Dear Reader,
I hope you have been doing well. I myself have been just okay, I have been doing a lot of thinking about my past. I had no boyhood. From the age of 15, I began to earn my own living. My parents decided I should become a lawyer, it seems to be a good path for those uninterested in trade and good in their studies.
I took a steamboat up to York and took an exam by the Law Society of Upper Canada. I passed the exam and began my apprenticeship with George Mackenzie. I feel honoured to have learnt from him, he is a prominent member of our community. In '33 my cousin and I started our own practice in Lowther Pennington Macpherson.
We did well but this year I decided to return to Kingston. Mr. Mackenzie fell to the epidemic of cholera and I wanted to step into his shoes and follow in his path. It proved difficult as his shoes were big, they were the shoes of Kingston's Scottish Presbyterian community's leading lawyer.
I must being doing well though. I saved enough to move my family into a nice new house, pictured above.
Take Care,
John A. Macdonald
