The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Hadley

HADLEY, Mass., town, which includes several villages, in Hampshire County, on the Connecticut River and on the Boston and Maine Railroad, three miles northeast of Northampton and four miles southwest of Amherst. It was settled in 1659, and was first called Norwottack; but in 1661, when it was incorporated, it was given the name Hadley, from Hadley in England. William Goffe and his father-in-law, Whalley, who fled from England to America in 1660, and who lived for a time near New Haven, sought concealment in Hadley, in 1664, where Goffe died in 1679. According to tradition, when Hadley was at one time attacked by Indians and the people were called from the meeting-house, they stood helpless until Goffe, appearing, took the lead and repelled the enemy. Hadley is an agricultural region, and its industries are chiefly connected with farm products. Brooms and broom tools are manufactured and there are two public libraries. The town is governed by annual meetings of the citizens. Pop. 1,999. Consult Judd, ‘History of Hadley’ (Northampton 1905).