​Readers urge Kincardine council not to destroy piece of local history

To the Editor:
RE: “Municipality agrees to destroy Secord Monument that stood in downtown Kincardine”

I’m sure the fact that I am voicing an opinion about this debacle - Kincardine council’s decision to destroy the Secord Monument - will bring all the people who dislike me to the forefront.

To begin with, as councillor Bill Stewart, the only real representative we have on this council, said, “This never should have come to council.”

It was decided numerous times in past years that the monument posed no threat to any of our citizens.

A few people came to council and told us we were “racist” in 2020 when I was on council. At that time, I felt sorry for them as they had not been born and raised here and didn’t know what a wonderful place Kincardine really is.

I’m not saying that there are no racist people in our community but they should have taken a much broader look at the history of the municipality.

When people on social media talk about ancestry and being able to track theirs back to a certain time in their life, I think they should take a look at the history of some families in our municipality.

I can trace my family ancestry all the way back to 1387. One of the best parts is from 1850 when the “Mud Turtle” landed in Penetangore and my great-great-grandfather came to Kincardine. His name was Paddy Walker.

Two years later, my great-great-grandfather, Cornelius Cuyler, came to the settlement and claimed farmland near Millarton.

Between these two families, there were 20 children. I’m quite sure they helped increase the population numbers during their time here. As well, I’m sure that Dr. Solomon Secord was involved in their health care at some point.

I could say a lot about the history of Kincardine and if anyone knows Bill Pace, he and I have talked about Kincardine a lot. It’s called research.

Councillor Mike Hinchberger likes researching history but I noticed in his stories that he leaves out some very important facts that are verified by historians in both Canada and the United States. This points to a biased, uninformed opinion, showing that he does not like anything that is not what he wants.

There are more than him on this council who have an “agenda.” Even the mayor is more interested in getting his picture taken than anything else.

When he began the discussion about the monument at the council meeting, he, in good faith, should have been the last to speak. Instead, he set the tone for the rest of the biased (in my opinion) people to follow suit.

How the actions of this so-called council are being permitted by themselves is beyond me. They just go ahead and do foolish things and if someone speaks up, that person is attacked by the people who have no history of Kincardine.

It is my opinion that change is good as long as the history of the region is not destroyed.

I could go on for days about all the BS (bad service) that has reared its ugly head and is destroying our municipality, but I will quit now.

I’m trying to make up for all the years since we lost a good friend of mine, Bryan Edden.

Dave Cuyler
Former councillor
Kincardine
 

---

To the Editor:

I would like to give you another view on the Secord Monument.

Both sides of my family have deep roots in Kincardine as do my husband’s. My great-grandfather was the path master who brought settlers and mail to Kincardine and was a Crown land grant-holder of the main downtown block. Both my father and my husband’s father were business owners for 75 years on the main street.

Dr. Solomon Secord’s history was taught to us in school but with the influx of people coming to work at the Bruce Nuclear Power Development, a lot gets brushed by the wayside. He is featured in all of our town’s history books and not just a paragraph but pages.

Dr. Secord left Kincardine for Georgia due to tuberculosis. It is documented in a few Georgia historical books how he was almost lynched for preaching abolition but some close friends, who were armed, saved him.

As a doctor, he swore the Hippocratic Oath - “Do NO Harm" - so he offered to do amputations as no doctor in the States was taught on cadavers how to perform these procedures. He was drafted to operate and show others how to do these operations in under three minutes while while U.S. doctors mangled their patients. In one battle, he stayed with his patients while rebel troops ran. He treated everyone of different race, creed and colour.

One gentleman in town has a letter from Dr. Secord, reporting how he begged to be released but the Southern Army refused.

The Municipality of Kincardine asked people to E-mail in their thoughts about the monument but said it would also allow presentations in front of the council. We prepared ours, complete with articles from Georgia’s history books and our school lessons, but council cancelled single presenters and only let groups speak.

Council said every thing was done impartially but I and my family and local friends disagree because council did not hear from a lot of locals.

Dr. Secord was a highly-respected physician, loved by the people of Kincardine. The people who moved here should learn the history about where they live instead of trying to get rid of it.

Respectfully,
Cate and Terry O’Brien
Kincardine