"In the Ramapos"

"In The Ramapos" /A/ A TRUE STORY OF THE TERHUNES AND THE LITTLE TOWN THEY LOVED FOR RPFFRENCE RINGWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY, NJ - )Pt 3 6047 09045387 8 NOT TO BE 1 Alters CAT. NO. 13 012 "In The Ramapos" C^uelln -Arrmdtron a ruble REFERENCE Please do not remove from this room © EVELIN ARMSTRONG STRUBLE -1966 A TRUE STORY OF THE TERHUNES AND THE LITTLE TOWN THEY LOVED Information about the Terhune Family has been taken from articles, written by Evelin Armstrong Struble under her pen name of "Susan Royal", and previously published in series form in the Suburban Trends News- paper, Route 23, Riverdale, N. J. This book is lovingly dedicated to my husband, Vincent, whose assistance in obtaining material has been invaluable; and to our two wonderful sons, Michael and Jim. The puppy's howls of pain broke the stillness of the summer day, as the small boy calmly swung it back and forth by its long floppy ears. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the child's father appeared, and without speaking, picked his young son up by the ears and swung him back and forth, twice. Still not speaking, the man set the boy down, and left him there with tears flowing and rage in his heart. The outraged little boy was Albert Payson Terhune, and the Rev. Dr. Edward Payson Terhune had just taught his young son more about kindness to animals than a lengthy lecture could have. Bert Terhune, noted author, breeder of thoroughbred collies, and lover of all wildlife, remembered well the lesson learned that summer's day on the Terhune homestead. The homestead was such a lovely place, with its forty acres of wooded mountains, meadows and lakefront. The rambling house sat on a grassy plateau above the blue waters of Pompton Lake, in Wayne Township, New Jersey. A house of native oak whose solid beams would defy the bite of today's axe blade. The natural beauty of the spot had attracted the Reverend and his wife, the former Mary Virginia Hawes, when they were visiting Pompton in the 1850's. While riding near the lake, one day, they chanced upon the property; and the beauty of the great expanse of forest that ended at the lake front, captured their hearts at once. The sound of axes drew them from the twisting trail above, to a group of men who were busily chopping down some beautiful old oak trees on the hillside, and Edward Terhune gave the men a dollar to stop work while he hunted up the owner. Within an hour, the property was his, and the destruction of the mighty oaks was halted. A few weeks after the purchase of the property, workmen had broken ground for the foundations of the Terhune home, and were hewing beams and joists from the fallen trees. That was the birth of "Sunnybank" . home of the Terhunes for over a century. The name of Terhune has come down through the years since Albert Albertse, an immigrant Huguenot, founded the Terhune family in America in 1642. Albert Albertse, son of Albert, was probably born circa 1619, and came from Hunen (Huynen), Holland in 1642. He was the sixth- great-grandfather of author Albert Payson Terhune . the small boy who was swung by his ears that summer day at Sunnybank. - 1 - The first record of Albert Albertse in America is in New Amster- dam (New York) where in February 1654 he was carrying on his trade as a ribbon weaver. In 1657 he rented and cultivated a farm in New Utrecht, Long Island. There he built a rude home, consisting of a dugout cellar covered with a heavy thatch of rye straw, but the shelter was considered unsafe from Indian attacks, and the Albertse family was forced to move into the village of New Utrecht where Albert became the owner of one of the first 12 houses built in the village. The same year, Albert bought land in the village of Flatlands. In 1664 he sold the lease of his New Utrecht farm, and the following year purchased more land in Flatlands. About ten years later, Albert joined with others in the purchase of the Aquaekanock (Passaick) Patent of five thousand acres of land on the Passaic River in Bergen County, East New Jersey; and this purchase was the beginning of the settlement that resulted in the town of Hackensack. The Albertse family settled then in Polifly (later known as Hasbrouck Heights) and while there, took the name of Terhune. Probably from the name of Hunen in Holland, making it Albert from Hunen, or Albert Terhune. Abraham Terhune, great-grandfather of author Albert Payson Terhune, was an officer of the American army in the Revolutionary War, serving as Lieutenant, and had command of his company