My dear Brother John,

I suppose you think it is very good thing to have a good comfortable supper, I do for my own part myself I do. and am at the present moment as full as a tick having just made an excellent supper a roast turkey with three “tidy” sized cups of good Orthodox tea to wash it down, you’ll perhaps think we have plenty of turkey just now but I’ll tell you how it is and then you’ll know may be.In this country almost everybody has a turkey to roast for Christmas or find tom fowl of some other kind if they can’t raise a turkey. so we had one for Christmas dinners as I’ve already said.the same night just after supper there was a ring at the door and I went and was presented with the box and asked for a quarter dollar so I paid it and brought the box in it was directed for Miss H Zell Reading and was sent from a place called Hamilton, in Butler County Ohio in the south west corner of the state close on Indiana. Miss Hatty has some friends out there so I presume it was sent fora Christmas Box. On opening it we found a turkey weighing 14 1/4 pounds and some boxes of preserves. They eat cranberry preserves here as an accompaniment to the said bird of

Page 2.[horizontal text] of course I was not going to refuse anything thats good especially cranberry preserves it’s such a while since I hadany so I thought I would try it and found it “jam up” as cousin Ed says in fact it made quite an “adendon” of it if you know what that is if you do you know more than I do. while I am on the subject of eatables I may as well tell you that I had an oyster supper the other night over at Hicks cousin. Thos had been talking about it a while before so they rubbed his memory then he came out with the cash and I walked off for the oysters, those who like them roasted roasted them and those who wanted them raw had them raw. you know that is the free country we could do what we like if anybody has no shoes they can walk barefoot but it would be hardish cheese at the present time as there is snow on the ground and from all appearances it seems as if there would be plenty of it. You will think it is time I change the subject but if in case a fellow has nothing to say he will have to hold his noise.I have been reading some works on slavery that cousin T. sentme. One was called the kidnapped and the ransomed, the other was my bondage and my freedom, both of them are facts. there is no fiction about them. the last one that I mentioned was written by Frederick Douglass who is a slave til he was about 21 years old. he has been to England and has spoke on