WFTBy FMEpRESS, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 1988, PAGE 7 PAGE SEVEN The Grand Results of the Economic Sunmmit! 1 A CANADIAN HEROINE Queenston was now behind enemy lines and the local people were required to billet and feed the enemy soldiers. On this particular night, Laura overheard a conversation bet- ween two of the officers planning a surprise attack on a government garrison in a couple of days time. Feigning a mission of mercy to her sick brother, Charles Ingersoll of St. Davids, she left the house at daybreak (4:30 am) the following morning. She hoped that someone else could carry the warning the rest of the way but her brother was still too sick and his sons were either too young or were away with the militia - she carried on on her own. It was a long trip along the swamp road in the summer sun - some twenty miles (from Brock St. to the Don Valley Parkway to put it in modern commuter terms) - and to reach her destination she had to climb the steep Niagara escarp- ment. At nightfall, she found herself surrounded by Indians who escorted her to the British garrison at Beaver Dams. The story should be familiar, at least in generalities, to everybody who went to school in Canada - it was drummed into our absorbent minds as one of the great episodes of Canadian heroism. The woman was, of course, Laura Secord and the date was June 22, 1813, 175 years ago today. The British under Lieutenant Fitzgibbons with the help of their Indian allies ambushed the Americans as they climbed the steep escarpment and the Americans surrendered after incurring severe losses. Laura herself came from a family which had fought on the Yankee side in the American Revolution. Her father had come to Canada only because there appeared to be better opportunities than in his home state of Massachusetts. James Secord, her husband, was from a Loyalist family. Laura was the kind of Canadian that the Americans had felt sure would flock to their support, yet most of them deeply. resented the American invasion and when the chips were down, they were prepared to do almost anything to see the Yankees driven out. Although the battle at Beaver Dams was a minor skirmish in military terms, it completely demoralized the Americans who had lost a major battle at Stoney Creek only two weeks before. Their leadership was forced to resign in disgrace. Six months later, they retreated from the Niagara peninsula with the Canadians nipping at their heels and a year later, the British and Americans agreed the whole war had been a terrible mistake and everything was put back to the pre-war boundaries as if nothing had happened. In reality, the war was the beginning of the Canadian identity - a pride in their pioneering spirit and a sense of distinctiveness that set them apart from both Britain and the United States. The war also left a lot of devastated lives - properties ruined, men crippled, families without breadwinners. The Secords were no exception - James'livelihood as a merchant was gone and his wounds lingered. They were forced to sell off much of their property in order to survive. The welfare state was still a century and a half away. Some small war pensions and compensation for war damage were given to the deserving but the bureaucratic delays were such as to make one despair. Six years after the war, James was given a lease on a military stone quarry as partial compensation, and another two years later he was given a small pension of 50 pounds a year (about $2500 in today's terms). The grant of the stone quarry lease makes brief mention of Laura's journey to Beaver Dams and was the first official recognition she received. Twenty years later she documented her exploit with supporting verification from Col. Fitzgibbons but when her husband died a year later in 1841, all pensions and income ceased. The government turned down her requests even though pensions were allowed for certain other widows. Laura was now 65. She sold the house in Queenston and moved into a cottage in the village of Chippewa, south of the Falls, where she lived with two of her daughters and several grandchildren whom she supported. For a short time she operated a snall private school in her home. In 1860 at the age of 84, she was presented to the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, as one of 500 veterans of the War of 1812. She was the only woman. On returning to England, he sent her £100 in gold in recognition of her ser- vices - the only direct financial reward she ever received. After ber death in 1868 at the age of 93, she began to receive the recognition that evaded ber during ber life. A monument was erected on Queenston Heights and historic plaques were placed on ber former homes in Queenston (now a museum) and Chippewa, but the ultimate recognition was te have a candy comnpany named after ber. In this age of womnen's lib, it is surprising that Laura Second is not a more visible symbol of the strength of this nation's womnen in spite of governmnent (maie, of course) indifference. She epitomized qualities of loyalty, determina- tion and self-sacrifice that few others have achieved. m • A barn belonging to Mr. Goldsboro of Brooklin burned down last week. d • The first lacrosse game played in Whitby for many years was played between Whitby and Oshawa. • Corbett's Point on Lake Ontario, east of Whitby is a popular picnic spot. • W.J. Clokey of the Mowat Manufacturing Company, Whitby, demonstrated one of bis company's mowers at a recent farmers' picnic. VILLAGE OF MYRTLE, LOOKING SOUTH FROM 9TH CONCESSION, C. 1910 The store at left was operated by T.W. Brookes and also served as Myrtle's post office. It was demolished in 1967. seventy-eight years ago, Highway 12 was a dirt road. It was not paved until 1923. Whitby Archives photo 10 YEARS AGO from the Wednesday, June 21, 1978 edition of the WHITBY FREE PRESS • A new water supply plant at Whitby harbor was opened today by Ontario Environment Minister George McCague. • The Anti-Inflation Board as ordered workers at Croven Ltd. to pay back $55,000 in excess wages. • Construction of an underpass for the CPR on Brock Street North has begun. • Whitby actors Jim Cheyne and Mary Ellen Soltys are featured in a television play on CHCH TV, Hamilton. Bert Ieaver, of Whitby, is the director. 25 YEARS AGO from the Thursday, June 20, 1963 edition of the WHITBY WEEKLY NEWS • Three Canadian.minesweepers, the Scatari, St. Louis and St. Jean, visited Whitby Harbor on a training exencise. • Councillor Desmond Newman wants the town to appoint a bylaw enforcement officer. • The Town of Whitby, Public Utilities Commission and Bell Telephone are seeking ways to reduce the number of utility poles on Whitby streets. • Seven new records were set at the Coborne Street School field day. 100 YEARS AGO from the Friday June 22, 1888 edition of the WHITBY CHRONICLE