Dr. Solomon Secord monument to remain on Kincardine's main street
A request to remove the Dr. Solomon Secord monument from in front of the Kincardine Library, has been denied.
In committee-of-the-whole Wednesday night (Sept. 5), Kincardine council heard from Jeroen Thompson who made the request, based on the fact that Secord served as a physician for the Confederate army during the American Civil War.
Thompson said he grew up in the United States and came to Canada many years ago to study.
“This is a great country,” he said. “It's a very tolerant country, and I eventually became a Canadian citizen.”
Six years ago, he and his family moved to Kincardine, “and I'm grateful to everybody who has welcomed us.”
His argument for removal of the
Secord monument (right) is based on the inscription it carries: “To Solomon Secord, 1834-1910. Our family physician for 50 years. This memorial was erected by his loving friends. Served as a surgeon with the Southern Army during the American Civil War. All that lived he loved, and without regard for fee or reward, he did his work for love of his work and for love of his fellows.”
“The first time I read that memorial, I was stunned,” said Thompson. “I couldn't believe my eyes. In the U.S., we grapple with monuments to our racist people. Here, Dr. Secord's friends wanted it memorialized that he served as a surgeon with the Southern Army during the American Civil War. It's hard to believe he was a committed abolitionist when he supported such a racist and reprehensible cause.”
Thompson said this view is not reflected in Kincardine today, yet the monument is clearly visible for anyone to read in front of the Kincardine Library on Queen Street in downtown Kincardine.
“This is simply not a fit monument for the municipality and I question whether the municipality would support its installation if it were proposed today,” he said. “We cannot change our history but we can choose what we endorse and who we promote as a symbol of our community. It is time for this monument to be removed.”
Clerk Donna MacDougall explained to council that the arts, culture and heritage committee considers the monument to be an appropriate recognition of a local historical figure, based on the historical record reflecting Secord's service as a non-combatant physician during the American Civil War, his abolitionist beliefs, and that the monument was built through funds raised by local citizens as a recognition of Secord's outstanding contributions to the community.
The committee recommended that no further action is required.
Local historian Graham Mahood has provided a synopsis of Secord's life:
“Dr. Secord moved to Kincardine shortly before the American Civil War. He left Kincardine after about a year because of ill health and went to live with relatives in Georgia. I think the theory was that if he was to recover, he needed to be in a warmer climate. But he was also an abolitionist and, while in Georgia, he spoke out openly against slavery. That led to him almost being lynched and he escaped only because of the assistance of some friends who were armed.
“Yes, he did join the Confederate Army but never as a soldier. He served only as a surgeon and treated wounded on both sides of the conflict. As a doctor, he would have felt a duty to treat the wounded and it was not as if he could freely choose to join either the Northern or the Confederate army. When war broke out, he was effectively trapped in the south.”
In an excerpt from “Kincardine 1848 to 1984,” Secord's death was described in this way:
“He will surely be missed in this community that knew him for 50 years as a lover of justice, a hater of sham, a simple, natural, unaffected man who did more good than the world will ever know."
He was also described in this way: “Neither place, nor power, nor social standing, nor financial rating, affected his attitude toward anyone.”
And: “Many a poor man had not only free medical treatment and medicine, but also some of the necessaries of life as well.”
In a response to the item about the monument on the agenda of the arts, culture and heritage committee, Duane Waddington of Kincardine stated, “Dr. Secord was a great contributor to humanity and Kincardine. The good doctor was a non-combatant and, in reality, was a forerunner to Doctors Without Borders.”
Turning to Thompson, councillor Laura Haight said, “On this issue, we are going to disagree. The monument doesn't say he served as a Confederate army soldier, it says he was a surgeon with the Southern Army.
“He was a doctor and he treated people regardless. He spoke against slavery. His friends worded that script carefully, using the term 'Southern Army'. We have Canadians who served in the Vietnam War. Some people say that was an unjust war, but we can still respect the service and sacrifice in war.
“Dr. Secord was not a promoter of slavery, and this is not a monument to slavery.”
“My father was a war veteran,” said mayor Anne Eadie. “He served in the medical corps. The doctors cared for all the wounded. Their medical code of ethics had a much broader scope."
She said things were different at the time of the American Civil War.
“It's the same as the concerns about monuments to Sir John A. Macdonald, our first prime minister. In the 1860s, Canada was bringing in immigrants from all over the world. With regard to our First Nations people, yes, we'd do things differently today. But this is our history, it's a part of our past.
“We should leave the monument to Dr. Secord alone.”
Council agreed.
Written ByLiz Dadson is the founder and editor of the Kincardine Record and has been in the news business since 1986.
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