Thomas Ingersoll (1749–1812) was an early settler 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 ...

, later

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. He is best known as the father of

Laura Secord Laura Secord ( Ingersoll; 13 September 1775 – 17 October 1868) was a Canadian heroine of the War of 1812. She is known for having walked out of American-occupied territory in 1813 to warn British forces of an impending American atta ...

, who warned the British of an impending American attack on Upper Canada 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 born in

Westfield, Massachusetts Westfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, Hampden County, in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, United States. Westfield was first settled by Europeans in 1660. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield metrop ...

, later moving to Great Barrington where, aside from his trade as a hatter, he also served as constable and tax collector.Laura Ingersoll Secord Home Commemorative Plaque
. Ontario Heritage Trust Foundation. Retrieved on 3 May 2010 In 1775, he married Elizabeth Dewey. He served as a lieutenant in the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

militia from 1777 to 1781 and continued to serve in the Great Barrington militia after 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 ...

, reaching the rank of major. After the death of his first wife in 1784, when Laura (his eldest daughter) was eight, he married Mercy Smith, the widow of Josiah Smith. After the death of his second wife, he married Sarah Whiting, the widow of John Backus, in 1789. Ingersoll emigrated to Upper Canada after hearing about the availability of land there for new settlers. In 1793, he obtained a land grant of 66,000 acres (267 km²) in Oxford County from Governor

John Graves Simcoe John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the Drainage basin, watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. ...

. He named the new settlement Oxford-on-the-Thames. Ingersoll was named a justice of the peace for the county. By November 1795, Ingersoll had once again uprooted, moving to

Queenston Queenston is a compact rural community and unincorporated place north of Niagara Falls in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is bordered by Highway 405 to the south and the Niagara River to the east; its location at the eponym ...

, Upper Canada and operating one of the earliest taverns before putting it up for sale in 1801. In 1806, he left the settlement at Oxford-on-the-Thames and settled on the

Credit River The Credit River is a river in southern Ontario, which flows from headwaters above the Niagara Escarpment near Orangeville and Caledon East to empty into Lake Ontario at Port Credit, Mississauga. It drains an area of approximately . The total le ...

near

Port Credit Port Credit is a neighbourhood in the south-central part of the City of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, located at the mouth of the Credit River on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Its main intersection is Hurontario Street and Lakeshore Road ...

, operating "Government House" (also as "Government Inn") until his death in 1812. His son

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

renamed Oxford-on-the-Thames "

Ingersoll Ingersoll may refer to: People *Ingersoll (surname) *Ingersoll Lockwood (1841–1918), American lawyer and writer Places Canada * Ingersoll, Ontario United States * Ingersoll, Oklahoma * Ingersoll, Wisconsin * Ingersoll Township, Michigan * ...

" in his honor.

Notes

References

External links

''The story of Laura Secord : and Canadian reminiscences'', EA Currie (1900)

Town of Ingersoll web site

Biography at the Oxford County Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingersoll, Thomas 1749 births 1812 deaths People from Westfield, Massachusetts British emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Immigrants to Upper Canada History of Oxford County, Ontario