The extra income earned from selling the cordwood came in handy for families such as the Roes, Nortons and Longbothams, trying to eke out a living in the sparsely settled region. Built about 1752, the Norton family home was the oldest remaining in Selden but was gutted by fire in the fall of 1996.
Local preservationists are still unsure of the landmark's future.
Honing his combat skills in the French and Indian War, Daniel Roe served as a captain in the Revolutionary War. Besides winning battles against the British, Roe kept busy evacuating rebel families from Long Island following the British occupation. In swift-moving whaleboats, Roe piloted the families and their belongings across Long Island Sound to Connecticut. It would be seven years before Roe, his wife Deborah, and their 12 children returned to Westfield. By the time a post office was established there in 1852, the name Westfield was already taken.