Mary must have been a rock to endure the hardships of pioneer life in the aftermath of the struggle to gain this country's independence.

Her parents, Freeman Knowles and Susanna Nash, were patriots in the Revolutionary War. (Freeman served under Colonel John Allen.) The type of suffering seen during such a war surely toughened a young Mary enabling her to endure her own traumas in the deaths of six of her children and husband.

Mary was a woman companioned by sorrow. She lost three daughters (Permelia 20, Rebecca 19, Phebe 18) within the same year her husband, Isaac Aaron Wass, died. It was just two short years after these deaths that her four-year-old daughter, Abigail, died. Research does not reveal how old her son, Lyon, was when he died, yet it is known he was young. Before passing on herself, she saw yet another daughter die, Julia. She was survived by daughters Mary, Susanna, Emma, and Salome, as well as her son, David.

Widowed at age 42, it took Mary fifteen years before she trusted life enough to remarry. On December 27, 1842, it was likely a banns that was published, as a second date, February 12, 1843, is also recorded for the wedding of Mary to Colonel James Curtis. Both were from Addison, and for both, it was a second marriage. He would marry a third time.

No one went to the expense or time to complete the gravestone engraving for a woman who bore 11 children and fostered another in need. Mary was a woman who persevered in the shadow of grief.

MOTHER: Susanna Nash
FATHER: Freeman Knowles

1st HUSBAND: Isaac Aaron Wass
m. 27 Nov 1806 -

CHILDREN
1. Permelia Lyon Wass
d. 2 Dec 1827 age 20

2. Rebecca Campbell Wass
d. 26 Aug 1828 age 19

3. Phebe Lyon Wass
d. 3 Sep 1828 age 17

4. Mary N. Wass
m. George Ulmore Ingersoll
m. Duncan McCall Nash

5. Lyon Wass
died young

6. Susanna Knowles Wass
m. Eusebius Emerson, Jr.
m. Emery Bissell

7. David Morey Wass
m. Jane Dyer Moore
m. Emma Green Ingersoll

8. Julia Ann Nash Wass
m. Enoch Avery Emerson

9. Emma H. Wass
m. William N. Smith

10. Salome J. Wass
m. Aaron Wass Emerson

11. Abigail Nash Wass
d. 26 Feb 1831 age 3

12. (Fostered) Samuel P. Kelley, 1805-1884, son of Elijah Kelley & Deborah Tenney
m. Belinda Nash Merritt

2nd HUSBAND: James Curtis
(banns - 27 Dec 1842)
m. 12 Feb 1843 - Addison, Washington, Maine

FURTHER INFORMATION:
1. (NOTE: In 1830, David was 12, Abigail almost 3, Salome 5, Emma 8 and Julie Ann 10, yet the census states there were only 2 people under 20 living with Mary. To understand this family one must ask where were the other children? After such great family losses, why were they living with others?)
1830 United States Federal Census
Name: Mary Wass
Home in 1830 (City, County, State): Addison, Washington, Maine
Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19: 1
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 50 thru 59: 1
Free White Persons - Under 20: 2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: 1
Total Free White Persons: 4
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored): 4
Source Citation:
1830; Census Place: Addison, Washington, Maine; Series: M19; Roll: 47; Page: 349; Family History Library Film: 0009701

2. Tibbetts, Leonard F, and Darryl B. Lamson. Early Pleasant River Families of Washington County, Maine. Camden, Me: Picton Press, 1997. pgs 142, 274, 280, 585, 586