Hatfield

Town in Hampshire County, western Massachusetts; population (1998 est) 3,200. Hatfield is situated on the Connecticut River, 29 km/18 mi north of Springfield and adjoining Northampton. For many years, Hatfield made brooms, cider, and linseed oil, and was a major producer of onions and tobacco; the latter crop has been superseded by other vegetables. It was settled from 1660.

Hatfield was the target of Indian attacks in 1675 and 1677, and was involved in Shays Rebellion of 1786.

The town was the birthplace of the prominent 18th- and 19th-century educators Sophia Smith, founder of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts; Colonel Ephraim Williams, founder of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts; Jonathan Dickinson, first president of Princeton University; and Elisha Williams, president of Yale University.