Whately — Civil Organization
Extracted from "History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, Volume II," by Louis H. Everts, 1879.
The act incorporating the town of Whately, approved by the governor April 24, 1771, invested the inhabitants with all the privileges and powers enjoyed by the towns of the province, except that of sending a representative to the General Court. This privilege was to be shared with the town of Hatfield from time to time indifferently, each town bearing its proportion of the expense of sending a member according to their respective proportion of the province tax. The taxes levied by the town of Hatfield, before Whately was set off, were to be collected by the officers of the old town, and proper division of the same was to be made with Whately. William Williams, Esq., was empowered to warn the first town-meeting, and only such as were recognized inhabitants of the town of Hatfield, at the passage of the incorporating act, were to claim the privileges of inhabitants at the meeting in Whately.
The town was also empowered to proceed against all persons residing in town without proper license, and secure their removal in the same manner that it might have been done in Hatfield.
In 1810, "Thomas Sanderson, Ebenezer Barnard, and Justin Morton, with all their polls and estates together, with all the lands and the inhabitants thereon," were taken from the town of Deerfield and annexed to Whately.
In pursuance of the warrant by Esquire Williams, the first election of town officers was held at the house of Daniel Morton, the first innholder, May 6, 1771, with the following result: Selectmen, John Wait, Simeon Wait, Edward Brown, Salmon White, Philip Smith; Town Clerk and Treasurer, Salmon White; Assessors, Edward Brown, Philip Smith, and Salmon White; Constables, Joseph Belding, Jr., and Henry Stiles; Sealer of Weights and Measures, Thomas Crafts; Sealer of Leather, Thomas Sanderson; Surveyors of Highways, Peter Train, Oliver Graves, and Benjamin Smith; Fence-Viewers, Israel Graves, Noah Bardwell, and John Wait, Jr.; Field-Drivers, Benjamin Scott, Jr., John Brown, and Joseph Crafts; Tithingmen, Elisha Belding, and Noah Bardwell; Wardens, Benjamin Smith, Perez Bardwell, and Abraham Turner; Deer-Reeves, John Crafts, Martin Graves, and Elisha Frary; Surveyor of Shingles, Thomas Crafts; Hog-Reeves, Peter Train, Gad Smith, and Lemuel Wells.
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