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As of 2020, the Museum of the American Revolution has identified 163 women voters named on nine poll lists dated between 1800 - 1807 from across New Jersey. Of these voters, we have compiled biographies of nearly 30 women and free people of color who voted in these elections. These biographies provide a glimpse into the voters’ lives — their families, religions, homes, ownership of property, and roles in their communities. More biographies will be added as our research continues!

Upper Penns Neck Township
Salem County, New Jersey
October 14 & 15, 1806
Ink on Paper

This poll list is from an October 1806 state and congressional election that was held at the houses of Andrew Alston and George Clark, innkeepers at Alston and the Cove in Upper Penns Neck Township, Salem County. The election determined annual officeholders for the New Jersey State Assembly and Legislative Council, and for Salem County Sheriff and Coroner, in addition to Representatives for the 10th Congress of the United States. The town officers presiding over the election included Judge Philip Curriden, Assessor William Darling, Collector Thomas Summerel, and Clerk Gideon Denny. 

The poll list includes the names of 210 total voters. At least 23 of these voters are women, accounting for an estimated 11 percent of the voters on the list. 

Like the rest of Salem County, Upper Penns Neck Township voted Democratic Republican across the board in October 1806. Voters in the township supported Democratic-Republicans Jeremiah Dubois, Daniel Garrison, and Daniel Tracey for State Assembly; Jacob Hufty for Legislative Council; Samuel L. James for county sheriff; Lewis Dubois, Henry Fries, and Andrew Alston for county coroner; and William Helms, Thomas Newbold, Henry Southard, Ezra Darby, John Lambert, and James Sloan for Congress.

Note: The names recorded on this poll list were written by an election official, not by the voters themselves. The spelling of each voter’s name on the poll list may be different compared to how that same person’s name is spelled in other historical records and by the Museum of the American Revolution.

Images: Salem County Historical Society

One year after he initially applied for a Revolutionary War pension from the United States Government, Andrew Ferguson returned to the courthouse in Monroe County, Indiana, to share more details about his military service during the war. This document records his additional testimony. Ferguson declared that he had hoped to apply for a pension 17 years earlier in response to Congress’s 1818 law that allowed impoverished Revolutionary War veterans to apply for financial support from the United States Government. However, at the time, Ferguson was told that “a Colored man could not get a pension.” Many veterans of African descent applied for and received pensions according to the 1818 legislation, but they encountered racial discrimination and intimidation during the application process.

National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC/Fold3.com

Montgomery Township
Somerset County, New Jersey
October 13, 1801
Ink on Paper 

This poll list is from an 1801 state election held at the Rocky Hill Inn in Montgomery Township, Somerset County. The election determined annual officeholders for the New Jersey State Assembly and Legislative Council, and for the Somerset County Sheriff and Coroner. The town officers presiding over the election included one judge, Robert Stockton, the town clerk, Frederick Cruser, and two poll inspectors, Hendrick VanDike, also known as Colonel Henry VanDike, and Thomas Skillman. 

The poll list includes the names of 343 total voters. At least 46 of these voters are women, accounting for nearly 14 percent of the voters on the list. It also includes the names of at least four free Black male voters, one of whom is identified as Black on the poll list with the word “negro” in parentheses next to his name. 

Like the rest of Somerset County, Montgomery Township voted Federalist in 1801. Most voters in the township supported Federalists Peter D. Vroom for Legislative Council; William MacEowen, James Van Duyn, and Frederick Frelinghuysen for General Assembly; and Peter Stryker for sheriff. The voting results for coroner are lost.

Note: The names recorded on this poll list were written by an election official, not by the voters themselves. The spelling of each voter’s name on the poll list may be different compared to how that same person’s name is spelled in other historical records and by the Museum of the American Revolution.

Images: New Jersey State Archives, Department of State

Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s watercolor of the encampment at Verplanck’s Point (August-October 1782) depicts the Continental Army at its professional best. Wooden bowers, or shades made of tree branches, decorated the long line of soldiers’ tents. Washington’s marquee tent stood on a hill where it “towered, predominant” over the camp, as one eyewitness put it.

For a month, the Continental troops at Verplanck’s Point gathered firewood for the coming winter and drilled for the next campaign. On September 22, the Continental Army demonstrated their fighting readiness for French forces marching from Virginia through the Hudson Highlands. One astonished French officer admired the transformation of an army that had “formerly had no other uniform than a cap, on which was written Liberty.” 

Image: Museum of the American Revolution, Gift of the Landenberger Family Foundation

Upper Penns Neck Township
Salem County, New Jersey
October 12 & 13, 1802
Ink on Paper

This poll list is from an October 1802 state election that was held at the home of Philip Souder, an innkeeper in Upper Penns Neck Township, Salem County. The election determined annual officeholders for the New Jersey State Assembly and Legislative Council, and for Salem County Sheriff and Coroner. The town officers presiding over the election included Judge William Patterson, Assessor Charles Jones, Clerk Isaac Ward, and Collector Joseph Borden. 

The poll list includes the names of 241 total voters. At least 29 of these voters are women, accounting for about 12 percent of the voters on the list. 

Like the rest of Salem County, Upper Penns Neck Township voted Democratic Republican in October 1802. Most voters in the township supported Democratic-Republicans Samuel Ray, Edward Burrows, and Merriman Smith for the State Assembly and William Parrett for the Legislative Council. We do not know who they supported for county sheriff or coroner.

Note: The names recorded on this poll list were written by an election official, not by the voters themselves. The spelling of each voter’s name on the poll list may be different compared to how that same person’s name is spelled in other historical records and by the Museum of the American Revolution.

Images: Salem County Historical Society

Upper Penns Neck Township
Salem County, New Jersey
October 12 & 13, 1803
Ink on Paper

This poll list is from an October 1803 state election that was held at the houses of Andrew Alston and George Clark, innkeepers at Alston and the Cove in Upper Penns Neck Township, Salem County. The election determined annual officeholders for the New Jersey State Assembly and Legislative Council, and for Salem County Sheriff and Coroner. The town officers presiding over the election included Judge Andrew Vanneman, Assessor Charles Jones, Clerk Isaac Ward, and Collector Joseph Borden. 

The poll list includes the names of 252 total voters. At least 29 of these voters are women, accounting for nearly 12 percent of the voters on the list. 

Like the rest of Salem County, Upper Penns Neck Township voted Democratic Republican in October 1803. Most voters in the township supported Democratic-Republicans Edward Burroughs, Samuel Ray, and Merriman Smith for State Assembly and William Parrett for Legislative Council. We do not know who they supported for county sheriff or coroner.

Note: The names recorded on this poll list were written by an election official, not by the voters themselves. The spelling of each voter’s name on the poll list may be different compared to how that same person’s name is spelled in other historical records and by the Museum of the American Revolution.

Images: Salem County Historical Society