On January 1, 1857, Hannah Thomas Adams married Azel Washburn, a 27-year-old fisherman. Her mother, Hannah Thomas Brewster Adams, wrote her a note which reads:
To Hannah on the day of her marriage
Dear and only daughter in part Farewell! Ever since your birth you have been with me and an object of my greatest care and attention, Now we part! One roof no longer shelters us, our homes are not the same—You go to a new sphere of action new cares, connections and dutys [sic] attend you without doubt new anxieties and troubles—May you conduct with prudence and discretion performing every part conscientiously as far as in your power—
We are left alone, as when we commenced life together—But not the same as the hoary? head, the dim eye, and feeble step plainly tell. May we each and all live peacably [sic], be provided for comfortably, perform each and every duty faithfully, and at last receive the welcome reward of faithful servants of our Lord
From your Mother
Source: Letter from the Helen Adams Collection MC23.