The destruction of a century old monument in downtown Kincardine, will be heading to court. “It wasn’t theirs to destroy. So, that that is the primary focus, and how they could make that decision,” said David Secord. David Secord, a descendant of Dr. Solomon Secord, has filed legal action against the Municipality of Kincardine for destroying a monument bearing his family member’s name, Dr. Solomon Secord, in September 2024. “Well, at first, it was very, very shocking. And then secondly, very disappointing,” said Secord, who hails from Calgary. During downtown construction in the spring of 2023, Kincardine council took down the Dr. Solomon Secord monument, which was located outside the town’s library, on Kincardine’s main street. The monument had stood since 1915, erected by Dr. Secord’s friend and patients, marking his 50 years treating locals, as the town’s physician. But Dr. Secord also served as a surgeon for the Confederate Army in the American Civil War, prompting some to suggest he supported slavery. A year long public discussion, ended with council deciding not to put the monument back up and ultimately destroy it on Sept. 17, 2024. In his statement of claim, David Secord says he and other family members contacted Kincardine’s administration on multiple occasions, requesting the monument be returned to them at the family’s cost. Instead, it was destroyed. Secord maintaining that the monument, built and erected by locals, was not Kincardine’s to destroy. “This wasn’t a story that should end this way, and with the way he was treated,” said Secord. The Municipality would not comment on the legal action, but at the time of removing and destroying the document, said they were doing so in the public interest. Secord is seeking over $150,000 in damages in the family’s legal claim, including $23,000 to cover the cost of rebuilding the exact monument, in honour of their descendant Dr. Secord. “They were determined that this wasn’t going to be the end of the story, and that we would we would remake the monument, in the same vein as the first one,” he said. “Identical. And then, we would bring it out west, if we had to, and erect it again.” Kincardine has until the end of September to respond to the lawsuit. “It wasn’t theirs to take down,” said Secord.
