Personal Life
Laura Ingersoll was born on September 13 1775 to Thomas and Elizabeth Ingersoll. Laura had 12 siblings. 3 which were her full siblings. Her 3 sisters were named Elizabeth Franks on October 17 1779, Mira or Myra sometime in 1781 and Abigail in September 1783. Abigail was given up for adoption to a aunt with the last name of Nash. Laura’s Mum past away on February 20 1784 from an unknown cause. Her father remarried to Mercy Smith. Mrs. Smith was the widow of Josiah Smith. On May 26 1785, Mrs. Smith passed away from tuberculosis. Laura didn’t ever attend school because by adolescence, she was staying home caring for her sisters. James Secord remarried twice. First, he married Mercy. Mercy had no children but received credit for teaching her stepdaughters to do needle work as well as read. Unfortunately, Mercy passed away sometime in 1789 because of tuberculosis. James then remarried again to Sarah (Sally) Backus. She had a daughter and was a widow. They got married 4 months after Mercy death on September 20 1789. They had 7 kids. 3 boys and 4 girls. There first 3 kids were Charles Fortescue who was born September 27 1791, Charlotte born in 1793 and Apollonia who was born in 1794 were the last people of the Ingersoll family branch to be born in Massachusetts.
In 1797, Laura married James Secord. They had 7 kids. Hannah Cartwright Carthew, Appolonia Secord, Charles Badeau Secord, Laura Ann Clarke, Harriet Secord Smith, Charlotte Secord and Mary Lawrence Trumbull.
James was a soldier in the militia and a sergeant with 1st Lincoln militia at the beginning of war of 1812. They lived in Queenston and there home was in the line of fire. Laura and 5 children forced evacuated. When they returned there home was plundered. When James went missing after a battle, Laura went to the battlefield with the dead and injured and found her husband bleeding from gunshot wounds. He was wounded at the battle of Queenston heights. Laura rescued him and nursed him.
She died October 17 1868 in Chippawa [Niagara Fall], ON) at Laura Secord’s dwelling at the age of 93 because of old age.