List of Monmouth County Board of County Commissioner Directors

# Name Term Party Notes 1 Captain Theophilus Little 1798–1804 Shrewsbury. (February 15, 1744 – February 19, 1825) He served in the Revolutionary War. He later served as a captain in the New Jersey Militia. Little previously served on the old Board of Justices and Freeholders as a Justice of the Peace. He was elected as a Chosen Freeholder in 1795 to represent Shrewsbury Township,^[5] and continued after 1798 on the reconstituted Board of Chosen Freeholders, serving through 1804. At the May 9, 1798, annual reorganization, he was chosen as the first Director of the Monmouth County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders, and served in that capacity for six years before leaving the board. Little ran as a candidate in the 1799 election for the New Jersey Assembly.^[6] 2 James Allen (freeholder) 1804–1805 Howell 3 William Lloyd 1805–1808 Federalist Freehold 4 Robert Evelman 1808–1810 Shrewsbury 5 John P. Conover 1810–1811 Freehold 6 Garret P. Wikoff 1811–1819 Federalist Upper Freehold. Of Dutch descent, Wikoff was a resident of Upper Freehold Township, New Jersey. In the 1790s he was an Overseer of the Highways for the northern division of Upper Freehold. From 1801 through 1819 he served on both the Upper Freehold Township Committee and the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders. At the May 8, 1811, annual reorganization, he was chosen as Director of the Monmouth County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders, serving until he left the board in 1819.^[6] In 1813, Garret P. Wikoff was an unsuccessful Federalist candidate for the New Jersey General Assembly. 7 William I. Conover 1819–1822 Democratic-Republican Freehold 8 John J. Ely 1822–1835 National Republican Freehold. (April 7, 1778 – January 11, 1852) was elected sheriff in 1817, during the Era of Good Feelings, as a Democratic Republican, Ely served three, one-year terms, the constitutional term limit at the time. In the March 1822 township elections, he was elected to represent Freehold Township on the Board of Chosen Freeholders. At the May 8, 1822, annual reorganization, he was chosen as Director of the Monmouth County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders, and served as director until May 13, 1835, when he left the board.^[6] In October 1822, Ely was elected to a one-year term representing Monmouth County in the New Jersey General Assembly.^[7] As the Era of Good Feelings closed, Ely affiliated with the National Republican Party, and returned to the shrievalty in 1825. He served three years. In 1832 and 1833, he was the National Republican candidate for the Monmouth County seat in the New Jersey Legislative Council, losing both times to Daniel Holmes. In 1829, John J. Ely moved to Holmdel Township, where he died on January 11, 1852. He is buried in the Holmdel Baptist Churchyard. A son, Horatio Ely, would go on to serve as sheriff from 1837 to 1838. 9 John I. Conover 1835–1844 Democratic Freehold 10 Elisha Lippincott 1844–1848 Whig Shrewsbury 11 Benjamin I. Lafetra 1848–1851 Democratic Howell 12 James Patterson 1851–1855 Democratic Middletown 13 Henry Howland 1855–1857 Democratic Ocean 14 Thomas H. Lafetra 1857–1860 Democratic Wall 15 Charles Butcher 1860–1872 Democratic Howell 16 William H. Bennett 1872–1873 Democratic Ocean 17 Austin H. Patterson 1873–1875 Democratic Howell. Patterson was born in Monmouth County and was a builder in Blue Ball, now Adelphia, Howell Township. Among his projects was the Monmouth County Court House. Elected as a Democrat to the State Assembly in 1857, Patterson served through 1860; that year he was elected Speaker of the Assembly.^[7] Patterson fought in the American Civil War and was captain of Company A of the 14th New Jersey Regiment. He would subsequently serve as a staff officer of the First Army Corps, Army of the Potomac; after two years in the Army of the Potomac Patterson was promoted to major of the Thirty Fifth New Jersey Volunteers. He retired from military service with the rank of colonel. At the close of the war, Col. Patterson reentered politics, serving again in the Assembly from 1870 through 1872. He was Clerk of the Assembly for the years 1875 and 1878. Patterson was elected to the Board of Chosen Freeholders representing Howell Township. At the May, 1873 annual reorganization, he was chosen as Director of the Monmouth County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders and served as director through May 1875.^[6] Austin H. Patterson died of cancer on June 5, 1905.^[8] 18 John T. Haight 1875–1881 Democratic Atlantic 19 Charles H. Boud 1881–1882 Democratic Howell 20 John C. Hathaway 1882–1884 Democratic Neptune 21 Theodore Fields 1884–1887 Democratic Wall. He served from 1887 to 1890. He was born near Eatonown and educated at Ocean Hill Institute in Long Branch.^[9] He went into the hotel business purchasing Osborn House (New Jersey) in Avon-by-the-Sea and Manasquan (then known as Swuan), before locating in Wall Township before returning to farming.^[9] He was a founder of the Bonnat Club, a hunting and fishing society.^[10] 22 John Henry Heyer 1887–1898 Democratic Holmdel 23 John Guire 1898–1906 Democratic Ocean; Ward No. 2, Long Branch 24 William Borden Conover 1907–1910 Republican At-large. Conover (October 10, 1865 – December 9, 1947), a Matawan resident, was the first Republican and served from 1907 to 1910, the entire four years as director.^[11] In the 1905 general election, the voters of Monmouth County approved changing the Board of Chosen Freeholders from 24 members elected by townships and wards to five members elected at-large.^[12] The new board was to be elected in the 1906 election. Republicans swept all five seats, defeating a Democratic ticket consisting of five incumbent freeholders, including Director John Guire. The Republicans held the monopoly on the board for four years before being swept out in the Democratic landslide of 1910. 25 John Minton Corlies 1911–1916 Democratic At-large. (October 30, 1868 – March 8, 1926) He was born in Middletown Township.^[13] – March 8, 1926^[14] He attended school there and in Rumson, where his family moved when he was twelve years old. He assisted his father in managing the Dr. Erich Parmly estate in Rumson, and eventually went into the trucking and livery business.^[15] He was a member of the Rumson Fire Company. He served on the Shrewsbury Township Committee and later as Mayor of Rumson after that borough’s incorporation.^[16] In the Democratic landslide of 1910, Corlies was elected to the Board of Chosen Freeholders. At the January 1911 annual reorganization, he was chosen as Director of the Monmouth County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders, succeeding Republican William B. Conover. He would serve on the board until 1916, when he was defeated by Republican Borden A. Jeffrey. Charles M. Wyckoff succeeded Corlies as director in 1917. He died of a heart attack on March 8, 1926. 26 Charles M. Wyckoff 1917–1918 Democratic At-large 27 William M. Bergen 1919–1920 Republican At-large 28 Bryant B. Newcomb 1921–1933 Republican At-large. 29 Frederic Patrick Reichey 1934–1935 Democratic At-large. (March 25, 1895 – March 3, 1978) He was born on March 25, 1895, in Belmar, New Jersey.^[17] In 1928 he was appointed to the Monmouth County Board of Taxation by Governor A. Harry Moore.^[17] William E. MacDonald, of Bradley Beach took his place when he left office.^[18] Reichey was elected in a close race in 1932, and served a single three-year term on the board of freeholders. When Democrats took a majority on the board with the election of Arthur Pryor and Henry W. Herbert in the 1933 general election, Reichey was chosen as Director of the Monmouth County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders for the years 1934 and 1935.^[17] Frederic P. Reichey was not a candidate in the 1935 general election. By 1936 he was the Borough Clerk for Bradley Beach, New Jersey.^[19] He moved to Schenectady, New York, in 1972. He died on March 3, 1978, at St. Claires Hospital in Schenectady, New York.^[17] 30 Raymond L. Wyckoff 1936–1938 Republican At-large. 31 Joseph Mayer 1938–1942 Republican At-large 32 Edgar O. Murphy 1942–1947 Republican At-large 33 James S. Parkes 1948–1950 Republican At-large 34 Joseph C. Irwin 1951–1974 Republican At-large 35 Philip N. Gumbs 1975–1976 Democratic At-large. Gumbs was a first generation American. He served in U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He earned his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University and his law degree from Lincoln University in Missouri. He worked as a probation officer and practiced law.^[20]

