The struggling James petitioned the government in 1827 for some sort of employment. Lieutenant-Governor Peregrine Maitland did not offer him a position, but offered something to Laura. He asked her to be in charge of the yet-to-be-completed Brock's Monument. At first, she turned it down, but then reluctantly accepted it. When Brock's Monument opened in 1831, Secord learned the new Lieutenant-Governor, John Colborne, intended to give the keys to the widow of a member of the monument committee who had died in an accident. On 17 July 1831, Secord petitioned Colborne 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 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." Despite her pleas, Secord did not receive the keys to the monument.