McLennan - Buchanan - Letter #5, Henry County, Illinois This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: M Finlayson Kewanee Illinois R.F.D.-No 2 U.S.A. Ewen McLennan.NZ Dear Cousin, I am sending card to my relations and friends and while sending the card I thought I would wtite and let you know that we are all well and hoping you are all enjoying the same blessing. I expect you are enjoying good warm weather while we are having zero weather. I don’t kike the cold weather as I used to. We had a very wet summer while we had good crops there was an awful lot of crops ruined on low flat land. Prices on grain is high and it don’t pay to feed itin our hometown.. Corn is $1.10---oats 47cents rape $1.20 and wheat 41.45. Nearly all the farmers has too many hogs and they do not pay for the corn. As a general thing the farmers are hard up and some of them are l osing their land. Wages are very high and there is work for all good farm hands- married farm hands get $60 and a house . I am glad that Faith annd your Mary write to one another once and a while.Faith is teaching school and getting $100 a month for 8 or 9 months. I don’t know whether I told you that John’s oldest girl was a missionary in Africa—she was there for 6years and came home last December and she expects to be back in January. Her mother died before she came home and it made it bad for her,but she has enjoyed being home and I think will do better work when she gets back. John seems lonesome since his wife died but getting along all right as his third daughter is keeping house for him. Uncle Duncans youngest son Willie lost his second son he died very suddenly last June and he was about 20 years of age and seems to have been a good boy. Willie just had 3 boys. How is everything over there. The last letter I had from Scotland complains of everything being too high especially the taxes and we complain about that too here. Remember me to all my cousins and we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Your cousin Murdoch Alexander Buchanan ***************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproducd in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. ***************************************************************** Contributed by: M Finlayson