Teen sleuth Nancy Drew might never have visited Hunterdon County, but her creators, Edward Stratemeyer and his daughter Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, had strong connections to the area, especially Lebanon and Tewksbury townships.

Since both Stratemeyer and Adams were known to draw inspiration from experience, similarities between Hunterdon locales and locations within the books might be more than just coincidence.

"She made notes about everything," said Cynthia Adams Lum of Carnegie, Pa., of her grandmother, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams. "Her experiences and surroundings most definitely inspired her writing."

Although the series' title character lived in River Heights, which Edward Stratemeyer and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams created as a suburban Midwest town near Chicago, Ill., they hailed from New Jersey.

Edward Stratemeyer - born in Elizabeth on Oct. 4, 1862 - created many popular juvenile literature series including The Hardy Boys, The Bobbsey Twins, The Rover Boys, Tom Swift and Nancy Drew. He has been credited with writing more than 220 books under both his own name and a variety of pseudonyms - including Nancy Drew's Caroline Keene, and outlined around 800 stories for his series, which were handed over to ghost writers to complete for the Stratemeyer Literary Syndicate.

Stratemeyer married Magdalene Baker VanCamp on March 25, 1891 and the couple had two daughters, Harriet and Emma Camilla. Harriet Stratemeyer - born in Newark in 1892 - followed in her father's footsteps after graduating from Wellesley College by going to work for the Stratemeyer Syndicate, editing ghost writers' fleshed-out text of her father's outlines, and ultimately writing herself. She stepped into his shoes and took over the syndicate after his death from pneumonia at age 68 in 1930.

"The story goes that my great grandfather loved storytelling so much that he dictated his last story from within his oxygen tent," said Lum, who is currently writing a book on the Stratemeyer family history.

Harriet Stratemeyer married Russell Vroom Adams of Somerville and raised four children - Russell Jr., Patricia, Camilla and Edward - yet still managed to run the Stratemeyer Syndicate for 40 years.

As her father before her, she wrote books and story outlines for many of the Syndicates' series including the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, the latter being her favorite.

"She was a very disciplined writer," said Lum. "She wrote 1,500 words a day minimum. She did that every day."

In addition to instilling a committed work ethic in his daughters, Edward Stratemeyer placed a great deal of importance on spending quality time together as a family. Since he loved the rural, natural beauty of the New Jersey countryside and the concept of leading a more simple way of life during his off time, the Stratemeyer family often vacationed at a farm in Lebanon Township owned by William C. Voegtlen, a former Lebanon Township councilman.

"They went there whenever they could," said Lum. "The couple who ran the farm were like family. Being at the farm was a time when [Edward] could relax and he loved showing the girls how things worked. It was a time when they all could relax and get down to the earth with the animals."

During one of the family's visits, Stratemeyer helped Voegtlen erect a grain silo. During another visit, the Stratemeyers purchased a cow, which Voegtlen boarded for the family.

"She loved it there," said Camilla Adams Witman, Adams' daughter, who lives in Monmouth County of her mother. "She always loved the country actually. She bought her own farm."

Adams purchased Bird Haven Farm near Pottersville in Tewksbury Township in 1939.

"She loved the country, and what she would do is buy all falling down places and fix them all up," said Witman. "She fixed up Bird Haven and restored it."

Although she primarily lived in a home in Maplewood, Bird Haven Farm became her retreat and a place for family gatherings for more than 40 years.

Lum said Harriet Adams loved Bird Haven. "It was her sanctuary. She couldn't wait to go there on weekends."

Witman said the whole family would go to the farm and that her mother was "very generous and did lots and lots of entertaining."

"She built the pond there and that was the center, particularly for young kids. We would swim and there were little boats," said Witman.

Lum says that her grandmother went all out on holidays. She particularly loved Easter and would hold a special Nancy Drew-type Easter egg hunt. "The cousins would be given a clue like, 'first to go to bed,' and that would mean 'west,' and lead you to the next clue," said Lum. "You'd figure it out and go to the next one and in the end you'd find the chocolate bunny or the prize."

According to Lum, Adams considered Tewksbury Township to be her favorite place. "She used to say it was such a peaceful place with so much natural beauty. She loved the people and the old world charm. She always shopped at the local shops like the general store. She just loved the countryside."

Adams spent time at Bird Haven right up until her death in 1982 at age 89.

"The township is honored to have had her as a resident," said Tewksbury Township Mayor Shaun Van Doren, who is also township historian. "I was a Hardy Boys fan and have almost all the original books in the series that I read over and over as a kid."

In addition to their affinity for Tewksbury and Lebanon townships, the Stratemeyers had ties to nearby Morristown as well. Edward Stratemeyer on occasion took day trips to Morristown via automobile from his home in Newark.

As for Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, The Peck School in Morristown - where her granddaughters attended school until eighth grade and her daughter Camilla Witman worked as a development and admissions director - honors her annually.

"I gave a prize in her memory- The Harriet Stratemeyer Adams Prize for Highest Scholarship," said Witman. "To this day, whoever has the highest marks, receives a Nancy Drew book."

However much affinity the Stratemeyers felt for Morristown and areas throughout Hunterdon County, this summer's big screen Nancy Drew movie will display no evidence of it. Warner Brothers has moved Nancy to Los Angeles and enrolled her in Hollywood High School.

"I don't know what she would think of the movie, but I believe she would be absolutely thrilled by the fact that Nancy Drew is still so loved as to warrant a major theatrical production such as this," said Lum.

Lum says that she is grateful that her great grandfather and grandmother's Nancy Drew books - the first 60 in the series - are still in print and widely available so that young readers can get to know the original Nancy and her world.

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