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.
Fay was active in the Green Mountain Boys and their resistance to New York's efforts to assume jurisdiction over Vermont.
[3] In 1774, New York's government declared the leaders of the Green Mountain Boys to be outlaws subject to arrest or death, including Ethan Allen and Seth Warner;[3] Fay was the secretary of the Vermont convention which resolved to defend them by force, and was responsible for preparing and publishing the convention proceedings as a defense of Vermont's position.
[3] After the American Revolution commenced in April 1775, Ethan Allen began to plan an attack on the British-held Fort Ticonderoga, which was opposite Vermont on the New York side of Lake Champlain, and had major strategic value because it controlled the likely invasion routes from the British dominion of Canada into New York's interior.
[1] The attack was a success, and Fay was among the Green Mountain Boys who continued to occupy the fort after it was captured.
[1] Fay was also surgeon of the regiment Seth Warner led during a Continental Army expedition to Canada in the fall of 1775.
[3] In January 1777, Fay was a delegate to the 1777 constitutional convention in Windsor, which declared Vermont to be a republic separate from both New Hampshire and New York;[3] he was appointed chairman of the committee named to draft the declaration announcing the creation of the independent Vermont Republic, and was credited as its primary author.
[3] Fay was also a participant in the 1777 Battle of Bennington; he administered aid to wounded patriots, including his brother John, who was killed during the fighting.
[13] Beulah was the wife of Samuel Billings, a Revolutionary War veteran and militia officer who attained the rank of major before dying in 1789.
[13] David Fay was a militia officer and politician who served as state adjutant general and a justice of the Vermont Supreme Court.