Letter written by Henry Ebenezer MacDonald - Harris County Texas John Hendry 13 May 2001 ************************************************************************** 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 reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. ************************************************************************** Transcript of a letter from Henry E. MacDonald of Houston, Texas, to his brother Roderick in Melbourne, Australia. Houston Texas Feby 4th 1899 My Dear Roderick, I hope you will excuse me for waiting so long in not writing you. I received your very welcome and long looked for letter and was glad to hear that you were all well. In regard to the war we hardly knew here that there was any war going on only through the papers. I can assure you that I am glad to hear the good news that Robert has been elected a member of the Quebec Association of Architects. I hope to see him go up step by step the Ladder of Fortune. I have not heard from Montreal for a long time, I suppose they are very bussy. I received the cards and photo’s. They are well taken. I received a letter from Alick dated Decr 4th. He was well when he wrote. I had also a letter from Rod Findlay, Chicago. They were also well when he wrote. Page 2 We have had a great deal of sickness here in the shape of Grip. All of us has been down with it, but are all getting well again. Georgiana has presented her husband with a big bouncing boy. The little fellow is well & hearty but Georgiana is very sick with fever. The baby was born on Burns birthday, Jany 25th. We had gay time last night as you will see by the papers I send you, also a Program. We had two Pipers and it was quite a treat to the natives here to Lads & Lassies dance the regular Scotch dances, as well as to hear sung Scottish Songs & Story’s. I had hard work in getting up the Programme, However by outside help I got along very well considering the lack of talent here. I have been kept bussy at this as well as other Page 3 Lodge work that I am engaged in. I am Treasurer of the Essinic Order also Secretary & Collector of the Sick Benifit League. Also Collector of a new Lodge I organised here named Holand (Noland) Lodge #49 with 40 members and it keeps me bussy with the few spare hours that I have. I met an Inverness man here, a plumber by trade, by the name of Donald Macdonald. He used to go to school with Rod Findlay. His wife maiden name was Frazier from Dingwall. They were glad to see me. Now Roderick I will draw to a close for this time. I will try and write more next time. Remember us kindly to Johanna & Children . I remain Your Affectionate Brother Henry. E. Macdonald