Hobart and William Smith Colleges, private colleges located in Geneva, New York, began on the western frontier as the Geneva Academy, founded by Rev. Henry Axtell. After some setbacks and disagreement among trustees, the Academy suspended operations in 1817. By the time bishop John Henry Hobart, of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, first visited the city of Geneva in 1818, the doors of Geneva Academy had just closed. Yet, Geneva was a bustling Upstate New York city on the main land and stage coach route to the West. Bishop Hobart had a plan to reopen the Academy at a new location, raise a public subscription for the construction of a stone building, and elevate the school to college status. Roughly following this plan, Geneva Academy reopened as Geneva College in 1822 with conditional gra