OW 3-10 Mildred Peel II -The famous bronze bust of Laura Secord


Laura Secord and her husband James were buried in Drummond Hill Ceremony alongside many veterans of the War of 1812. The Mildred Peel bust of Laura Secord that adorns the grave still stands as a precedent-setting recognition of the exploits of Laura Secord in particular, and of Canadian women in general.


 
 

Mildred Peel bust of Laura Secord (1901)


Laura Secord in Bronze


Mildred Peel's bust of Laura Secord on her gravesite in Drummond Hill Cemetery has become one of the most cherished and iconic representations of Laura Secord that has ever been created.

The story of the gravesite monument began in the late 1880s. In 1887, M.M. Fenwick, the principal of the Drummondville Grammar School, wrote letters to the Toronto Mail and World newspapers deploring the neglected state of the cemetery at Lundy's Lane, where Laura and her husband James were buried alongside other veterans of the War of 1812. He appealed for contributions to erect a monument to Laura Secord and others who fell during the war. Author and dramatist Sarah Curzon, who had written about Secord in an epic dramatic poem, also continued to lobby for the recognition of Laura Secord and other historically significant women. In 1891 she followed up her dramatic poem with a short biography, The Story of Laura Secord, 1813, at the request of the Lundy's Lane Historical Society. Proceeds from the publication of this work went towards the Secord grave monument.

According to historian Norman Knowles,

"…the Society had had started a public subscription list and approached the provincial government for a grant to cover the costs of marking Secord's grave 'with a memorial stone somewhat worthy of her and of us'. A petition with over 1000 names was presented to the provincial government by the local member of the legislature, but to little effect. In 1892 the Lundy's Lane Historical Society issued a circular to teachers and students in the counties of Lincoln and Welland asking for contributions. By 1895 less than 200 pounds had been collected."

Curzon herself died in 1896, but was succeeded in the Secord memorial movement by Elizabeth Jane Thompson, an active member of the Women's Canadian Historical Society and the Daughters of the Empire. She was able to interest the Ontario Historical Society in the project, and a monument committee was established in February of 1899.

The committee urged other historical and patriotic organizations to join the Ontario Historical Society in making the Laura Secord memorial a reality. The appeal was successful, and a competition was held for the design of the monument.

Drawing on her formative education in sculpture at the Pennsylvania School of Arts and her experience with commissioned works of influential citizens for the Ontario government, Mildred Peel won the competition, and produced the iconic representation that graces Laura Secord's gravesite today.

Constructed of Vermont granite, Laura's memorial is eight feet in height and is surmounted with a bust of bronze, which was cast in Philadelphia by Bureau Brothers Bronze Founders. The plaster prototype for the bust was donated to the Niagara Historical Society and Museum, where it remains on display.

It is a significant work on several fronts: not only was it the first public memorial to a woman erected in Canada, and a noteworthy departure from earlier practice of only portraying male heroes in public monuments, but it was also created by a Canadian woman sculptor. The project to see it funded and erected was also largely overseen to completion by women.

The Secord grave monument was unveiled on 22 June 1901 by Catherine Ross, then-wife of the province's premier, before a crowd of 2000 people. Several of Laura Secord's descendants, friends, and relatives were present at the ceremony, and were introduced to the thousands of visitors in attendance by Rev. Canon George Armstrong Bull, Rector of All Saints Anglican Church and President of the Lundy's Lane Historical Society. Mrs. Ross and several other speakers lauded Laura Secord's exploits, and heralded the occasion as a reminder of the irrefutable importance of Canadian women in the history of the country.

The monument reads,

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 many roads to warn a British outpost at Decew's Falls of an intended attack and thereby enabled Lieut. FitzGibbon on the 24th, June, 1813, with less than 50 men of H.M. 49th Regt., about 15 militiamen and a small force of Six Nation and other Indians under Captains William Johnson Kerr and Domonique Ducharme, to surprise and attack the enemy at Beechwoods (or Beaver Dams) and after a short engagement to capture Col. Boerstler of the U.S. Army and his entire force of 542 men with two field pieces.

Unfortunately, two months later, it was discovered that the dates of the Battle of Beaver Dams on the inscription were in error, and the monument had to be dismantled. The base was sent back to England for correction.

Not everyone felt that the modest memorial to Laura Secord was an adequate and fitting tribute. Members of the United Empire Loyalist Association felt that the monument should be located at Queenston Heights and be of much grander proportions. A second, larger monument was indeed created near the Brock Monument in Queenston Heights, but not without considerable controversy.

Location of the Secord Gravesite

Laura Secord's famous grave is located within the Drummond Hill Cemetery. Laura was a prominent figure during the war of 1812. Laura shares her final resting place along with many of those who fought during the Battle of Lundy's Lane in the War of 1812.

The story of Laura Secord and her exploits became more widely known after she was honoured in 1860 by Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, with a gift of 100 pounds. The publication of an erroneous but popular account of her deeds by William Coffin in 1869 and an epic dramatic poem about her by Sarah Curzon in 1887 further spread her fame. But it took until the beginning of the 20th Century for any formal memorial to be erected to honour Laura's memory.

Laura Ingersoll Secord died in 1868 at age 93 at the Village of Chippawa (today part of Niagara Falls, Ontario). She was buried in the Drummond Hill Cemetery next to her husband James Secord.


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