Liberty Island states. The oyster beds would remain a major source of food for nearly three centuries. Landfilling, started by the 1870s, particularly by the Lehigh Valley Railroad and Central Railroad of New Jersey, eventually obliterated the beds, engulfed one island and brought the shoreline much closer to the others. After the surrender of Fort Amsterdam by the Dutch to the British in 1664, the English governor Richard Nicolls granted the island to Captain Robert Needham. It was sold to Isaac Bedloe on December 23, 1667. The island was retained by his estate until 1732 when it was sold for five shillings
John S. McKiernan John S. McKiernan John Sammon McKiernan (October 15, 1911 – March 9, 1997) was the United States Democratic politician, who served as the Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island from 1947–1950 and 1951–1956 and briefly the 62nd Governor of Rhode Island (1950–1951). Born in Providence, Rhode Island, McKiernan graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1934 and from Boston University School of Law in 1937. After this, he went on to run his own law practice. and serve as legal advisor to the Providence Civil Service Commission as well as chairman of the Providence Fair Rents Committee in 1941. In