The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-06-20

An Ancient Harbor of Refuge from WhIcl
No One Could BE Taken.

An Ancient Harbor of Refuge from Which
No One Could BE Taken.
New York World.
The island in the New York harbor which is
to form the site of the Rartholdi statue of Lib
ertv has most interesting history and from
information received yesterday from Col. f. w.
Armstrong 1T appears that not only has its
proper name not usually been given to it, but
the name by which it is known has generally
been misspelled. 1t was called Oyster island up
TO Aug. 10, 1910, when an instrument was issued
by Col. Richard Nichols, Governor of the State,
7 to Mr. Isaac Bedlow, owner Of the island, in
which 1t was stated that, ''for and in c0nsidera-
ton OF valuable improvements made by him on
his island" it should in the future be known as
Love island, and should be privileged place,
where no arrest could be made or warrant served
except by special consent of the Governor. This
deed was executed at Fort James, as recorded in
the Book of Assize, Volume 2.
The name of Love island was less used than
that of its owner, and gradually gave way to the
latter, and as Bedlows Island, it has always
been known until the past few years, fifteen to
twenty at the most, when the photography was
changed to Bedloe, probably first through typo
graphical error, which was copied until the cor
rect spelling is now rarely seen. There is a fam
lily OF Bedloes in America, but not in any way
connected with the family which owned the
island for many years, and which claims descent
from the old Dutch stock of the Bedloos or
Badloos.
Godfrey Bedloo, whose name appears on the
Bedlow family tree, was physician TO William,
Prince of Orange. and his son was physician to
Anne, Empress of Russia, in 1871, and was famous
for the poems he wrote in Low Dutch. 1t was
common for the early settlers on this continent
to spell their names as they would be written
according to the English pronunciation, and 100"
was changed to low" and was adopted by the
family, but the present spelling, 'oe, has never
been used by them.
AS an interesting instance of the value of
property in New York in the early days it may
be cited that Isaac Bedlow, then an alderman of
the city, and two other men purchased 240 acres
OF land running from Cooks Hook, the Canal
street of to day, extending both sides of what
is now called Broadway down as far as the pres
emit Reade street, paying for it 81 an acre. The
deeds Of this property were only found few
years ago. and nothing is found upon the records
showing that the land was ever transferred:
Eleven acres of land situated at Corlears Hook
were granted by his Royal Highness to Isaac
Bedlow, as shown by the Book Of Patents, VOL
3, page 81.
After the death Of the first proprietor of the
island, his children, Isaac Bedlow Sarah Bur-
GER Catharine Hassarden and Mary Smith,
agreed to divide the estate equally on Dec. 49,
1893 Mary Smith. by purchase and inherit
ance, became legally possessed of the whole
island, and on Aug. 8, 1872, conveyed the entire
estate to two trustees, Henry Lane and Adolphe
of the daughters of which George Washington
courted before he married Mrs. Martha Custis
The surviving trustees conveyed the island to
Archibald Kennedy fer f100
Mayor Cruger and the Council ordered Alder
men Livingston and Lspenard, on Feb 10, 1850
to purchase Bedlow's Island for Ell, 900 or less,
and establish pest house there.
On Sept. 6, 1862 Evert Pell was ordered to
occupy Bedow's Island. On April 81 1904,
when Richard Varick was mayor the record
reads: 'Bedlow's Island was granted to the
State OF New York for the purpose of erecting
Notifications; when it is no longer used as a
fortifcaton it is to revert back to the corpora
ton" Since that time the island has been used
mainly as storehouse for military supplies.
The name of Bed1ow is used upon these docu-
ments. The legal name of the island, however,
as it now stands upon the records, is that given
it by Governor Nichols, in 1670-that is Love
island.
Colonel Armstrong raises this interesting
question: SIS the island not yet a sanctuary,
and would not an arrest upon it to day be illegal
without the special consent of the GOVERNOR