Fairfield Academy was an academy that existed for nearly one hundred years in the Town of Fairfield,

Herkimer County, New York Herkimer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,139. Its county seat is Herkimer. The county was created in 1791 north of the Mohawk River out of part of Montgomery County. It is named a ...

Founding

It was organized as an academy for men in 1802, when the community was an active local manufacturing center. The

New York State Board of Regents The Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York is responsible for the general supervision of all educational activities within New York State, presiding over University of the State of New York and the New York State Education Depa ...

granted the academy a charter in 1803. In 1804 Eunice Dennie Burr bought nine shares of the academy for $5 on the condition that young women would be allowed to attend classes. In 1812, the trustees of Fairfield Academy, acting on the suggestion of the Rev. Amos G. Baldwin, petitioned Trinity Episcopal Church in Fairfield for a grant of funds to establish a college of liberal culture under Episcopal auspices. This petition was not granted, but in the following year, acting upon another petition suggested by the Rev. Baldwin, the corporation of Trinity church founded a theological school in connection with Fairfield Academy. By 1818, Bishop

John Henry Hobart John Henry Hobart (September 14, 1775 – September 12, 1830) was the third Episcopal bishop of New York (1816–1830). He vigorously promoted the extension of the Episcopal Church in upstate New York, as well as founded both the General Th ...

of the Episcopal Diocese of New York saw a need to establish a school of liberal culture, as well as a theological school, in the western portion of the diocese. Hobart formed a plan to transfer the Theological School from Fairfield to

Geneva, New York Geneva is a City (New York), city in Ontario County, New York, Ontario and Seneca County, New York, Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is at the northern end of Seneca Lake (New York), Seneca Lake; all land port ...

in connection with a “college and printing press” to be established there. In 1821 the transfer was made, and the Rev. Daniel McDonald, D.D., the principal of the Theological School in Fairfield, relocated to Geneva. The relocated theological school formed the nucleus of what later became

Hobart and William Smith Colleges Hobart and William Smith Colleges are Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts colleges in Geneva, New York. They trace their origins to Geneva Academy established in 1797. Students can choose from 45 maj ...

. The academy was reorganized as the co-educational Fairfield Seminary in 1839, incorporating a "Classical Academy and Female Collegiate Institute," with a teacher training and college preparation curriculum. Its enrollment in 1861 was 551. As new major transportation routes developed in the 19th Century, bypassing the Town of Fairfield, the academy lost its prominence. It operated as a military academy beginning in 1891. Fairfield Academy closed in 1901, largely due to competition from the growing number of high schools in the area. Its records are now archived at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

Fairfield Medical College

From early in its existence, the academy had several instructors in medical subjects, including anatomy, pharmacy, medicine, surgery, and obstetrics. In 1812, 43 students were studying medical subjects, so the Academy applied for a charter as a medical college in order to be able to grant M.D. degrees to its students. The charter was granted in 1812 under the name of "The College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Western District of New York," but the institution was commonly known as the Fairfield Medical College. This was the second medical college to be chartered in the state of New York, and the 11th in the United States. The faculty was composed of eminent physicians and physician-instructors; the College acquired an excellent reputation. By 1833, the school had over 200 students, and over its life it granted more than 600 M.D. degrees; 18 of these students went on to become professors in other medical colleges. The first medical instructors at

Geneva Medical College Geneva Medical College was founded on September 15, 1834, in Geneva, New York, as a separate department (college) of Geneva College, currently known as Hobart and William Smith Colleges. In 1871, the medical school was transferred to Syracuse ...

were connected with the medical school at Fairfield. Of the five members of the faculty of the Geneva Medical College, who transferred to the Syracuse University Medical College upon its establishment in 1871, at least three had received their medical training at Fairfield. Fairfield Medical College closed in 1840, due to competition from other medical colleges opening in New York and surrounding states.

Notable Alumni, Faculty and Founders

Caleb Alexander

Virgil Horace Barber Virgil Horace Barber (May 9, 1782, in Claremont, New Hampshire – March 25, 1847, in Georgetown, D.C.) was an American Jesuit. Life Virgil Barber was born May 9, 1782, in Claremont, New Hampshire, where his father, Daniel Barber was an Epi ...

