = 1989
|publisher = [[Dundurn Press]]
|isbn      = 978-0-920474-50-1}}
* {{cite book
|last         = Richardson
|first        = Annette
|editor-last  = Cook
|editor-first = Bernard A
|title        = Women and War: A Historical Encyclopedia from Antiquity to the Present
|chapter-url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=lyZYS_GxglIC&pg=PA529
|year         = 2006
|publisher    = [[ABC-CLIO]]
|isbn         = 978-1-85109-770-8
|page         = 529
|chapter      = Secord (née Ingersoll), Laura (1775–1868)}}
* {{cite book
 |first     = William Charles Henry
 |last      = Wood
 |year      = 1920
 |title     = Select British documents of the Canadian war of 1812, Vol. I
 |isbn      = 0-8371-5051-5
 |url       = http://link.library.utoronto.ca/champlain/item_record.cfm?lang=eng&searchtype=Bibrecord&startrow=1&Limit=All&query=9_96858&Idno=9_96858
 |archive-url = https://archive.today/20130101060920/http://link.library.utoronto.ca/champlain/item_record.cfm?lang=eng&searchtype=Bibrecord&startrow=1&Limit=All&query=9_96858&Idno=9_96858
 |url-status  = dead
 |archive-date = 1 January 2013
|publisher = Champlain Society
}}
* {{cite book
|last         = Moir
|first        = John S.
|chapter      = Laura Secord
|pages        = {{page needed|date=June 2013}}
|editor-last  = Zaslow
|editor-first = Morris
|title        = The Defended Border; Upper Canada and the War of 1812
|url          = https://archive.org/details/trent_0116300872201
|url-access   = registration
|year         = 1964
|publisher    = Macmillan Co. of Canada|isbn = 9780770512422
}}
{{Refend}}

====Journals and magazines====

{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite journal
|first     = Philip E. J.
|last      = Green
|title     = Billy Green and the Battle of Stoney Creek, June 5–6, 1813.
|url       = http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/Warof1812/2013/Issue20/Green.pdf
|publisher = International Napoleonic Society
|journal   = War of 1812 Magazine
|date=May 2013
|volume    = 20

}}
* {{cite journal
|first   = Cecilia
|last    = Morgan
|title   = 'Of Slender Frame and Delicate Appearance': The Placing Of Laura Secord in the Narratives of Canadian Loyalist History
|url     = http://www.erudit.org/revue/jcha/1994/v5/n1/031079ar.pdf
|journal = [[Canadian Historical Association|Journal of the Canadian Historical Association]]
|year    = 1994
|volume  = 5
|pages   = 195–212
|doi     = 10.7202/031079ar|doi-access= free
}}

{{Refend}}

====Newspapers====

{{Refbegin|colwidth=40em}}
* {{cite news
|author     = ''Acton Free Press'' staff
|newspaper  = Acton Free Press
|title      = Monument to Memory of Laura Secord
|date       = 27 June 1901
|page       = 3
|url        = http://news.haltonhills.halinet.on.ca/85691/page/3
|access-date = 8 July 2012}}
* {{cite news
 |url         = http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/2010/04/13/final-chapter-nears-for-laura-secord
 |title       = Final Chapter Nears for Laura Secord
 |last        = Berry
 |first       = Sylvie
 |newspaper   = [[Niagara Falls Review]]
 |date        = 13 April 2010
|access-date  = 26 October 2012
|url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230347/http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/2010/04/13/final-chapter-nears-for-laura-secord
 |archive-date = 3 March 2016
|df          = dmy-all
}}
* {{cite news
 |last        = Fraser
 |first       = Don
 |title       = Coin and stamp celebrate a Canadian heroine
 |newspaper   = Welland Tribune
 |date        = 21 June 2013
|url         = http://www.wellandtribune.ca/2013/06/21/coin-and-stamp-celebrate-a-canadian-heroine
 |access-date  = 16 September 2013
|url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055906/http://www.wellandtribune.ca/2013/06/21/coin-and-stamp-celebrate-a-canadian-heroine
 |archive-date = 4 March 2016
|df          = dmy-all
}}
* {{cite news
|url        = https://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1203013--laura-secord-heroine-of-the-war-of-1812-column
|last       = Hunter
|first      = Jennifer
|title      = Laura Secord: Heroine of the War of 1812
|date       = 2 June 2012
|newspaper  = [[Toronto Star]]
|access-date = 9 July 2012}}

