President Martin Van Buren Writes the US Senate, Pleading for Federal Intervention in Securing a Vital Strategic Island Amidst Competing Public and Private Claims

Just one other such piece has reached the public market in the past 4 decades

Pea Patch Island, which sits strategically at the mouth of Delaware River, protecting points north, including Philadelphia, was first pointed out to the US government by French military engineer Pierre Charles L’Enfant in 1794. L’Enfant had been hired by the government to make suggestions for how the young nation could improve its coastal defense preparedness. He quickly recognized Pea Patch’s potential as a site that could control the navigable Delaware River. It was not until 1813 that the US government sought and received a cession from the state of Delaware for ownership of the island, and It did not begin construction of a permanent fort on Pea Patch until 1819.

In 1836, the Army began construction of another fort on Pea Patch Island. Captain Richard Delafield designed this structure, which was planned to be even larger than the previous star fort, with a medieval-style look and a portcullis. Some digging had been done for the foundation, but before any real structural work could be completed, a US Marshal showed up and kicked the Army Corps of Engineers off the island on the grounds that they did not own it.

The US Government claim to the island was based on that of the state of Delaware, but it turns out New Jersey also laid claim to the island. That state had granted rights to Pea Patch Island to Dr. Henry Gale, of New York, for use as a private hunting ground. Gale had offered to sell the island to the government for $17,000 in 1831, but US officials convinced their claim was strong enough to stand on, had not taken him up on his offer. Gale’s heirs had sued the government before the New Jersey Supreme Court, which upheld their claim to the island.

Letter signed, Washington, December 21, 1838, to “The Senate of the United States.” “I transmit for your consideration the enclosed communication and accompanying documents [not present] from the Secretary of War relative to the present state of the Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River, and of the operations going on there for the erection of defenses for that important channel of commerce.

“It will be seen from these documents a complete stop has been put to those operations in consequence of the island having been taken under possession of by the individual claimant under the decision, in his favor, of the United States Disctrict Court for the district of New Jersey, and that unless early measures are taken to bring the island within the jurisdiction of the government great loss and injury will result to the future operations for carrying on the works. The importance of the subject would seem to render it worthy of the early attention of Congress.”

The resulting legal battle over the ownership of the island lasted for a decade. The case was finally brought before a neutral arbiter, Judge John Sergeant of Pennsylvania, who upheld the Delaware claim to the island, and by extension, the US Government claim.