Trip to Westfield, Massachusetts
Fifty-three residents of Fowler Township, including members of the Fowler Historical Society, along with all three trustees and the clerk spent October 6-9, 2005 in Westfield, Massachusetts.
The trip was a year in the making and was arranged by Dave Cover, president of the Fowler Historical Society and Bob Brown, a historian at the Westfield Athenaeum and a retired college history professor.
Bob Brown came to Fowler in 2004 and informed the historical society that he had early documents on the history of the township of Westfield.
Brown said the museum had boxes of information on the early land records of Fowler which were from Samuel Fowler and his son James Fowler. Samuel Fowler was a major land holder and owner of real estate at the time northeastern Ohio was being settled.
While in Westfield, the Fowler group was presented proclamations from Westfield Mayor Richard Sullivan designating the days the group was visiting as “Fowler, Ohio Days”, which is recorded in the Westfield City Council minutes.
Resolutions were also received from State Senator Michael R. Knapik and State Representative Donald Humanson, Jr.
Trumbull County Archivist Emily Varner, who went on the trip, said spent an entire day looking at deeds and records in Westfield. She went through two boxes full of documents and found the original deed dated September 5, 1795 when Samuel Fowler purchased the land for Fowler Township from the Connecticut Land Co. for $6,120.
Trumbull County Historian Wendell Lauth also accompanied the group.
The group also toured a cemetery where original Fowler family relatives were buried. The Westfield Historical Society had marked off the cemetery with flags so the group could quickly find markers that would be of interest to them.
Other sites visited by the group were the Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge, the Hancock Shaker Village, Chesterwood, home of Daniel Chester French, the creator of The Minute Man and Abraham Lincoln of the Lincoln Memorial and the Westfield Whip Mfg. Company.
A bit of trivia – Westfield is known as “The Whip City” because 95% of the horse buggy whips used in the United States was made in Westfield at one time. There is one original whip company in existence in Westfield today.
©2005 Fowler Township