Lawrence Dec 8th 1861 Dear Mother

About two weeks ago I was rejoiced by receiving a letter direct in your well known hand writing the first specimen of it I had seen for months. You say if I have not recd a letter from you since the family letter, “There is a fault somewhere and I ought to investigate it.” That I think is so and the cause is clear why I have had none. That is because there were none written to me. You dodge the question very nicely but the dodge is very apparent to me. I was glad you may believe to hear once more from you and now I cant answer the letter as I would like to because the letter is lost or mislaid and I cant get it hunted up. You told me considerable news but not half what I want to know. I have been hoping I should get another every day written at Thanksgiving time but as we have not had any mail for a whole week, that may be the cause; or it may be that none was written.

We are all enjoying our usual health. Julie has been running out of doors and playing with the dog. She is almost 4 and she romps around ’lots.” Charlie is now at the box to get himself a cookie and he gets one for his Mamma also. There was a plate in the box and he took that and put two cakes on it and brought the plate along for me to take one and then took the other to Mother. Then as Julie came in just at that moment he ran and got her one too. He is such a good little boy I wish you could see him. It is a beautiful day. We have not had any fire since the fire with which we got breakfast went out and it is not ½ past 4. We have had a very pleasant winter thus far. One week ago today was quite cold and on Monday we had two or three inches of snow but that has all gone and it is warm and pleasant now.

We had a very good time Thanksgiving. Do you remember that once a number of years ago you had a turkey at Thanksgiving? The only turkey that I ever knew you to have and do you remember that we did not like it and voted that turkey was not half as good as chicken? Well I have had a prejudice against turkey ever since and thot I should not like it but this year I conquered my prejudice and bought a turkey for dinner. We had it baked and it was first rate. Our family of that day consisted of Father W. Brother George, and a young friend he brot with him from Topeka, Mr & Mrs Hanscom (It was the first Thanksgiving dinner she ever ate, she being a New Yorker and always having kept Christmas), Sarah, our three children and last but not least a young man whom you may have known at some former period of life – named Edward Payson. We did up the dinner after the most approved style, said dinner consisting of turkey with stuffing, sweet and Irish potatoes, onions, & cranberry sauce, mince, grape, squash, & Whortleberry pies of Sarah’s best make. You can imagine they were good when I tell you that the day before Thanksgiving she had 35 pies and Sunday after there were but 4 left – so we think she is a pretty good cook.

[ ] You may accept that as one of Edward’s stories – in the first place I only baked 25 and instead of 4 left there were 10 & 5 of those that disappeared were taken away whole – so you see we were not such enormous eaters as one might infer from E’s statements. Mine you may depend upon as fact. I wish you had all been here to enjoy our dinner with us – we would have all been willing to sit close – and keep our elbows down – to make room for four more plates – poor little Georgie – I said four more plates – Georgie should had an extra one in the very first place with an extra share of plums in his pudding.

[ ] Sarah has been trying to make out that I have been telling a yarn but when I tell you that George and his friend stayed till Sat. noon and that George is as great a hand for pie as I am (you used to know something about that when you always had to hide the pies away from me) and when I tell you that every time we were in the house we were eating pie you will take her statement with some grains of allowance or at least think she may have made a mistake when she tried to write the number of pies we had, for the other is what she told me or I understood. In the evening we had a social time singing and playing chess & chequers eating cream & jelly cakes, apples & nuts (that were not eat) and drinking wine, real good grape wine, of our own make and I think about equal to that currant wine that you bragged so much on when we were East. And if we had only had two or three bottles of your cider we would have discussed the question whether ( John A Fitch) ( Ethan Griffons) cider was not fully equal to wine, which question might have been decided the way the liquor was strongest. But as we were all able to walk straight after a nights sleep I think the wine was pretty good.

So much for what we eat on Thanksgiving and as eating seems to be the great thing on that day we must have had a good Thanksgiving.

We had a meeting at our Church in the forenoon. Mr Cordley preached. I did not go. There was not Patriotism or feeling enough in our Merchants here to shut up their stores so most of the stores were open all day except a few shut up at meeting time and kept shut an hour.

We have had no mail for a week and I dont know as this will get thru to you. There seems to be some trouble somewhere but where it is we cannot tell as yet. There is a good deal of fear among some of our folks here that we will have a hard time this winter – that we are in more danger than ever before etc but I dont really think yet that we are to be overrun here but there is no knowing what may take place. They have a chance to do us a great deal of damage this winter if they go at it and they may be led to do it in retaliation for what Lane has done in Mo. By the way I see by Telegraph that Lane has been making a speech in Boston? How did it take? He is a great blow tho he has done some good things, but his course in Missouri has not been just right. In fact it has been all wrong. He has stolen any amt of money and goods of all kinds and taken them without any authority. By his being a member of the senate he will be able to make it come out all right perhaps.

You want to know what I think of the removal of Fremont. Well, I think just this, that it was the most stupid thing that has been done. The whole campaign on the west or in Mo. has been a farce and the removal of Fremont right in the face of an enemy was one of the greatest of outrages on the American people. When I heard of it I did not care how quick I heard Lincoln was dead and let Hamlin take hold and see if he could not do something someway as it ought to be. He at least would not have a traitor wife to be telling the plans of the Government to the Rebels. I hope that the people will rise in their might and make Fremont the next President. There is nothing I would rather see than that. He has been grossly abused by men in high places because they thought he was getting to be more popular than they themselves were. It is in the bounds of possibilities that he may be as incompetent as he was said to be but it will take some time to make me believe it. Every time he got ready to strike some blow he had to send his best men off to protect Washington. I think if the Eastern and middle states cant keep Washington safe without calling upon the states west of Ohio they had better let Jeff Davis have it and done with it. The West will take the job by contract to defend Washington and clean out the whole South only give them the arms and the money but instead of that they take the arms that Fremont bought for his army and keep them at Washington and then prosecute him because he paid high prices for arms which he must have or lose Missouri. It is ridiculous. I almost wish that the Rebels had, after advanced and taken Washington and then see whether there was any spunk in the East or not. But Wilkes will suit me and if they will hang Frasier & Slidell that will do better yet. I hope they have shot Kerrigan before this time and will keep on shooting all traitors as fast as they find them. If they have to shoot some members of the Cabinet for there are some of them that are not any better than they should be. Depend upon it, if Jackson had been there instead of Lincoln he would have kicked Seward & Blair both out before he would have removed Fremont, and that is what Lincoln ought to have done.

Your aff Son Edward

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