Dear Abigail: The Intimate Lives and Revolutionary Ideas of Abigail Adams and Her Two Remarkable Sisters

by Diane Jacobs,
The Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 23, 2014

In 1783, following the death of her father, the Rev. William Smith, Elizabeth Shaw affirmed the strength — and indispensability — of her bond with her sisters, Abigail Adams and Mary Cranch. "I believe there were never three sisters more generally alike in their opinion of Things than we," Elizabeth wrote. "I too am one of those Beings that feel vastly more than I express — whether it be Joy, or Grief."