David Secord (August 1759 – August 9, 1844) was a businessman and political figure in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

. He was born in New York City in 1759. His father served with Butler's Rangers during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

and David later served as a corporal in the unit. After the war, they settled at Queenston in Upper Canada; David helped establish the community of St Davids where he built a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

shop and general store. His brother James, whose wife was Laura Secord, also settled there. In 1796, he was appointed justice of the peace in the

Home District The Home District was one of four districts of the Province of Quebec created in 1788 in the western reaches of the Montreal District and detached in 1791 to create the new colony of Upper Canada. It was abolished with the adoption of the county ...

. He was elected to the

5th Parliament of Upper Canada The 5th Parliament of Upper Canada was opened 2 February 1809. Elections in Upper Canada had been held in May 1808. All sessions were held at York, Upper Canada and sat at the Parliament Buildings of Upper Canada. This parliament was disso ...

representing 2nd Lincoln. He also served in the local militia, eventually reaching the rank of major. His buildings at St Davids were destroyed by the

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. He was later elected to the 7th Parliament for 3rd Lincoln. He died at St. Davids in 1844 and was buried in the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

cemetery there.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
1759 births 1844 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada People from Niagara-on-the-Lake 18th-century Canadian businesspeople 19th-century Canadian businesspeople {{Ontario-politician-stub