Hatfield is located on the western side of the Connecticut River in northern Hampshire County. It was separated from Hadley, Massachusetts, and incorporated as a town in 1670. Hatfield had the state’s first mill for making linseed oil, built in 1737 by John Fitch on Running Gutter Brook. In the 18th century Hatfield became famous for raising and fattening beef cattle, which were then driven to market in Boston. During the American Revolution (1775-1783) the town was a primary supplier of beef to the Continental Army. It also supplied many men, with 127 men out of a population of 582 serving in 1776. Although residents did not participate in Shays’ Rebellion (1786-1787), a convention of delegates from fifty towns in Hampshire County assembled in Hatfield on August 22, 1786 to protest new land taxes, an apt location given the importance of agriculture in Hatfield’s economy. Hatfield’s fertile Connecticut River Valley soil made raising many different crops profitable, notably onions, broomcorn, and later in the 19th century, tobacco. In the first half of the 19th century, broom making was a major industry. The 19th century also saw great strides in the region’s education and health institutions, thanks to two Hatfield residents. Sophia Smith (1796-1870) established Smith Academy in Hatfield and Smith College in Northampton, and Caleb Cooley Dickinson (1804-1882) founded Northampton’s Cooley Dickinson Hospital.