New Jersey 1820 Assembly, Monmouth County

Office:: Assembly (State)
Title:: Assemblyman
Jurisdiction:: State

Label:: New Jersey 1820 Assembly, Monmouth County
Date:: 1820
State:: New Jersey
Type:: General
Iteration:: First Ballot
Office/Role:: Assembly/Assemblyman
Candidates:: Thomas Cox, Matthais Van Brackle, Samuel F. Allen, Isaac Hance, Joseph Taylor, Reuben Shreve, Daniel I. Schanck, John J. Ely

Candidates:	Thomas Cox	Matthais Van Brackle	Samuel F. Allen	Isaac Hance	Joseph Taylor	Reuben Shreve	Daniel I. Schanck	John J. Ely
Affiliation:	Republican	Republican	Republican	Republican	Federalist	Republican	Republican	Republican
Final Result: [1][2]	2712	2269	1847	1539	1402	1402	783	16
Monmouth County	2712	2269	1847	1539	1402	1402	783	16
Dover	282	157	270	252	160	52	14	2
Freehold	650	637	229	90	139	543	433	6
Howell	526	277	294	417	344	143	70	2
Middletown	314	398	116	11	203	226	181	-
Shrewsbury	349	346	320	347	283	187	67	3
Stafford	153	149	152	25	10	134	6	-
Upper Freehold	438	305	466	397	263	117	12	3

Notes:

[1]During the times when party rivalry was very intense, each party would usually hold a county (state, distict, etc.) caucus to nominate and or select a county (state or district) ticket. The caucus was usually composed of delegates from each of the townships (or counties). The tickets nominated or selected at these caucus's were usually voted for by the parties and there was generally a high degree of what is termed "bloc voting". However, after 1815 in New Jersey the tight party cohesion began to loosen and the caucus lost some of its importance and appeal. Although it was still used by both parties for the more competitive counties, in those counties where the elections were no longer strictly party battles, the caucus became somewhat ineffective and often aroused anger and discontent within some counties, due to what was perceived as unfair regional representation or personality differences among the candidates. As a result, candidates would often run as opponents of the caucus nominations, which is apparently what happened in Monmouth County in the 1820 election. Is seems that the Republican caucus had nominated a slate of Assembly candidates and a person for Sheriff. However, some Republicans and most likely many Federalist cast their votes for other Republican candidates not endorsed by the caucus and were able to defeat two of the Caucus candidates, and in a rather surprising circumstance, they also elected a Federalist as Sheriff.

[2]Silas Crane, Thomas Crane, Matthias Van Brackle, Reuben Shreve, Daniel I. Schanck and William I. Conover formed the Republican Ticket recommended by the Republican meeting. The Monmouth Star made the following statement concerning the results of the election: "Although the Caucus Ticket has only partially succeeded, we are informed that both Council and Assemblyman are of the Republican party."

References:

Original Election Returns. New Jersey State Library, Trenton.

The Monmouth Star (Freehold, NJ). October 16, 1820.

The True American (Trenton, NJ). October 21, 1820.

The Fredonian (New Brunswick, NJ). October 26, 1820.

Page Images

handwritten notes — Phil's original notebook pages that were used to compile this election. These notes are considered a draft of the electronic version. Therefore, the numbers may not match. To verify numbers you will need to check the original sources cited. Some original source material is available at the American Antiquarian Society).

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