{{Refend}}

====Web====

{{Refbegin|40em}}
* {{cite web
 |first        = Kym
 |last         = Bird
 |url          = http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/sarah-anne-curzon
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20121020151213/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/sarah-anne-curzon
 |url-status   = dead
 |archive-date = 20 October 2012
|title        = Sarah Anne Curzon
 |publisher    = [[Historica Dominion Institute]]
 |year         = 2012
 |access-date  = 8 July 2012
}}
* {{cite web
|url       = http://torontoist.com/2013/04/historicist-a-box-of-laura-secord/
|title       = Historicist: A Box of Laura Secord
|first       = Jamie
|last       = Bradburn
|work       = [[Gothamist|Torontoist]]
|date       = 13 April 2013
|access-date       = 6 May 2013
}}
* {{cite web
 |first        = Linda
 |last         = Jonasson
 |date         = 30 June 2012
|publisher    = Maranatha News
 |title        = Laura Secord: Housewife Turned Heroine
 |url          = http://www.maranathanews.com/2012/06/30/laura-secord-housewife-turned-heroine/
 |access-date  = 9 July 2012
|archive-date = 10 July 2012
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20120710001349/http://www.maranathanews.com/2012/06/30/laura-secord-housewife-turned-heroine/
 |url-status   = dead
}}
* {{cite web
 |last        = McKenzie
 |first       = Ruth
 |url         = http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?BioId=38629
 |title       = Laura Secord
 |publisher   = [[University of Toronto]]/[[Laval University]]
 |year        = 2000
 |access-date = 8 July 2012
}}
* {{cite web
 |title       = Laura Secord: Homespun Heroine
 |publisher   = Historical Narratives of Early Canada
 |url         = http://www.uppercanadahistory.ca/1812/18127.html
 |last        = Wilson
 |first       = W. R.
 |year        = 2010
 |access-date = 16 October 2012
}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==

{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book|author-link=Sarah Anne Curzon|first=Sarah Anne|last=Curzon|title=Laura Secord, the Heroine of 1812: A Drama and Other Poems|year=2008|orig-year=1887|publisher=Echo Library|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XuAHtRM3Z88C&pg=PA1|isbn=978-1-4068-9015-0|location=|pages=}}
* {{cite book|last=Hemmings|first=David|title=Laura Ingersoll Secord: A Heroine and her Family|year=2010|publisher=Bygones Publishing|isbn=978-0-9865772-1-5|location=|pages=}}
* {{cite book|last=Hume|first=Blanche|title=Laura Secord|edition=2|location=|pages=|year=1935|isbn=|publisher=[[McGraw-Hill|The Ryerson Press]]|oclc=797044869}}
* {{cite book|last=Lunn|first=Janet|title=Laura Secord, A Story of Courage|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780887765384|url-access=registration|year=2001|publisher=[[Tundra Books]]|isbn=978-1-77049-384-1|location=|pages=}}
* {{cite book|last=MacDonald|first=Cheryl|title=Laura Secord: The Heoric Adventures of a Canadian Legend|year=2005|publisher=Altitude Publishing Canada|isbn=978-1-55439-016-8|location=|pages=}}
* {{cite book|last=Robinson|first=Helen Caister|title=Laura: A Portrait of Laura Secord|year=1981|publisher=[[Dundurn Press]]|isbn=978-0-919670-52-5|location=|pages=}}
* {{cite journal|last=Tate|first=Marsha Ann|year=2005|title=Looking for Laura Secord on the Web: Using a Famous Figure from the War of 1812 as a Model for Evaluating Historical Web Sites|url=|journal=[[The History Teacher]]|publisher=The Society for History Education|volume=38|issue=2|pages=225–240|doi=10.2307/1555721|jstor=1555721}}

{{Refend|Last Name=MacDonald|First Name=Cheryl|Title=Laura Secord:The Heroic Adventures of a Canadian Legend|Book=|Year of Pulication=2003|ISBN=1554390168|Pages=110|Series=True Canadian Amazing Stories}}

==External links==

{{Commons category|Laura Secord}}
{{Wikisourcecat|Laura Secord}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060319121339/http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/people/secord_speach.html Laura Secord's message to the Prince of Wales, 1860]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120915055731/https://www.historica-dominion.ca/content/heritage-minutes/laura-secord Laura Secord Heritage Minute video at Historica Dominion]
* [http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/mtq?doc=06250 "The Story of Laura Secord", ''Canadian reminiscences'' by EA Currie (1900)]
* [http://www.nflibrary.ca/nfplindex/show.asp?id=102660&b=1 Laura Secord monument on Queenston Heights]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080603121141/http://www.niagarapoetry.ca/warcontents.htm Poems about Laura Secord on the Niagara Falls Poetry Project]

{{War of 1812}}{{Secord family}}{{Portal bar|Canada|History}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Secord, Laura}}
[[Category:1775 births]]
[[Category:1868 deaths]]
[[Category:British emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario]]
[[Category:Canadian folklore]]
[[Category:Canadian people of the War of 1812]]
[[Category:Women in war in Canada]]
[[Category:People from Great Barrington, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:People from the Regional Municipality of Niagara]]
[[Category:Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)]]
[[Category:Pre-Confederation Ontario people]]
[[Category:Immigrants to Upper Canada]]
[[Category:Women in 19th-century warfare]]