Rachel Secord, daughter of William and Ruth (Hunt) Secord
I have a copy of a transcription of William's will. It lists his daughters, including one named Rachel:
"...to my Daughter Rachel the Sum of Five Pounds."
Rachel is said to have married Elisha Case, though I have not found a marriage record for them. I also haven't found anything to indicate when Rachel was born. We know that she was living when her father wrote his will on Oct. 21, 1843. However, she died before the 1851 census as her husband Elisha appeared there as a widower. Furthermore, it appears that there is no marker on her grave, or at least I have not been able to find any cemetery record for her, or any newspaper record of her death.
Elisha Case is listed in the 1851 census for Springfield, Kings County as a widower, as noted above. His age was given as 73 (born about 1778), and his place of birth was the US. He was apparently living alone but the household enumerated immediately after his was headed by George Case, age 45. The 1861 census for Springfield gives Elisha's age as 83 and shows him living with George and family.
Elisha was buried in Midland Baptist Cemetery. The records are online at https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2344432/memorial-search:
CASE, Elisha ...died Jan 1865, aged 88 years
If Rachel was buried with Elisha, there is no indication of it in these records. The notice of Elisha's death appeared in a Saint John newspaper (from Daniel F Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics):
Date January 20 1865
County Saint John
Place Saint John
Newspaper Religious Intelligencer
d. Middle Land, Springfield parish (Kings Co.) 10th inst., Elisha CASE, age 83. The deceased was born in the State of Rhode Island and emigrated to this Province with his parents after the Revolutionary War. He had 11 children, 100 grandchildren and 70 great grandchildren. He professed religion 55 years ago and connected himself with the Free Baptist Church. Funeral sermon from Elder Perry.
"Early New Brunswick Probate Records / 1785-1835" by R. Wallace Hale contains an entry for Elisha Case who was the father of Elisha who married Rachel Secord. The elder Elisha, of the parish of Wickham, Queens County, wrote his will on January 15, 1825. It was proved on February 12, 1825. The beneficiaries include the younger Elisha, along with his sons Mayes and Mitchel, evidently both 21 or over, and John, George and Elisha, all under 21. The will also mentions the daughters of Elisha, but unfortunately does not name them.
An article that appeared in a Saint John newspaper some twenty years after Rachel's husband Elisha died gave some information on his family:
Date August 21 1885
County Saint John
Place Saint John
Newspaper The Daily Sun
Case Settlement (Kings Co.) is situated about midway between the Creek and Norton. About 72 years ago, Elisha CASE drew a grant of about 700 acres in three lots of 300 and two of 200 each. This grant extended from what is now 'The Corner' to the upper line of John HOWE's farm. Mr. Case had five sons and six daughters. His sons were Ed. Maze CASE, Wm Mitchell CASE, John H. CASE, Geo. E. CASE and Elisha CASE. There are now two sons and two daughters living viz. Geo. E., Elisha, Eliza CASE and Waity CASE. His sons, E. Maze and Wm M. Mitchell settled upon his grant about 56 years ago, and remained about one year and sold to his brother Geo. E. The father finally came into possession of Maze's grant and lived in the settlement until his death in 1865.
It's likely that another daughter was Rachel:
Date May 24 1851
County Saint John
Place Saint John
Newspaper New Brunswick Courier
d. Calais, Maine 10th inst., Mrs. Rachel HOWE, age 34 d/o Elisha CASE of (Kings Co.) N.B., left husband, four children; Same day, Elisha Case HOWE, age 14, son of deceased.
The eldest son, Edward Mayes Case, appears in the 1851 census record in Wickham, Queens County, at the age of 53. That would suggest a year of birth of about 1798. For Rachel to be the mother of a child born in 1798, she must have been one of the elder children of William and Ruth (Hunt) Secord. She was presumably born between about 1776 (after the birth of her brother William in February 1775) and the early 1780s. This makes it probable that she was one of the children born in New York, before the move to what is now New Brunswick in July, 1783.
George Case, evidently the son of Elisha and Rachel, was still living at the time of the 1891 census. He was then 84 and living in Springfield, Kings County with his son Elisha and family. That record indicates that both of George Case's parents were born in New Brunswick. As this is incorrect for his father, who was born in Rhode Island, it was not reliable for his mother either. As far as I have been able to determine, the only other child of Elisha and Rachel who was still living for this census was Waity Case who is said to have married Caleb Spragg. In 1891, Waity was 80 and also living in Springfield, with her son Samuel and his family. Waity's record indicated that both of her parents were born in the US.