Westfield Washington Historical Society & Main Street Productions revive voices from the past

By AMY ADAMS
news@readthereporter.com

For their monthly meeting, the Westfield Washington Historical Society (WWHS) invited members of Main Street Productions (MSP) at Basile Westfield Playhouse to step into character as some of Westfield’s founders.

A crowd filled the City Hall Assembly Room on Tuesday, June 18 to hear a dramatic presentation of the history of the founding of Westfield.

“We want to try to educate people and answer questions,” WWHS Program Coordinator Barbara Day said. “These are our neighbors. We share a parking lot, so it just makes sense that we would work together.”

As with all Main Street Productions, the work is done by volunteers. MSP Vice President of Engagement Thom Johnson said the production company has had the vignettes for years since working with Westfield Parks and Recreation in the years prior to COVID-19 on a walking tour called “Voices of the Past” where actors portrayed local characters from days gone by.

Teresa Otis Skelton, current board member, portrayed Anna Stout Moon, wife of city founder Simon Moon. Skelton recounted that Simon was descended from Patrick Henry and Dolly Madison and was the first inspector for elections held in Westfield. The Moons’ son Riley Moon and his wife Hannah Hyatt were particularly active in the Underground Railroad, hiding escaped slaves during the day and moving them on to the next stop at night. Simon passed away in 1835, just a year after Westfield was incorporated.

Steven Marsh and Karen Webster-Cones, Main Street Productions costume manager and Basile Westfield Playhouse box office manager, appeared as Asa and Susanna Bales and talked about the difficult decision of leaving behind all they knew in North Carolina. In fact, Webster-Cones shared a poem Asa wrote and gave to his parents Jacob and Mary Bales upon moving, “A Farewell.”

“To Indiana State I’m bound, Out to the western plain,” Bales wrote. “No more to see my native ground, nor be with you again.”

However, the Bales and others found that the land in Indiana was cheap and fertile. They spoke of baking currant berry pies and of ground that was “high in grass and thistle.” They talked of the wealth of maples, hickories, and walnuts they chopped to build cabins and fires.

Asa and Susanna Bales both died in 1845 when cholera swept through the town.

MSP Treasurer Kevin Shadle and Jennifer Arthur acted as Ambrose and Elizabeth Osborne. Devout Quakers, as many Westfield settlers were, the Osbornes are said to have hosted the first church services in Westfield in their cabin. Arthur explained that they moved on from their time in Westfield to help found the Underground Railroad in Iowa.

“Every generation has its own dreams and visions,” Shadle concluded as Osborne. “Each generation builds and settles to become its own part of the American way of life.”

The legacy of these founders who helped plat the streets of Westfield lives on through Simon Moon Park at 3044 E. 171st St., Asa Bales Park at 205 W. Hoover St., and Osborne Park at 17001 Ditch Road.

In addition to partnering for the meeting’s production, the WWHS Museum and Basile Westfield Playhouse recently hosted field trips for third graders from Carey Ridge Elementary School and fifth graders from Westfield Intermediate School. Westfield Washington Schools sent the WWHS a generous check, and the WWHS graciously split the check with the playhouse.

Following the performance, cast members and WWHS members answered questions from the audience. The WWHS Museum located upstairs and the Barker Cabin situated next door to City Hall were open for tours.

WWHS Membership Coordinator Diana Peyton expressed her appreciation for the presentation and added that she would like to work with Main Street Productions to see Nicholas and Fanny Barker included in the historical vignettes in the future.

For more information about the Westfield Washington Historical Society & Museum, visit wwhs.us, and for information about Basile Westfield Playhouse, go to BasileWestfieldPlayhouse.org.