Will Fisher to his mother
Christmas, 1861

Dear Mother,

I wish you a merry Christmas. It is Christmas & I have not received any answer from you yet & I do not see why. I wrote this the 17th, but I could not get a postage till now so I thought I would add a little to it. I have 5 letters written but I have not the stamps. I got this one of Nelson H. He was down to the city yesterday & got some.
I saw Mr. Lincoln the other day & spoke to him. I went to the Patent Office which is worth more to see than any thing else. You have no idea of these government buildings here in Washington. The rest of the city is nothing extra. I like it very much.
There is a talk of being paid off tomorrow. I guess we will.
The letters I spoke of are to J. R. Skinner, J. D. Sherman, J. R. Fisher and Don Stevenson. I am going to write to Beales & some of the ladies. I will write soon & I want you to write, too.

Goodbye from your boy,
Will