Secor, Francis
John M. McDonald interview — 1846-11-05
Francis Secor (1776-1864) was only a few months old on October 28, 1776 when the British army marched past his family’s home near the intersection of Mamaroneck and Secor roads in Scarsdale. His father, Eli, watched the British movements as the army marched to fight in the Battle of White Plains. One column moved westward along present-day Mamaroneck Road (the “Fox meadow prong”) while the other marched north along Secor Road.
Manuscript page facsimiles
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Transcription
- Hufeland Index Page 401 -
Novr. 5th Francis Secor, of Scarsdale: “I have often heard my father describe the march of the British army on the day of the battle of White Plains. He stood, when he saw them, under the great tree in front of our house, and they marched along the ridge which runs north near the White Plains road and near our residence. The troops he saw were, perhaps, the right column of the British army. As they marched they drove before them an American force – the advanced guard no doubt. The British were preceded by a strong body of pioneers who took the fences and made bridges &c, across brooks and over low grounds. They crossed the road on the west side of where it forks – that is, on the Fox meadow prong, I think.