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This site is to collect information on immigrants who helped start America, United States. History of Hatfield HATFIELD CHRONOLOGY 1658 - Original land purchased 1660 - First house erected in Hatfield (Capawonk) then a part of Hadley, by Richard Fellows where the house of Frank Szawlowski now stands on Valley Street. 1661- Thomas Meekins opened grist mill on Mill River 1663- First settlers baby born in Hatfield 1668 - First meetinghouse built 1669 - Thomas Meekins built the first sawmill on the spot where the Shattuck Gun Shop now stands. (Mill River) 1670 - On May 31, Hatfield incorporated. Named after Hatfield, Hertsfordshire, England 1670 - On Aug. 8, First town meeting 1672 - Oct. Purchase of land from Indians now North Hatfield & Whately 1677 - Sep. 17, Town attacked by Indians Many houses burned, several people killed, and 17 women & children taken captive to Canada 1678 – May, - Captives redeemed and returned to Hatfield by Benjamin Waite and Stephen Jennings 1679 - First school established 1693 - Town expanded by securing land now known as Williamsburg 1700 - Purchase of Governor Bradstreet's farm, now the Bradstreet section of town. 1737 - First linseed oil mill built in Massachusetts on Running Gutter Brook about 1/2 mile above Strong's sawmill site on Linseed Rd., West Hatfield 1755 – On Sep. 8, Col. Ephraim Williams of Hatfield, founder of Williams College, killed at the battle of Lake George in French & Indian War. 1771 - Williamsburg and Whately set off from Hatfield 1776 - 125 Hatfield men engaged in Revolutionary War 1796 - "Dame" School opened 1806 - Bridge across the Connecticut River opened, supported by lottery and tolls 1816 First broom corn raised in Hatfield; 1000 acres raised later http://www.townofhatfield.org/pages/HatfieldMA_Webdocs/Chronology.pdf
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WIKIPEDIA Hatfield was founded in 1660 on land granted to General Daniel Dennison and Governor William Bradford. It was formally incorporated as a town in 1670 and has a Board of Selectmen and annual town meeting. As a center for agriculture the region produced cattle, sheep, corn, and tobacco. At first their relations with the local Indians were very welcoming on both sides. On October 16, 1675 a substantial part of the town was destroyed in King Philip's War, and surviving settlers sought refuge in Springfield. During the American Revolution, Hatfield was an important source of supplies and men for the rebels. In 1786 the town was used as an assembly area for the discontented who became involved in Shays' Rebellion. One family supplied many of Hatfield's physicians for generations. The Hastings family, descendants of English Puritan immigrant Thomas Hastings, was originally settled at Watertown, but within a generation members of the family had relocated to Hatfield, where they produced a succession of Hatfield physicians, including Dr. Thomas Hastings (1652–1712); Dr. Thomas Hastings (1679–1728); Dr. Waitstill Hastings (1714–1748); and Dr. John Hastings (1765–1845).[1] The first Thomas Hastings, aside from serving as physician to Hatfield and surrounding communities, was also the town's first schoolteacher.[2] He authored a contemporary account of the devastating Indian attack on nearby Deerfield in 1704. Hatfield was also the birthplace and hometown of Sophia Smith, the founder of both Smith Academy (the Hatfield Public High School), and Smith College, the famous women's college. Geography[edit] Hatfield is located on the west bank of the Connecticut River at the mouth of the Mill River, 25 miles north of Springfield and about 100 miles west of Boston. It is bordered to the west by Horse Mountain (a typical New England granite glacial remnant), to the north by the town of Whately and to the south by a bend in the Connecticut River, and Northampton.