Commentary by Zach Burton
For Countryside residents, Westfield’s Armstrong Park is a convenient green space for outdoor activities.
But researching the namesakes for this patch of land reveals one of the most remarkable families to ever call Westfield home.
The Armstrong family arrived in Westfield in 1873. Jefferson Armstrong, the family’s patriarch, had been a slave in Missouri, as had his eldest son, Edward.
Edward earned his freedom after serving with the Union Army in Kansas and Alabama during the Civil War. He married twice after moving to Westfield, with an initial marriage to Laura Bell Hord and the second to Sarah Roberts. Edward and Sarah had five sons: Isaac, Irven, Ezekiel, Charles and Lindzey.
All five sons graduated from Westfield High School beginning in 1909, and the five Armstrong brothers served in the U.S. Army during the first World War. All but Lindzey were sent overseas to France.
Irven served as a sergeant in the 351st Field Artillery in France. Having been a teacher at Indianapolis Public School Number 17 prior to going overseas, he received many letters from students and admirers back home in Indianapolis. One student wrote to Irven that “we pupils at No. 17 are glad to know you are in France making the world safe for democracy. We are backing you here in America.”
Following the War Irven returned to teaching, this time as a history teacher at Crispus Attucks High School. He retired from Crispus Attucks in 1959 after serving as head of the history department and spent many of his retirement years as a tutor to Vietnam veterans.
Charles spent his life as a minister for the African Methodist Episcopal Church, eventually serving a congregation in Baltimore.
Ezekiel Armstrong never married and returned to Westfield after many years spent in Michigan, becoming the last of the five brothers to live in the Westfield community.
