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    ne to honour Maitland's promise, and included another certificate from FitzGibbon attesting her contribution to the war. She wrote that Colonel Thomas Clarke had been told by Maitland, "it was too late to think of [the committee member's widow] Mrs. Nichol as I have pledged my word to Mrs. Secord that as soon as possible she should have the key."[36] Despite her pleas, Secord did not receive the keys to the monument.[37]
    In 1828, the Secords' daughter, Appolonia, died at 18 of typhus,[35] and James was appointed registrar of the Niagara Surrogate Court.[32] He was promoted to judge in 1833,[38] and his son Charles Badeau took over the registrar position.[39] Charles Badeau's first son, Charles Forsyth Secord, was born 9 May 1833. His is the only line of Secords that survived into the 21st century.[40]
    James became a customs collector in 1835 at the port of Chippawa.[41][c] The position came with a home in Chippawa, into which the family moved. Charles Badeau took over the Queenston home.[42] Daughter Laura Ann and her son moved into the home in 1837 following her husband's death.[43]
    Later life and death[edit]
    James Secord died of a stroke on 22 February 1841.[44] He was buried, according to his wishes, at Drummond Hill (now in Niagara Falls).[44] James's death left Laura destitute. His war pension came to an end,[45] and she was unable to keep the land that she still had profitable, and sold off much of it.[46] Governor-General Sydenham denied a 27 February 1841 petition she sent for her son to take over James's customs position.[47] Sydenham also denied a petition she sent that May for a pension for herself, as James had already received a pension for decades.[48]

    Laura Secord, c. 1865
    Possibly with help from better-off members of the family, Secord moved to a red brick cottage on Water Street[d] in November 1841.[48] Daughter Harriet and her own two daughters joined her in May 1842, after the alcohol poisoning death of Harriet's husband. The three would stay with Secord for the rest of her life.[49] Youngest daughter Hannah also moved in when she was widowed in 1844, and brought two daughters with her.[46] Though she lacked training, for a short time Secord ran a small school out of the home in an effort to support herself. This venture came to an end when the public common school system was introduced[43] in the 1840s.[50]
    Over the years, the Secords unsuccessfully petitioned the government for some kind of acknowledgement. In 1860, when Secord was 85, the Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII, heard of her story while travelling in Canada. At Chippawa, near Niagara Falls, he was made aware of Laura Secord's plight as an aging widow and sent an award of £100. It was the only official recognition that
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