A Secord Mystery

Gravestone of Daniel Secord (1826-1857) at Mount
Pleasant Pioneer Cemetery near Brantford, Ontario

For many years I've been curious about one of the 19th century gravestones found in Mount Pleasant Pioneer Cemetery near Brantford, Ontario. The gravestone commemorates Daniel Secord who died on 9 May 1857 at the age of 31. What is unusual is that no Secord researchers, of which there have been many, have conclusively connected Daniel to any branch of the extensive Secord family.

Sketch of the Haldimand Tract by Thomas Parke
dated 1843 (Source: Archive of Ontario)

Mount Pleasant is a small community south of Brantford in southwestern Ontario. The area was originally part of the Haldimand Tract, granted to the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) in 1784 as compensation for supporting the British during the Revolutionary War. The Haldimand Tract was a parcel of land twelve miles wide that stretched along the length of the Grand River.

While the Haldimand Tract was primarily settled by the Haudenosaunee, their leader, Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant), also permitted white Loyalist veterans to settle there. A 999-year lease for 400 acres¹ in the Mount Pleasant Tract, surveyed in 1800, was given to Daniel Secord (1756- ?), a nephew of my ggggg-grandmother Mary Beebe née Secord.

During the Revolutionary War, Daniel served with Brant's Volunteers, an irregular unit of Haudenosaunee and Loyalists based out of Fort Niagara. Brant's Volunteers fought in the Battle of Oriskany in 1777. In 1778, they were at the Battle of Cobleskill and the Attack on German Flatts. In 1779, Brant's Volunteers fought at the Battle of Minisink and the Battle of Newtown.

Daniel, aged 27, appears on the 1783 Niagara Return drawing rations for himself. The following year he is shown at Niagara with a wife and four children. In 1786, Daniel is at the "Grand River Landing" with a wife and five children. 

Detail of the 1859 Tremaine Map of Brant County.
In 1859, parts of Lot 1 and 2 in the 1st Range East
of the Mount Pleasant Road were owned by John
Secord, while part of Lot 10 Concession 3 in Oakland
Township was owned by his nephew William Secord.

In addition to the 400 acres he leased from the Haudenosaunee, Daniel was granted patent in 1804 to three lots in Oakland Township, then known as Burford Gore. One of the lots was sold off in 1816, the other in 1857, but 70 acres of Lot 10 Concession 3 remained in the family until 1870.

Daniel is thought to have married a Haudenosaunee woman named Elizabeth. He states in his 1796 Upper Canada Land Petition that he "came into the Province of Canada with his wife in the year 1777 and has been within the British lines ever since." In his 1797 petition he adds that he had six children prior to 1788. A certificate signed by David Secord² states that Daniel brought his wife and three children to Canada in 1777, and confirms that he had six children by 1788. Names of only four of the six are known: Issac, Margaret, Daniel and John.

Daniel died likely died sometime between 1818, when his will was written, and 1824 when a census of the Grand River Tract was taken. In his will, Daniel bequeathed his properties in the Mount Pleasant Tract and Burford Gore to his sons Daniel and John. A number of researchers give a 1832 death date  for Daniel, however, he does not appear in the Grand River Tract censuses of 1824, 1827, 1829 or 1832. Daniel had certainly died by 1829 when his son John petitioned for land and described himself as "son of the late Daniel Secord of Grand River."

Census data suggests that Daniel's oldest son, Issac, was born in New York before the Revolutionary War. According to the History of Washtenaw County, Isaac deserted during the War of 1812 and fled to the United States. As a consequence of his "disloyalty to his King," Isaac was bequeathed one pound in his father's will, "and no more." Isaac died in 1872 in Williamston, Ingham, Michigan.

Margaret petitioned for land in 1810. She stated she was the daughter of Daniel Secord and was married to Robert Ennis of the Grand River Settlement.

Gravestone of Daniel Secord (1785-
1859) at Mount Pleasant Pioneer Cemetery.

Daniel was born about 1785, either at Niagara or in the Haldimand Tract. In his 1806 Upper Canada Land Petition he stated that he was the son of Daniel Secord of the Grand River Settlement, and was married. Daniel's wife was Elizabeth Perrin, daughter of Thomas Perrin whose mill was destroyed on 6 Nov 1814 by a "band of American marauders under Brigadier General McArthur."

