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As a reward for military service during the Revolutionary War, veterans, like Andrew Ferguson, could apply to receive land in what is now the Midwest region of the United States. The land had been previously settled by Native Americans and taken over by the United States Government. According to an act passed by Congress in March 1855, veterans, their widows, or the children of deceased veterans could apply to receive 160 acres of land. The United States Department of the Interior sent this document to Andrew Ferguson in 1856 to officially grant him the land he earned for his service. Ferguson, however, died the same year. 

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

Tyonajanegen, also known as Two Kettles Together, was an Oneida woman who married Han Yerry in the 1750s and settled at the village of Oriska. By 1777, they managed a large farm, lived in a frame house, and owned a significant number of livestock, as some of the wealthiest local Oneida. On Aug. 2, 1777, she carried word into the countryside that the British and their Native allies were surrounding Revolutionary-held Fort Schuyler. On Aug. 6, at the Battle of Oriskany, Tyonajanegen fought alongside her husband, first with two pistols and then loading for him after he was wounded, an incident which appeared in period newspapers. Other British-allied Haudenosaunee/Iroquois destroyed their farm in retribution. Tyonajanegen lived into the 1820s.

Cornelius Ojistalak, also known as Grasshopper, was Odatshehdeh, the first sachem (or leader) of the Oneida. As early as 1776, he was gathering intelligence regarding Haudenosaunee/Iroquois allegiances for Revolutionary leaders in New York. In March 1778, Cornelius Ojistalak addressed a council of Six Nations representatives at Johnstown, tacitly endorsing Oneida warriors who had sided with the Revolutionaries while also indicting Six Nations warriors who had forced the nations into conflict. In 1781, the French presented him with an embroidered uniform that he wore on future formal occasions, and he was likely part of the Oneida group that accompanied the armies to Yorktown. After the war, he helped petition the U.S. government on behalf of the Oneida and for personal compensation. He died in 1788.

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

The recently discovered poll lists document elections that took place in four different townships in three New Jersey counties between 1800 and 1807. Each location is plotted on this 1795 map of the state. Prominent local taverns served as the polling places for the elections in Montgomery Township, Upper Penns Neck Township, and Bedminster Township. The election in Chester Township was held in a schoolhouse in Moorestown, Burlington County. 

Image courtesy of Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C.

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

The stakes were never higher than in 1782. Washington designed the camp at Verplanck’s Point to convince the French to support a continued war effort. The Continental Congress had no power to tax and could not pay the army, but the French had good silver coin. Anger over the lack of money simmered among the American troops. Enlisted soldiers were owed back pay, and in 1779 Congress promised Continental Army officers lifetime pensions, but now declared those payments were up to the states. If someone did not figure out how to pay the soldiers, there might be a rebellion against the Revolution. Though peace negotiations were underway in Paris, the British could back out of them. The United States might need the French Navy to drive the British out of New York City. Washington needed to put on a good show for the French, and he did. The picturesque encampment impressed the allies. One eyewitness said the scene “was truly a subject worthy of the pencil of the first artist.”

Jack arrived in Virginia from his previous enslavement in North Carolina, his owner brought him to Botetourt County. As shown on this 1755 map, Botetourt County (marked with a star) was located along the western frontier—a mountainous region isolated from the more populated east. Jack was likely his owner’s only enslaved person. His duties probably included a little of everything: farming, clearing land, preparing firewood, mending tools, taking care of animals, repairing the house, and other tasks. In contrast, the majority of enslaved people in eastern Virginia lived on farms or plantations with at least ten other enslaved people. This meant they typically had a more specialized work assignment, as well as a built-in community.

Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 

This figure tableau shows Richard Mansergh St. George shouting orders and rallying his light infantrymen during the opening moments of the Battle of Germantown. St. George is accompanied by one of “two runaway negroes” who worked for him as servants during the Philadelphia Campaign. This man of African descent likely escaped from slavery and decided to seek his freedom with the British Army. The stakes were high: if the American Army captured him at Germantown, he faced death or re-enslavement. Soon after the American attack began, St. George collapsed from “a shocking wound in the head.” It is unknown what happened to St. George’s servants after the battle.

Tableau figures made by StudioEIS. Reproduction fence made by Newlin Grist Mill's Millwright Shop, Glen Mills, PA.