ETHAN ALLEN SIGNED IOU FROM THE CATAMOUNT TAVERN. ALLEN, ETHAN. 1738-1789. Manuscript Document S...

ETHAN ALLEN SIGNED IOU FROM THE CATAMOUNT TAVERN. ALLEN, ETHAN. 1738-1789. Manuscript Document Signed ('Ethan Allen' and 'Ebenezer Moses') being a bill of debt to Stephen Fay for 'full value received,' in the hand of Ebenezer Moses, 122 x 315 mm, at 'land lord Fay's' [Catamount Tavern,] Bennington, VT, July 16, 1775, docketed again on the verso by Allen ('E. Allen'), some moisture staining. Provenance: 'History Dept of Stanford' (stamp, and 'DISCARDED' stamp). SIGNED PROMISSORY NOTE OF ETHAN ALLEN TO STEPHEN FAY, PROPRIETOR AND OWNER OF THE CATAMOUNT TAVERN. The Catamount Tavern, or 'Landlord Fay's' as it was commonly known at the time, served as the home meeting place for Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys. There are two similar documents known from the same date: one, also in Moses's hand for the same amount, presumably a copy for the other party (Bennington Museum, 1984.252); and, two, in Allen's hand, a bill of debt from Allen to Moses, presumably for a related matter (Silver Special Collections, Vermont Manuscript Files, see mss-169). In July 1775, Allen and the Green Mountain Boys had returned from their successful and surprising capture of Fort Ticonderoga. Allen and his men had even received a congressional commission to form a regiment of the Continental Army. Unbeknownst to Allen, General Philip Schuyler, a prominent New York landholder and speculator in the New York grants in Vermont who had been on the other side of the Green Mountain Boys raids early 1770s, had effectively worked behind the scenes to remove Allen as commander of his own regiment. As late as July 13, 1775, Fay had written to Schuyler from Bennington that of the officers only Allen and Warner were 'universally approved of,' but by July 26, Warner had been elected Major, and Allen left without a command. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing