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| The restored Secord Homestead, Queenston, ON. |
My calendar shows a number of readings coming up this fall. I'm in the midst of developing a slide presentation of images related to the life of Laura Secord. And I'm counting on the pictures to add some variety to my usual talk and to stimulate some discussion with my audience. The following are a few that I have chosen.
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| Laura Secord in later years. |
This sketch is taken from what is, my research tells me, the only authentic photograph of Laura Secord. It was taken by Mr. Joel Lyons of Chippewa and appeared for the first time in a book in 1869, a year after Laura's death. Laura was only thirty-seven when she made her heroic walk, but there are no pictures of it, nor did she leave us a first-hand account of her adventure.
Little is known of her first twenty years except that she was born September 13, 1775 in Great Barrington, in the colony of Massachusetts.
This is one of the last photographs of the house in Great Barrington where Laura Ingersoll grew up. It was demolished in 1913 to make way for a library on the site. Below is an artist's impression of the same house.
On a day designated as "Laura Secord Day," October 18, 1977, the Great Barrington Historic District Commission unveiled this plaque in front of the library.
I find it especially interesting that this is an American tribute to a Canadian, Laura Secord, a recognition of a heroine from the other side of the War of 1812. To me, that's a class act.
