As part of The Westfield Historical Society’s First Wednesday Luncheon series for June, Robert Wendel, will discuss the homes that stood during the time of the Revolutionary War. Once holding a gold mine of Revolutionary-era homes, Westfield has seen the destruction of over 25 Revolutionary homes in the past 30 years. The program will take place on June 2, 2021 at 12:00 noon. This will be a live and interactive virtual event. Guests will enjoy their own lunch, in place, while watching Mr. Wendel’s live presentation. Instructions and the link to the event will be sent to all paid registered guests. For anyone who may not be familiar with Zoom meetings, the Society is happy to set up a tutorial session on how to participate in a Zoom presentation with the Westfield Historical Society. Just call or email if interested in this tutorial.
Westfield dates from 1720 officially but had some homesteads back to the late 1680’s. These original homes of Dutch and English origin housed many of the Patriot farmers that fought for our freedom from Britannic rule. Skirmishes often took place outside homesteads. Although there were no major battles in current day Westfield, there were several significant battles throughout what was once the greater West Fields of Elizabethtown. The very historic fabric of Westfield is unraveling in front of our eyes. We are left, now, with only a handful of these structures - those that harken back to our country’s roots which hold the architectural and cultural history of our past.
Robert Wendel served for over 25 years in the insurance industry in a variety of positions ranging from Policy Expert, Segmentation Manager, and Technology Enterprise Resource Manager. He additionally worked at D & B as an Information Sales Manager and subsequently in the Predictive Modeling Division of Deloitte Consulting as Senior Manager in Insurance Predictive Modeling Consultation. Since leaving the corporate world, he works with his wife Lisa, in their Financial Consulting firm but also makes significant time for his love of history. His love of History began in college where he served as Assistant Manager for the Pabst Mansion, the beer baron’s home in Milwaukee. Since moving to Westfield in 1991, he has served as Curator for the Westfield Historical Society Archives, was Vice President of Membership and Community Relations on the Historical Society Board and is currently serving as Archivist at the Society along with the Miller Cory Board of Governors. He is the former Town of Westfield Historian and served for several years on Westfield’s Historic Preservation Commission. Additionally, he served as Co-chair of the Westfield 300 celebrations for Westfield until Covid-19 truncated many of the proposed plans. Robert also is a member of the Washington/Rochambeau Historic Trail Association and the Genealogical Society of the Westfields.
Those wishing to join the virtual luncheon may make a reservation by email to westfieldhistoricalsociety@gmail.com; or, by calling 908-654-1794, before Monday, May 31st. The presentation fee is $10 (WHS members) or $15 (non-members). The fee should be paid in advance (check payable to Westfield Historical Society) by mailing to Westfield Historical Society, P.O. Box 613, Westfield, NJ 07091; by Venmo to @Westfield-HistoricalSociety; or, online at the registration tab at the top of this page. Payments should be received by May 31st to assure receipt of the emailed link to the event.
