Two women named Christianna Holton (mother and daughter) voted in Upper Penns Neck Township, New Jersey, when the elder Christianna Holton was a widow and her daughter was unmarried. Their names appear next to each other on a poll list from an election held in December 1800 in the township. The name Christianna Holton is also recorded on poll lists from Upper Penns Neck Township elections held in October 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1806. However, it is currently difficult to determine whether the older or younger Christianna Holton, or a combination of the two, voted in those later elections. It is likely that the younger Christianna Holton stopped voting once she got married in May 1803.

Photo of The two Christiana Holtons' names listed on the December 1800 poll list from UPN Township
Two women named Christianna Holton (mother and daughter) are recorded on the December 1800 poll list from Upper Penns Neck Township. Salem County Historical Society

The elder Christianna Holton was born on March 28, 1748 and baptized on October 23rd of that year at the Oldman’s Creek Moravian Church. She was the daughter of Christopher and Ann Linmeyer of Penns Neck Township. Christianna’s father died in about 1765 when she and her siblings (Christopher, Nicholas, and Sarah) were still minors. A local man named John Pitman was named as their guardian and their father’s land was to be divided amongst the siblings when they came of age.

In 1770, at the age of 22, Christianna Linmeyer married James Holton (also spelled Houlton) and she likely brought the lands that formerly belonged to her father into her marriage as part of her dowry. James and Christianna Holton had at least seven children, including two daughters. Baptismal records for those children can be found in the records of the Oldman’s Creek Moravian Church. In 1796, James Holton died and left his wife with a gray horse, a bridle and saddle, and 10 pounds in his will. His eldest sons received land and cash, while the rest of his estate was to be divided amongst his younger sons and two daughters. James Holton’s estate was valued at over 171 pounds.

Photograph of Oldman's Creek Moravian Church
The Holton family was affiliated with the Oldman’s Creek Moravian Church on the border of Gloucester and Salem Counties. Photograph by Smallbones, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

One of Christianna and James Holton’s daughters, also named Christianna (sometimes listed as Christine), was born on July 13, 1779 and baptized later that year at the Oldman’s Creek Moravian Church. She married John Somers in Salem County on May 29, 1803 in a service at the same church where she was baptized. Christianna and John Somers remained in Upper Penns Neck until at least 1807.