Readers say leave the Secord monument alone

To the Editor:
RE: What's the point?

Brethren,

Tell me it is not so! Have those who cancel culture infiltrated our municipal council?

Let me put you on notice! If you conspire to remove the monument to Dr. Solomon Secord in downtown Kincardine, I will cry for the removal of all vestiges of our culture.

No longer should we have the Phantom Piper, no more Scots parade, no Highland Games, take down that wooden Scot.

Let Kincardine go down in infamy as the municipality that destroyed itself. 

Perhaps we need to pay reparations to the kin of those whose houses our ancestors burned in Inverhuron. And don’t get me started on quotations on tombstones! 

Fools live in constant fear of the few.

Rev. David Williams
Kincardine
 

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To the Editor:

Thank you for printing the informative history of Dr. Secord and the memorial to him in the letter from Eric Howald.

I attach the link to a CTV news article of Sept. 18, 2018:
www.ctvnews.ca/canada/ontario-town-rejects-bid-to-remove-statue-of-confederate-army-doctor-1.4099745

I quote: “Following a complaint to council by Jeron Thompson that the statue should be torn down, local historian Graham Mahood was enlisted to look into Secord’s time with the Confederate Army. According to Mahood’s research, Secord moved to Georgia to live with relatives before the American Civil War. Secord was ill at the time and, according to Mahood, the belief was that a warmer climate could help his condition.

"Mahood says Secord was an abolitionist who 'spoke out openly against slavery' while living in Georgia.

“'That led to him almost being lynched and he only escaped because of the assistance of some friends who were armed,' Mahood wrote.

"After the war began, Secord joined the Confederate Army. Mahood said there was little choice as to which side Secord could join, simply due to geography, and that as a doctor, he inevitably wanted to help the wounded.

“'When the war broke out, he was effectively trapped in the south,' Mahood wrote. 'Yes, he did join the Confederate Army but never as a soldier.'

"Secord worked as a surgeon and treated soldiers on both sides of the war, Mahood wrote in his findings.

"A report issued by municipal staff said that if 'modern standards' are applied to the situation, Secord would be considered a 'non-combatant' with special protections under the Geneva Conventions.

"Following the report, Kincardine council voted unanimously to keep the statue.”

We do not need to retry Dr. Secord in the court of public opinion, as he has previously been found “not guilty.”

Jackie Rosart
Kincardine

Editor’s Note: The Kincardine Record also posted a comprehensive report, followed by several letters to the editor in the fall of 2018: www.kincardinerecord.com/story.php?id=6354; www.kincardinerecord.com/story.php?id=6407; www.kincardinerecord.com/story.php?id=6358