41. SARATOGA AND EARLY VERMONT - JOSEPH FAY (1753-1803) Vermont statesman and diplomat, secretary of the Vermont Committee of Safety, 1777-84; secretary of State of Vermont, 1778-81; assisted Ira Allen in conducting secret negotiations with General Haldimand over a possible defection to the British ostensibly to pressure Congress to admit Vermont into the Union as a state. One of the earliest Vermont documents we have seen, a superb and important content war date A.L.S. "Joseph Fay", 1p. legal folio, "In Council of Safety", Bennington, "State of Vermont", Sept. 30, 1777, to Major General Benjamin Lincoln informing the general, then at Saratoga, that there were sufficient troops in the region to secure it from the British. He writes "...Your honor's particular care for the safety of the Country, I am ordered by the Council to Acknowledge, they are of opinion that the several posts you have pleased to Order occupied in this Department, will Sufficiently Secure the inhabitants for the present...". With integral address leaf directed to "The Honbl. Majr. General Lincoln Head Quarters Bemas's [sic] heights Still Water". Benjamin Lincoln, with a large contingent of New England militia, had left the Bennington area for Gates' position at Bemis Heights a few days before, in the wake of the recent success against Burgoyne at First Saratoga on September 19. Militia from the entire region flocked to Saratoga, swelling Gates' ranks from 7,000 to 11,000 by October 4 (Boatner, p. 140). This is earliest document we have encountered bearing the official title "State of Vermont". Only on July 2 did a convention adopt Vermont as the state's name. Expected folds, very light toning, small loss from seal tear on integral address leaf, otherwise very good. $700-900