[1][2] In 1861, the paper famously covered the meeting of Abraham Lincoln and Westfield resident Grace Bedell.
[7] Bedell, a young girl, had written Lincoln and suggested growing a beard would improve his appearance.
Lincoln returned a letter seeming to gently dismiss the idea, but on a train tour through New York he stopped at Westfield and during a speech asked if Bedell was in the crowd, stating that it had been her suggestion that had prompted the growing of his beard during that campaign.
She was soon brought forward, and Lincoln stepped from the car, shook hands with her, kissed her, and asked how she liked the improvements she advised him to make.
[3] Both the Post-Journal and the Westfield Republican were recipients of the County Executive's Award for Innovative Energy Initiatives.