Chauncey Boughton

Theodric Romeyn Beck Theodric Romeyn Beck (April 11, 1791 – November 19, 1855), alternatively Theodoric Romeyn Beck or T. Romeyn Beck, was an American physician in Albany, New York, specializing in medical jurisprudence who authored the first significant American b ...

Philemon Bliss Philemon Bliss (July 28, 1813 – August 25, 1889) was an Ohio Congressman, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court of Dakota Territory, and a Missouri Supreme Court justice. Early life and education Bliss was born in Canton, Connecticut in ...

Alexander H. Buell Alexander Hamilton Buell (July 14, 1801 – January 29, 1853) was an American businessman and politician who served one term as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from New York (state), New York from 1851 to 1853. Bio ...

Nehemiah H. Earll

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...

Jane Loring Gray, Ed. ''The Letters of Asa Gray''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1894.

John Gorrie John B. Gorrie (October 3, 1803 – June 29, 1855) was a Nevisian-born American physician and scientist, credited as the inventor of mechanical refrigeration. Early life Born on the Island of Nevis in the Leeward Islands of the West Indies t ...

Gerrit P. Judd Gerrit Parmele Judd (April 23, 1803 – July 12, 1873) was an American physician and missionary to the Kingdom of Hawaii who later renounced his American citizenship and became a trusted advisor and cabinet minister to King Kamehameha III. He ...

Arphaxed Loomis Arphaxed Loomis (April 9, 1798September 15, 1885) was an American lawyer and judge. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing New York's 16th district during the 25th Congress (1837–1839). His unusual first name i ...

Alonzo Clark Mather Alonzo Clark Mather (April 12, 1848 – January 25, 1941) was founder and president of the Mather Stock Car Company, a U.S. firm that built and leased railroad freight cars, especially stock cars. Birth and education Alonzo Mather was born in ...

William Mather (1802–1890), the father of

, graduated from the Fairfield Medical College in 1826 with the degree of M.D. As he had from boyhood been "an ardent lover of the science of chemistry", he turned his attention to that subject and from 1828 to 1868 was one of the most popular lecturers in this country. In 1838 he was appointed instructor in chemistry at the Hamilton (New York) Literary and Theological Seminary and in 1841 was elected professor of chemistry at the Castleton (Vermont) Medical College. From 1852 to 1868 he was professor of chemistry, mineralogy, and geology at Madison University (now

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

Charles S. Millington Charles Stephen Millington (March 13, 1855 – October 25, 1913) was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from New York (state), New York. Born in Norway, New York, Millington attended the district schools of Poland, th ...

John Swinburne

Peter Joseph Wagner Peter Joseph Wagner (August 14, 1795 – September 13, 1884) was a U.S. Representative from New York. Born at Wagners Hollow in the town of Palatine, New York, Wagner moved to Fort Plain, New York, with his parents in 1805. He completed prepar ...

Squire Whipple Squire Whipple (September 16, 1804 – March 15, 1888) was an American civil engineer. Biography Squire Whipple was born in Hardwick, Massachusetts on September 16, 1804. His family moved to New York when he was thirteen. He received his seco ...

Canvass White Canvass White (September 8, 1790 – December 18, 1834) was an American engineer and inventor. He was chief engineer at the Delaware and Raritan Canal and he patented Rosendale cement, which became the dominant cement in the United States until 1 ...

Marcus Whitman Marcus Whitman (September 4, 1802 – November 29, 1847) was an American physician and missionary. In 1836, Marcus Whitman led an overland party by wagon to the West. He and his wife, Narcissa, along with Reverend Henry Spalding and his wife, E ...

Naomi and Chloe Sinclair

References

External links

*
Fairfield Academy and Fairfield Medical College Collection, Syracuse University LibraryJane Loring Gray, Ed. ''The Letters of Asa Gray.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1894.
* {{authority control Defunct private universities and colleges in New York (state) Education in Herkimer County, New York