To  the  support  of  this  entire  educational  venture  at  Fairfield  there  was  con-
tributed annually  the  sum  of  $750.00  by  the  Episcopal  Diocese  of  the  City  of  New
York,  and  early  in  its  history  Bishop  Hobart  begins  to  appear  in  its  records  as
active  in  determining  its  policy. One  of  the  first  influences  which  undermined  the
Fairfield  Academy  and  its  School  of  Medicine  was  the  movement  of  the  communi-
cants of  the  Episcopal  church  in  New  York  State  to  have  a  college  of  their  own
which  was  finally  located  at  Geneva. When  "Geneva  College"  was  chartered  in
1825  the  friendly  contributions  of  the  Episcopalians  and  the  interest  of  Bishop
Hobart  were  transferred  to  Geneva  College  from  the  Fairfield  Academy. In  1834
the  Medical  Institution  of  Geneva  College  was  chartered  through  the  influence  of
the  trustees  of  the  college  and  the  men  whom  they  selected  as  its  first  faculty. The
first  faculty  of  the  Medical  Institution  was  made  up  of  six  physicians,  three  of
whom  had  already  given  courses  of  lectures  on  Medicine  in  Auburn  for  three  years,
and  were  loath  to  leave  because  they  planned  to  develop  a  school  there. In  the  year
1834,  when  the  Medical  Institution  opened  its  doors  in  Geneva,  the  registration  in
the  Medical  School  at  Fairfield  was  the  largest  in  its  history;  217  students  were
matriculated,  and  55  students  were  recommended  to  the  Regents  for  the  degree  of
M.D. at  the  end  of  that  session. In  1835  there  were  registered  at  Fairfield  198  and
at  Geneva  42. From  that  date  for  five  succeeding  years  the  numbers  at  Fairfield
diminished  and  those  at  Geneva  materially  increased. The  Albany  Medical  Col-
lege entered  the  field  in  1838. The  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  the
Western  District  of  New  York  at  Fairfield  closed  its  doors  at  the  end  of  the  session
of  1839-40,  though  it  did  not  surrender  its  charter,  and  three  of  its  faculty  of  five,
Professors  Hadley,  De  La  Mater  and  Hamilton,  all  men  of  marked  ability,  were
called  to  the  faculty  of  the  Medical  Institution  of  Geneva  College. The  legitimacy
of  our  inheritance  from  Fairfield,  therefore,  hangs  upon  the  two  historical  facts  men-
tioned, the  relation  of  the  Episcopal  Church  and  Bishop  Hobart  to  the  educational
movements  of  both  Fairfield  and  Geneva,  and  the  calling  of  a  majority  of  the  Fair-
field  faculty  to  the  newer  college  and  medical  school  at  Geneva. 