Abigail Richardson (c1764-1826) of Cummington, Massachusetts, married Moses Sash, a free-born African American man and Continental Army veteran, on March 17, 1785. Two years earlier, Moses had purchased a lot in nearby Worthington, where town records referred to him as "Moses Sash, black yeoman." The couple had at least one child who survived to adulthood, a daughter born in 1785 who died in 1805, apparently unmarried. (Pat Kennedy, Diane Brenner, and Evan Spring, "Moses Sash, Black Worthingtonian of Shays' Rebellion", Worthington Historical Society, May 2019.)
Abigail's husband actively participated with several other Worthington men in the Massachusetts Regulation of 1786-87 that became known as Shays' Rebellion. Shays’ Rebellion was a direct consequence of the Massachusetts government’s attempt to pay off its heavy war debt despite a severe economic downturn in the aftermath of the War for Independence. Under the leadership of Governor James Bowdoin, the tax rate jumped an astonishing 1,000% between 1774 and 1786. High taxes payable only in hard currency proved a disastrous combination, mainly because there was not enough cash in circulation to meet the increased demand. Massachusetts farmers like the Sashes suffered as there was almost no coinage in circulation. As defaults increased, many lost their farms through foreclosure and the number of people imprisoned for non-payment of debts skyrocketed. (Barbara A. Mathews, "More than a Little Rebellion", Historic Deerfield Magazine, Summer 2026, 55-60.)
Massachusetts war veterans like Abigail's husband began wondering what had happened to the promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for which they had fought and suffered. Moses was among the thousands who opted to resist the Massachusetts government by closing down the judical courts that were prosecuting cases for debt. In January 1787, Abigail's husband was among an army of Regulators who attempted and failed to take the United States Arsenal at Springfield, Massachusetts. Moses was captured by government troops during the retreat. The first of the two indictments issued against him identified him as "a Captain & one of [Daniel] Shaises council." He was accused of "unlawfully & seditiously" procuring "guns, bayonets, pistols, swords, gunpowder, bullets, blankets and provisions" to arm fellow "riotous & seditious persons." Despite the gravity of the charges, no subsequent action was taken. With the election of Governor Hancock in April 1787, the government dropped the charges. (Ibid; Kennedy, Brenner, and Spring, "Moses Sash"; Shays' Rebellion & the Making of a Nation.)
Abigail and Moses continued living in Worthington for several years after he was pardoned. The first (1790) Federal Census recorded Moses as the head of a household of four free people, "not white." Sometime before 1797, they were in Townsend, Vermont. By 1810, they were no longer land owners and were living in Hartford, Connecticut. Moses described the family's distressed circumstances in his application for a pension for his war service under the federal Revolutionary War Pension Act of 1818 granting relief to indigent veterans. By 1820, applicants were required to include information about family members and if the applicant was receiving any other financial assistance. (John P. Resch, “Politics and Public Culture: The Revolutionary War Pension Act of 1818,” Journal of the Early Republic Vol. 8, no. 2 (Summer, 1988), 154.) Moses identified two other household members, referring to "my wife [Abigail] aged 56 in tolerable health" and "my wife's mother aged 97." Moses painted a grim picture of the poverty in which he and his family were living, writing, "I have been partly supported by the town of Hartford for several years cannot subsist without a pension & ev[en] that is not sufficient to support myself & family without some aid from the charitable." (Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15. National Archives, Washington, D.C.)
Moses was granted a pension of $8.00 per month. Abigail died on May 21, 1826 and Moses passed away the following year. He left a meager estate valued at $32.04 that included weaving equipment valued at $5 likely used by Abigail. (Probate file for Moses Sash, Connecticut, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Connecticut County, District and Probate Courts.)
Abigail and Moses Sash are buried in the “Ancient Burying Ground” of Hartford’s Center Cemetery. (Ibid; Kennedy, Brenner, and Spring, "Moses Sash.")