ABSTRACT
John and Mary Thomson’s letter of 1850, written from Wingville, Wisconsin, to a brother in Fifeshire, Scotland, reveals that they had problems with the postal system. Again, the ‘chains’ are being laid, as they include advice for their brother to join them, and tell him enticing news about the plentiful government land. They mention the possibility of their brother joining ‘The Emigration Society’ (probably the Emigration Temperance Society, which is discussed in the introduction to this volume) if necessary, but that emigrating independently of that Society would be better.
