Chan Newton's Hatfield Automobile

c. 1922 "Suburban" model Hatfield, like an early mini van with removable passenger seats, with roll down canvas sides for bad weather.

In 1916, the Cortland Cart & Carriage Co. in Sidney decided there was more of a future in automobiles than carriages, and incorporated the Hatfield Auto Company, building cars and light trucks, until 1924, then Scintilla came along and eventually replaced the wooden building with a modern factory. Locally, Chan Newton, down rt 51 from the village, was the only known owner of a Hatfield, a touring car model, and they mentioned it in the Morris Chronicle the day he made it to school on time with it.

The four cylinder model was so underpowered that Dave Olds said a fellow worker at Meridale Farms would take people with him when he drove his Hatfield to Delhi, for help pushing it on steep grades. There is only one known surviving Hatfield, a touring car restored and exhibited by the late Walt Myers in the NY Auto Museum he once ran in Bridgewater, NY, it went in a collection out to MA and since returned to NY and exhibited at the car museum in Norwich, NY.

Notice "Cortland Cart & Carriage Co" painted on the side of the building nearest the railroad tracks.

Click on the links below to view some advertising material put out by the Hatfield Co. in the 1920s.