Hannah's Life

It had been only two months since Hannah had married her 29-year-old second cousin, Dr. Samuel Preston Moore. Samuel and Hannah were raised as members of the Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers. It was rather unusual to find members marrying within their families, although Hannah's parents were cousins, too. Samuel was fourteen years older than Hannah. Marrying at age fifteen was young even by colonial standards. Quaker women usually married at around 22 years of age.

In the colonial period, it was customary for a couple to announce their intention to marry and then wait for approval from their religious community. Samuel and Hannah skipped this step and got a marriage bond, a legal marriage certificate, instead. According to Hill family letters, Hannah and Samuel did not have a traditional wedding in the West River Meeting House, where the Quakers met for worship. It is possible that their marriage was rushed due to her father's financial problems.

Though Hannah may have been younger than her peers at the time, marrying was something that girls were expected to do. Marriages were not necessarily arranged, but parents did have to agree to the choices their children made. A marriage was more than the joining of two families. It was an important economic transaction and a way to secure social status. Once married, for Hannah and all young women, everything they owned became their husband's property.

During this period, married women could not own property. How would you feel about this?