Daniel, and his brother John, both served in Capt. Perrin's company in the 5th Lincoln Militia during the War of 1812. After the war, Daniel claimed losses as a result of McArthur's Raid totaling £23. 5s., having lost a rifle, great coat, five blankets, two quilts, two sheets, one shawl, and an apron. John claimed losses of £28. 10s., having lost a grey mare, three hives of bees, and other property.

According to her gravestone at Mount Pleasant, Elizabeth Perrin died in 1857 at the age of 63. This suggests that she born about 1794, however, it seems unlikely that she would have married when she was only twelve or thirteen, since their first child, Daniel, was born in 1808. Daniel was followed by David in 1810, Mary in 1814, and William in 1818. Census records from 1824, 1827 and 1829 suggest three additional children who likely died young. Elizabeth Perrin died in 1857 and Daniel two years later. Both are buried at Mount Pleasant.

Gravestone of John Secord (1787-1869)
at Port Royal Cemetery

John was born in the Haldimand Tract in 1787, however, he did not petition for land until 1829. The 1824 Census shows that he was married but had no children. The 1827 Census, however, records that John had five children, while the 1829 records that he had six. It is quite possible that the enumerator failed to record children in 1824.

There is a record of John Secord marrying Lucy Haylestone on 17 Nov 1844. This would have been John's second marriage.

In the 1852 Census, John, aged 66 is listed as a farmer, while Lucy, aged 52, is listed as a housekeeper. With them is May, aged 30; Henry, aged 14; and Dorliskey, aged 6. Henry is shown as a labourer for his father. In 1859, John sold his Mount Pleasant Tract properties and moved to Walsingham Township in Norfolk County. Living with John and Lucy in Walsingham at the time of the 1861 was J. H. Secord, aged 23; Ellen D. Secord, aged 15; and Edward Secord aged 25.

"J. H." was John Henry Secord, the son of John and his first wife. "Ellen D." was Ellen Dorliskey Secord (1846-1927), daughter of John and Lucy. Edward was the son of John and his first wife. In the 1852 Census he was recorded as an apprentice living with John Tennant, tailor, however, in 1861 his occupation is recorded as mechanic.

It quite possible that the Daniel Secord who died on 9 May 1857 was the son of John and his first wife. According to the age recorded on his gravestone, Daniel was born on 5 Apr 1826, which would place him between May and Edward. According to the 1827 and 1829 Grand River Tract censuses, John had additional children, and it seems reasonable that one of them would have been named Daniel after John's father and brother.

John died in 1869 at the age of 81, and is buried at Port Royal Cemetery in Walsingham, Norfolk.

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¹ Possibly Daniel's cousin David Secord (1759-1844), son of James Secord (1732-1784) and Madelaine Badeau (1736-1796).

² According to family tradition, Daniel Secord was granted a 999-year lease for 200 acres. In 1836 and 1837, however, his sons Daniel and John submitted petitions requesting confirmation of their ownership to Lot 1 and part of Lot 2 in the 1st Range East of the Mount Pleasant Road. In his petition Daniel stated that he had sold part of Lot 1 to John, while John stated that part of Lot 2 had been sold to James Bigger. This would suggest that the original lease was for two 200 acre lots.

Sources:

Files, Angela. Grand River Tract Assessment Rolls, 1816, 1818-1822. Brant Historical Society, 1994. http://brantmuseum.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Grand-River-Tract-Assessment-Rolls.pdf

Files, Angela. Grand River Tract Census: 1824, 1827, 1829, 1832. Brant Historical Society, 1994. http://brantmuseum.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Grand-River-Tract-Census.pdf

Files, Angela. Oakland Township: The Early History and Records of the Smallest Township of Brant County. Brant Historical Society, 1994. http://brantmuseum.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Oakland-Township.pdf

Jaeger, Sharon. The Work of Our Hands: Mount Pleasant, Ontario, 1799-1899: A History. Heritage Mount Pleasant, 2004. http://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/cbpl/CBPL0732761T.pdf

Kelsay, Isabel Thompson. Joseph Brant, 1743-1807: Man of Two Worlds. Syracuse University Press, 1984.

Library and Archives Canada. RG 1 L 3. Land Petitions of Upper Canada, 1763-1865.

Library and Archives Canada. RG 9 1B7. War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists.