Bridgeton pioneer., 1885-06-18


dlctlon over the bay and river and ter
rltory of Delaware" 1t was contended
that this showed that Berkley and
Carteret ''had nothing in the river.n
Penn successfully resisted the efforts of
powerful noblemen to dislodge him
from his possession of the three lower
counties, and Lord Hardwick, in Penn
VS.. Baltimore, held that the circle
was one of twelve miles radius" The
authenticated copy of the Livery of
selzln," which was also given in evi-
dence, showed that John Moll. the at
torney in fact of the Duke of York, de-
ilvered to William Penn, in October.
1852 turf, twig and fowl, soil of the
river and a porringer of river water;
the Key OF Fort Cassimir, with which
the record says Penn unlocked the door
OF the fort, went in and locked himself
IN, and then came out and locked him
self out. He was thus formally and in
person seized in deed of the three lower
counties, the delivery being made on
the soil itself of the twelye-mile circle
In consequence of the revolution of
1858, Penn lost his government, but in
1894, Queen Mary, in letter restoring
him to his former rights, says: Il an
point you Governor over our COLONY of
Pennsylvania, with the county of New
Castle and the territories, with the an
purtenances thereto, of which you are
the PROPRIETOR This declaration has
been pronounced by eminent legal
minds the strongest possible recogni-
ton and confirmation of the Penn title.
styling him ''the owner absolute and
unqualified of the private right of
property in the soil"
In 111!, a powerful nobleman peti-
TONED for grant of these three coun-
ties, and the Crown lawyers to whom
the case was referred, with no other
title papers before them than the deeds
from York to Penn. decided that the
klng had no title. The Crown clearly
abandoned its claim. 1t has been
urged that the fact that Baltimore's
grant to what was claimed to be the
same territory, dated some six months
after Penn's deed, rendered Penn's
claim invalid, but Lord Hardwick de-
cIded-in the case of Penn VS.. Balti-
more-that this did not invalidate
Penn's claim" 1t was also proven be-
fore the arbitrator that in May, 1918,
Governor and Chancellor Bloomfield.
OF New Jersey, waited upon the Legis-
lature of Delaware, at Dover, and
asked that Pea Patch Island be granted
to the United States. He consulted
the Acknowledgement of Delaware, ex-
pressing no doubt of that States title.
and never intimating that there was
any title in New Jersey.
The grant in the deed from York to
Penn conveys the town of New Castle
and all that tract of land lying within
the compass of twelve miles about the
same, situate, lying and being upon
the River Delaware" and ''all islands
in the said River Delaware, and the
said river and soil thereof, etc.
The sweep of this radius would in
clude much of the Jersey shore, but the
grant to Berkley Carteret was to the
shore of the river, and was eighteen
years prior to Penns grant. He could,
therefore, claim only low water mark
on that shore.
Penn in 1901 made these counties a
distinct colony, transferring to them
all his rights except that he remained
proprietary and Governor.
In the Pea Patch case, while New
Jersey was not party, the claimants
case rested upon her title. and as he
submitted the case to arbitration on
the expressed condition that the Gov
ernment should take the island if
awarded to him, at valuation, it is
argued that the most favorable show
ing possible of New Jersey claim must
have been made. 1t is urged further
that in the controversy in regard to this
point no evidence has been offered of
any grant to New Jersey of any part
of the river, while proof is given of an
express grant to Delaware. The exact
point where the river ends and the bay
begins has never been determined, but
has been fixed by common consent at
somewhere near the lower end of Reedy
Island, which Zell locates ''in the Del
aware River, at the head of Delaware
Bay"
In the War of Independence, New
Jersey and Delaware each acquired by
conquest from the Crown the right to
half of the Delaware River or Bay so
far as it was not included within the
circle. The title of this part of the
river had already passed from the
Crown, and could not be acquired by
conquest from a friendly State, which
was in fact co-revolutionist.- Philad0.
Record.
Nobody talks much that doesn't say