Career
Born in Herbertsville (now Old Bridge), New Jersey, Jacob V. West. Herbert lived in Monmouth County. In the 1855 general election, Herbert was elected as Assemblyman for the as a Whig, succeeding John VanDoren, a fellow Whig. With the Whig Party collapsing, in 1856 he was reelected as a Republican running under the Opposition Party designation.
Jacob Herbert was the first Republican as well as the last Whig to represent Monmouth County in the New Jersey Legislature.
In 1857 he was defeated for a third one-year term by Democrat George Middleton. Jacob Herbert was offered the position of Secretary of State by Governor Charles Smith Olden, but declined.
During the American Civil War, Jacob Herbert served as a Paymaster, with the rank of major. He died in Bound Brook on June 9, 1899.
Between 1852 and 1893, the New Jersey General Assembly was apportioned into single-member districts within each county.
In the 1852 apportionment, the First District in Monmouth County consisted of Manalapan, Millstone and Upper Freehold.
