John S. Watson (August 14, 1924 – June 15, 1996) was an American

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician who served six terms in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...

, where he represented the 15th Legislative District. Born in Camden, Watson served with the

United States Merchant Marine United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...

fleet during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1970, Watson became the first African-American elected to the

Board of Chosen Freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the b ...

Mercer County, New Jersey Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Trenton, also the state capital, but also directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and is included within the Federal Communications Commission's ...

. In 1977, he became the President of the Board. For 12 years, Watson was a member of the

New Jersey State Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...

, where he served as Chairman of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy located at the Rudolph V. Kuser Mansion on the campus of

Thomas Edison State College Thomas Edison State University (TESU) is a public university in Trenton, New Jersey. The university is one of New Jersey's 11 senior public institutions of higher education. Thomas Edison State University offers degrees at the undergraduate and ...

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Bonnie Watson Coleman Bonnie M. Watson Coleman (born February 6, 1945) is an American politician. She has served as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 12th congressional district since 2015. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Watson Coleman served in th ...

went on to serve in what was once his Assembly seat. She is now a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

External links

State of New Jersey Executive Order No. 54: On the death of Assemblyman John S. Watson
1924 births 1996 deaths Politicians from Camden, New Jersey Politicians from Mercer County, New Jersey African-American state legislators in New Jersey County commissioners in New Jersey Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly American sailors Thomas Edison State University 20th-century American legislators United States Merchant Mariners of World War II 20th-century African-American politicians {{NewJersey-politician-stub