at the battle of Springfield, Union County, N. J., June 23, 1780. He was also with George Washington at Valley Forge, and at Newburgh, New York. Lieutenant Terhune was said to have greatly resembled George Washington in looks and figure, and as a member of Washington's bodyguard he is seen in Emanuel Leutze's famous painting of "Wash- ington Crossing The Delaware". Abraham is pulling the starboard bow oar, nearest the viewer, and it was he who gave the artist a descrip- tion of the eventful crossing; and Emanuel Leutze painted him in the same position he had occupied that night of December 25, 1776, in Washington's scow. Abraham was only twenty at the time of the crossiing, and had not yet gained his lieutenancy. He was a giant of a man, with splendid physique. Abraham's great-grandson, the author, evidently inherited some of his great-grandfather's physical traits; since he, too, was a giant of a man ... a splendid athlete. Albert Payson Terhune's first memory of Sunnybank was a ride on "Hunter", his father's chestnut stallion. With his father behind him in the saddle, the small boy was so impressed with his first ride, that it was indelibly imprinted on his mind. - 2 - Years later, as a man, he could recall the feel of the animal's body moving beneath him, and remembered the great distance from the stallion's back to the ground. Though not yet three years old, the experience left such an impression that he even remembered the way his brown knees stuck out from beneath his little white dress. His second memory, of Sunnybank, was seeing his mother and father walking slowly through the rose garden, towards the blue waters of Pompton Lake; and of telling his nurse-maid, Rose O'Neill, that God was walking between them. Bert had been told how God had walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden, and to the small boy the beautiful rose-garden, at the Terhune homestead, was that same garden. In 1876 Bert's mother became very ill with tuberculosis and was given three months to live. Rev. Terhune took his wife and family to Italy to live, hoping that the wonderful climate would cure her lung trouble. Though Bert was just four years old, his young mind retained the memory of seeing King Victor Emanuel ride by with Crown Princess Margharita, Crown Prince Humbert, and Humbert's young son. He recalled also, seeing a short, stout man, with a beard ride by, and had been told that this was the great Giuseppe Garibaldi. It is interesting to note that when Bert Terhune was twenty-one, he re-visited Italy, and again saw Humbert and Margharita; but this time they rode by in the royal carriage as King Humbert and Queen Margharita. (In 1900 King Humbert was assassinated by an anarchist, named Gaetano Bresci, of Paterson, New Jersey; a city just a short distance from Sunnybank. Bresci, a silk weaver, quit his job in a Paterson mill to return to his native land to kill the king whom he considered a tyrant. For months the Paterson Anarchist had practiced target shooting in his backyard until he became an excellent marksman. On July 29, 1900, as King Humbert was awarding medals at an Athletic Meet at Monza, Italy, he was assassinated by Bresci, who was thrown in prison and tortured. To escape the unbearable torture, Bresci hanged himself ten months later with a rope made from torn strips of his underwear.) Bert's mother's health improved in Italy, and within two years the illness that had threatened her life was conquered, and the family returned to America, and Pompton, N. J. Once again, Bert could run and play on the lawns of the homestead. Great lawns of velvety green carpeting that sloped down to meet the sparkling blue waters of the lake. - 3 - The rambling house nestled amongst the ancient oaks . oaks that had been spared from the woodsmen's axes by the Reverend that day in the 1850's. The house that had begun with eleven rooms, and ended with sixteen, was almost hidden from view by the wisteria vines that covered it. Wisteria vines, planted at the edge of the veranda by Bert's grandmother when his mother and father first built Sunnybank. Vines that framed the windows, and bathed the house in a lav- ender glow when in blossom. Bert was glad to be home again and spent many happy hours with his father . fishing, rowing on the lake, and hiking in the Ramapo Mountains. He learned to shoot a gun when he was so small that he could scarcely hold it to his shoulder, and learned to row when he was so young that he had to stand to get the full sweep of the oars.

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