Jonas Fay

Jonas Fay (January 17, 1737 – March 6, 1818) was a military and political leader of Vermont during its period as an independent republic, and during the early years of its statehood. Born in Massachusetts, he served in the militia during the French and Indian War, studied medicine, and became a physician. His father moved to Vermont during its formative years, and Jonas Fay moved with him. Fay was active in the Green Mountain Boys and their resistance to New York's efforts to assume jurisdiction over Vermont. In 1775, he served as a physician for the contingent of Green Mountain Boys that captured Fort Ticonderoga.

Fay served as secretary of the 1777 constitutional convention at which Vermont declared its independence and was a primary author of the declaration by which Vermont announced this decision. He served as Vice President of the Council of Safety that administered Vermont at the start of the American Revolution, and as a member of the Governor's Council after the Governor and Council replaced the Committee of Safety. He also visited the Continental Congress as an agent of Vermont, and attempted unsuccessfully to persuade Congress to allow Vermont to join the Union. Fay was also one of eight Vermont founders originally aware of the details of the Haldimand negotiations, in which British authorities worked to make Vermont a British Province. After the war, Fay served as a justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, and Judge of the Probate Court for Bennington County. He died in Bennington in 1818, and was buried at Old Bennington Cemetery. Provided by Wikipedia