A War of 1812 mystery has been solved by historians

LOCKPORT — A nearly 200-year-old missing-person case has been solved by the Niagara County historian’s office.

Historian Catherine L. Emerson told the County Legislature this week that she and her staff have traced the post-War of 1812 whereabouts of Betsy Doyle, a local heroine of the war.

Doyle was lionized for hauling red-hot cannonballs to gunners at Fort Niagara during a November 1812 cannon duel with the British forces in Fort George on the other side of the Niagara River.

However, no one seemed to know what happened to her after that.

Emerson discovered that Doyle, with her four children in tow, survived what could have been a winter death march across New York State after Fort Niagara fell to the British in December 1813....