Monmouth County
- Identifier
- NJS-PLC-00077
- Place Type
- County or Parish
- Description
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Monmouth County is located in the central part of New Jersey on the Atlantic Ocean and just south of the Raritan Bay. Freehold is the county seat. Monmouth was one of the original counties formed in the colonial era, and its first municipalities were Freehold, Middletown, and Shrewsbury. Monmouth County's earliest British settlers relied heavily on slavery in the 17th century, and Monmouth had one of the largest enslaved populations in New Jersey well into the 19th century. The county was originally twice as large as it is today until the southern portion of the county was split off to form the new Ocean County in 1850. Thus, slavery era records that mention Monmouth County may be referring to places actually located in the present-day Ocean County.
County demographics from the 1800 U.S. census, when slavery in New Jersey reached its peak:
In 1800, Monmouth had the second highest Black population in the state (2,101), after Bergen County. In terms of the number of enslaved persons, Monmouth was third in the state (after Bergen and Somerset) with 1,633 enslaved residents. In terms of population percentages, Monmouth's figures closely resembled Middlesex County: 10.6% of Monmouth residents were Black, and 8.2% of Monmouth residents were enslaved. A little over 3/4 of Monmouth Black residents were living in slavery (77.7%). Monmouth had 468 free Black residents (representing 22.3% of the Black population or 2.4% of the total population of the county). The total population of the county was 19,872, making Monmouth the 5th most populous county among New Jersey's 13 counties. - County (Modern)
- Monmouth County
- State or Province
- New Jersey
- Country
- United States of America
- Latitude
- 40.26379
- Longitude
- -74.27804
- Record Contributor
- Jesse Bayker
- Linked Places
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Places located in Monmouth County:
- Allentown
- Arneytown, Upper Freehold
- Farmingdale
- Freehold (Monmouth Court House)
- Manalapan
- Matawan (formerly Middletown Point)
- Shrewsbury
- Upper Freehold
Places formed from a portion of Monmouth County or formerly associated with this place:
- Linked Persons
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To filter persons by location and other criteria, visit the Persons browsing page.
Note that only persons whose town or village is uncertain will show up on this list for the county. Check the place records for specific communities within the county to find out who lived there.
Persons of African descent linked to Monmouth County:
White persons linked to Monmouth County:
- Linked Events
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To see all events that occurred in this county, visit the Events browsing page and filter the records by county.
- Resource class
- Location