This letter to a Mr. Brewer was written and signed by Phillips Brooks (1835–1893). Brooks was a nineteenth-century American Episcopal clergyman who served as the rector of Trinity Church in Boston for almost 30 years and briefly as the Bishop of Massachusetts until his death in 1893. Today, he is best remembered for authoring the Christmas carol, “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Brooks, inspired by his visit to the village of Bethlehem in 1865, wrote the poem three years later for his church. In this letter, Brooks responds to Mr. Brewer, thanking Brewer for remembering him “at Christmas” and sends Mr. and Mrs. Brewer his “sincerest wishes for every best blessing of the New Year.”