Anthony Ten Eyck and his Hawaiian Connection

Washington Place, taken by Cynthia Shenette, February 2014

Cynthia Shenette of Heritage Zen blog, asked if I had anything she wanted me to look up during her trip to Hawaii. After a few inquiries, I mentioned a request, and learned she would be in Honolulu and would indeed be visiting Washington Place, a Greek Revival palace a distant relative of mine, Anthony Ten Eyck named for George Washington. She took the above photo for me, and gave me some leads for information. I believe it was Heather Rojo, of the Nutfield Genealogy blog, who asked me many years ago, if I had Anthony Ten Eyck in my tree, because she had also gone to Washington Place and had seen his name. Commissioner Anthony Ten Eyck was my 5th cousin 4x removed. Because of the history, photo and my curiosity, I am posting this piece.

There is quite a bit of information on Washington Place, and below are parts of the official documentation about the naming of the Palace, thanks to Wikipedia, "One of the first boarders was Anthony Ten Eyck, an American Commissioner to the islands appointed by President James K. Polk who established the American Legation in the house. Ten Eyck named the house "Washington Place" in a February 22, 1848 letter, after George Washington in celebration of the first US president's birthday. King Kamehameha III officially approved the name." By the time this occurred, Anthony's wife had passed away in 1846. "It was where Queen Liliʻuokalani was arrested during the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Later it became the official residence of the Governor of Hawaiʻi. It is a National Historic Landmark, designated in 2007. The current governor's residence was built in 2008 behind the historic residence, and is located on the same grounds as Washington Place." The placing of the House as a National Historic Landmark document is 8 pages long,  and below are pages 2 and 6 with mention to Anthony TenEyck.

 "It is to Commissioner TenEyck that Washington Place owes its name"

From various resources, I've been able to do a short timeline of Anthony's career.

26 Feb 1811 born in Watertown, New York, son of Egert Ten Eyck, a judge, and Rebecca Pearce

1835-1841 Lawyer, later Clerk of Michigan Supreme Court in Detroit, Michigan

1841-1843 U.S. Commissioner to Sandwich Islands, Hawaii

Secretary James Buchanan on March 28, 1845 appointed Anthony Ten Eyck commissioner to Hawaii. US Diplomatic Representatives to Hawaii Commissioners from 1845 - 1848

1 Jun 1861–23 Sep 1865 Major and Paymaster Vol. In 1865 was mustered out of volunteer service.

5 Oct 1867-- Died in Guilford, New Haven Co., Connecticut and is buried at Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan.

Anthony and Harriet had two children, Egbert F. born about 1839 and Harriet Fairchild born about 1844. Information is nil on them. However, a reader and friend took photos of where his father and family were buried, photos were on my post almost two years ago.

I am missing quite a bit about this family, and I'm quite hesitant about posting this. But, perhaps by doing so, somebody will share the same line and maybe have more information, and hopefully share.

In April 2021, I discovered quite a bit of new information about Anthony, just by using google and a few search names.  Union College, where Anthony graduated in 1831 has a file on him, the papers have been digitized by the College and is in Union / Digital Works. This is an online repository, Courtesy of Special Collections, Schaffer Library, Union College. There are six downloadable pages. The copyright is not evaluated, I called four departments and was able to connect with anybody. I'm sharing one page 

 A short Descendant Report, beginning with his parents is below.

 

Mystery Hill to Me

In 1958 this 4,000 year old prehistoric site was opened to the public as Mystery Hill, less than 30 years later, a newspaper writer referred to it as America's Stonehenge, and that is what it is now called. To the locals, it's Mystery Hill. The sign* above is transcribed below, but for now, it's a "massive complex of stone chambers," monoliths, stone walls, a sacrificial table and "astronomically aligned rock formations." You may have seen one of many TV shows about this place, so it isn't new to our history.

There was a lot of walking, uphill along a nature trail, but it's worth it. We were there on a cool summer day, couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. Our last visit was probably in 1970, and it hasn't changed at all, except for the name and back then we were able to go wherever, there weren't ropes and fences as there are now.

The above photo is now used on each Surname Saturday post.

*America's Stonehenge sign

Located near the summit of Mystery Hill is a

massive complex of stone chambers, walls and large

standing stones, both radio-carbon dating (c-14) and the

placement of the astronomically oriented standing stones

indicate this site was constructed at least 4000 years ago.

Like the Stonehenge of England, America's Stonehenge

accurately plots many solar and lunar events, such as

solstices and equinoxes as well as many ancient holidays.

Update: On July 10, 2014, there was an article in the Yankee magazine, "America's Stonehenge | A Historical Site Shrouded in Mystery." SEE HERE.