Mayor A.O. Johnson

From the official start of Monmouth Beach — for nearly half of that time — a dynamic father-son combo ran things as activist mayors. Indeed, their combined political dominance in town stretches across the entire 20th Century.

These complicated and consequential town leaders were Abram Osborne Johnson (mayor from 1917 to 1926 and 1937 to 1945) and his son, Sidney Borden Johnson (mayor from 1949 to 1978 and commissioner from 1989-1997).

Both man grew up on Riverdale Avenue property that was in the family since 1848 when Sid’s great-grandfather, William West, bought it. With their “small town values” spin, the two men combined would hold an elective office in town from 1906 to 1997.

Observers say both men were politicians to the core and each worked mightily so that Monmouth Beach was left a better place for their service. Both mayors, who frequently employed a “way with words,” had a deep respect for the town’s history and traditions. They also weren’t afraid to employ politics to get what they wanted. And as with most elected officials they liked being front-and-center — getting and giving the attention.

The two men bridged an era of brisk and meaningful community growth. When Abram left office the town had a population of about 450 residents and by the time his son retired, our coastal community had grown to nearly 3,300 people.

Life Changes
Born in North Long Branch in 1878, as an only son Abram was forced to go to work at a young age selling fish from a wagon. His father, Garrett, had been killed by a horse at Monmouth Park when Abram was 10 years old. Over the years he would come to be a prosperous local entrepreneur, building viable seafood, real estate, and construction businesses.

Mayor Sidney B. Johnson

He managed the Monmouth Beach Clubhouse Hotel properties and started the Monmouth Beach Cold Storage Company in 1912 and made a large renovation in 1930 (and at one point was freezing more than 2 million pounds of fish annually). After his death, his son Sidney took over the fish business and controlled it for 30 years until it he left in 1978. The large Riverdale Avenue plant was closed in 1983.

A.O., as he was known, was an inaugural member of the borough council in 1906. He was a founding member of the fire company and the borough school board of education. He was responsible for laying out the borough’s traffic routes and also had the wisdom to preserve (and move) what is now borough hall in 1917. The borough didn’t have a have a public school until he helped found it in 1909.

Admirers also say he was an ally for those hit by hard by 1930s Depression times, often seeing to it that down-on-their-luck residents had work, shelter, and food. His return to the borough commission in 1937 helped the borough on a road to recovery in the years after the Great Depression (when in fact, the town was broke). A June 1944 Long Branch Daily Record profile credits A.O. Johnson for seeing the borough through trying times and coming out “on top at the end.” By then he was the mayor again and the town was experiencing unsurpassed real estate sales.

Also known for his dashing clothing and comportment (he wore spats and a monocle), A.O. died in August 1950 having lived to see his son become mayor the year before.

A.O. Johnson, 1944

The Son Also Rises
Born in 1915, Sidney graduated from the Monmouth Beach School, Princeton University and Columbia Law School. First running successfully for borough office in 1949, Sidney was a guy “always on the go” — never losing a borough election in 10 campaigns. In fact, the commission team that he led faced no electoral opposition at all from 1953 to 1973.

He served as a powerful elected borough leader (mayor and commissioner) for parts of 50 years. In his last race for mayor he in 1977, he won 897 votes out of nearly 1,200 cast. He left borough politics in 1978 to serve in the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office (commissioners then said replacing him was like “trying to find a twin Babe Ruth”). He returned in 1989 to recapture a seat on the board of commissioners at age 74 and served until 1997.

A man of exceptional drive, vision, and intelligence, he also wasn’t afraid to play hardball politics. Sidney could have been “a successful politician on any level,” according to a national newspaperman who watched him operate locally in the 1960s. The guy could talk — an Asbury Park Press columnist once claimed he “speaks faster then the human ear is capable of hearing.” And not everyone agreed with him. Future four-term borough mayor Lou Sodano, upon entering borough politics in March 1977, said Johnson “runs the show constantly.”

“Politics is the art of the possible.”
—Otto von Bismarck

Among Sid’s many contributions to Monmouth Beach were founding the borough library, expanding and improving borough hall and its operations, developing the local sewerage authority and regional high school, preserving open space, and stabilizing property taxes. He and his wife, Mary, had five children. Sidney died in March 2001, four years after his final retirement from the Board of Commissioners.

In addition to his Monmouth Beach efforts, Sidney played a vital role in county education. He was president of the innovative Monmouth County Vocational School board for over 20 years, which is responsible for the county’s excellent career academy schools today — MORE HERE.

• Vivian Johnson: Shore Nightclub Queen — HERE

King’s Court — Monmouth Beach Borough Hall on Beach Road, 1950s. Where it seemed the Johnson men wheeled political power forever.

More Johnson Family Photos & History …

Smart & Serious — Mayor A.O. Johnson, 1920s. “I promise to give you the best in me towards establishing a clean, business-like and progressive administration. I ask all to discard your spite and petty jealousies in the wastebasket and work to make this borough one of the finest on the coast.” —Mayor A.O. Johnson upon being sworn in as Monmouth Beach mayor for the first time, Long Branch Daily Record, January 1917.

Sidney Johnson goes from law to fish. APP, August 1953.

A story about Mayor Johnson’s retirement after 29 years. APP, September 1978.

Always connected — Mayor Sidney Johnson was appointed to the Monmouth County Vocational School Board of Education. APP, November 1964.

New job for Sid Johnson. Red Bank Register editorial, September 1978.

Mayor Sidney Johnson at the borough firehouse, 1978.

In the Game — Sidney Borden Johnson as a young attorney, 1950s. In his first board of commissioners race in May 1949, the election made for the highest voter turnout in borough history (433 ballots cast). Although he was the low winning candidate among three (capturing his seat by just 15 votes), he still took the mayor’s seat.

Mayor A.O. Johnson, 1930s.

MB Cold Storage Company ad, 1940s. The “Freezer” was run by two borough mayors, A.O. and then his son, Sidney Johnson (Dawn Rise Image). The Riverdale Avenue plant opened in 1912 and shut in 1983.

A.O. Johnson (c) with his baby daughter Vivian (r) and unidentified family member (l), 1903.

A.O. Johnson campaign ad for Monmouth County Freeholder, 1926. That year, A.O. ran for two government jobs — Monmouth Beach Mayor and Freeholder. He lost both races that November as a Democrat.

Lavinia Johnson West Obit. Long Branch Daily Record, December 1942.

Mayor Johnson in his Riverdale Avenue home, 1965.