Dr. Solomon Secord, you are not alone

To the Editor:

To my amazement, Dr. Solomon Secord’s Monument is not the only Civil War Monument in Canada.

Just west of Cornwall, Ontario, is a Civil War Monument honouring the 40,000 Canadians who were involved in that conflict. There were 36,000 with the north, the remaining 4,000 were with the south. The monument honours both groups together.

Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017, the site was unveiled to the public. As per information from the Stormont County Fair website, a few distinguished people were in attendance: Jean Rioux, parliamentary secretary for the ministry of defence; retired Lieutenant-General Michel Maisonneuve; and MP Guy Lauzon who represented the riding.

In the CBC news report of that event, it was mentioned that Dr. Secord was living in Georgia when the war broke out. Did he have family there or close friends? I cannot answer these questions, as the good doctor has left us.

In an article by Liz Dadson in the Kincardine Record, Sept. 6, 2018, the Kincardine arts, culture and heritage committee considered the monument appropriate recognition of Dr. Secord. He was an abolitionist. He did what any doctor would do in his situation. He treated the wounded.

The people of Kincardine erected this monument to honour him, for the medical services that he provided to them. This should be respected, and not stored away or demolished.

So, where should Dr. Secord’s Monument reside now? It's been suggested that maybe Queen’s Look-out would be an appropriate location or maybe the Kincardine Hospital as he was a doctor.

I would like to end with a quote. The author is a Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

“The past is a rich resource on which we can draw in order to make decisions for the future, but it does not dictate our choices. We should look back at the past and select what is good, and leave behind what is bad.” -- Nelson Mandela

Below are a couple websites you may find interesting regarding the Civil War site by Cornwall, Ontario.

Thank you,
Man Lahrkamp
Kincardine

1) https://stormontcountyfair.weebly.com/lost-villages-museum--civil-war-monument.html
2) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41310587
3) https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-civil-war-monument-canadians-1.4256907