Gumbs entered public service by joining of the Matawan Board of Education.^[20] Gumbs was a member the Aberdeen Township council, which he did from 1972 to 1975, and served as Mayor of Aberdeen, New Jersey from 1974 to 1975.^[21][22] He was the first African American to serve the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders.^[23] He was elected in 1973 and served from January 1974 until April 1976. Gumbs was chosen as director of the board for the years 1975 and 1976,^[24] the first African-American freeholder director in the state’s history.^[25] In 1976 Gumbs was appointed judge to Worker’s Compensation Court Judge by Governor of New Jersey Brendan Byrne,^[26] a position he kept until January 1, 2002. He sat on court in four counties.^[27][28] Gumbs died in 2005^[29][30]

36 Ray Kramer 1976 Democratic At-large 37 Harry Larrison, Jr. 1977–1978 Republican At-large.^[31] Ray Kramer 1979–1980 Democratic At-large Harry Larrison, Jr.^[31] 1981–1983 Republican At-large.^[31] 38 Thomas J. Lynch, Jr. 1984–1985 Democratic At-large.^[32] Harry Larrison, Jr. 1986–2004 Republican At-large.^[31] 39 Thomas J. Powers 2005 Republican At-large.^[31] 40 William C. Barham 2006–2007 Republican At-large.^[33] 41 Lillian G. Burry 2008 Republican At-large. Lillian G. Burry was the first female director of the Monmouth County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders.^[34] 42 Barbara J. McMorrow 2009 Democratic At-large.^[35] Lillian G. Burry 2010 Republican At-large.^[34] 43 Robert D. Clifton 2011 Republican At-large.^[36] 44 John P. Curley 2012 Republican At-large.^[37] 45 Thomas A. Arnone 2013 Republican At-large. Lillian G. Burry 2014 Republican At-large. 46 Gary J. Rich, Sr. 2015 Republican At-large.^[34]