[7] After Mr. Whittlesey, at his own request, received a dismission from his pastoral position at New Preston, he took charge of the "Deaf and Dumb Asylum", at Hartford, Connecticut,[4] on April 30, 1817.

They lived from 1824 till 1828 in Canandaigua, New York, where Abigail worked as matron of the Ontario Female Seminary, managed by her husband, the principal.

[9] In January 1833, in Utica, she founded Mother's Magazine, which was affiliated with the Maternal Association, and published by her husband.

Through Whittlesey's influence and correspondence the Maternal Associations grew in number in the United States, in Europe, and other areas.

Her husband died in 1842 and Abigail was assisted by Reverend Darius Mead, her brother-in-law who was an editor of Christian Parlor Magazine.