A blog about living in Aberdeen, New Jersey.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Terhune Park Namesake?

Can someone tell me for whom Terhune Park in Matawan is named? The park is located on South Street between Main and Broad Streets.


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I figure it is named for Edward Payson Terhune (c 1825 - 1907), New Jersey clergyman and author. He was born in New Brunswick, graduated from Rutgers and New Brunswick Seminary, and served in numerous clerical positions in New Jersey, Virginia, and in Italy.

In the late 1860s, Edward Terhune purchased the nearly 10 acres of land now known as Terhune Memorial Park - Sunnybank, which overlooks Pompton Lake in Wayne, NJ. The property served as the family's summer home for many years, revealing the occasional Revolutionary War relic to those who strolled its grounds. His son -- author, journalist, and dog breeder Albert Payson Terhune (1872-1942) -- made the property his permanent residence in 1912 and lived there until his death in 1942. His widow continued to care for the property, presumably until her death in 1964. At some point the property was transferred to Wayne Township, which administers the property today as a park.

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