In the middle of the 19 th Century the islands of the Central Pacific became 
a center of commericial interest for the first time. When it was discovered that 
many of these islands possessed large deposits of guano ( a combination of soil, 
bird dr oppings and bodies, which were very valuable as fertiliser) a number of 
companies formed intense rivalries for rights to these island's. 
In late May or June pf 1859; Thomas Long, acting as agent for C.A. Williams 
and Co, of Lew London/Connecticut visited Enderbury in the ship Agate , .Jraxfed 
and claimed the island. The guano deposits on this island, together 
with those on McKean/’Phoenix, and Starve or Barren Island (the latter how known 
as Starbuck Island^were bonded and claimed by the Phoenix Guano Company, a 
subsidiary firm of C.A. Williams and Co. 
Enderbury ; ^as bonded under the terms of the "Guano Act of 1856”. This act, 
passed by Congress on August,18, 1856 provided that when an American citizen 
discovered guano deposits on an island not expressly under the sovereingty. of 
another nation or agency and if such citizen took peaceable possession of" the island, 
the President of the U.S. might declare the Island as "appertaining to the United 
States/f" If the discoverer of the guano deposits then gave notice to the government 
and^posted a bond, he would then be granted exclusive rights to the guano. 
Lewis Cass, Secretary of State issued a proclamation grathlng the guano 
rights ±xx±hsx£k]sxx± of Enderbury, Mckean, Phoenix, and Starbuck Islands to the 
Phoenix gua no company -on DecembeT 11, ) 1859• 
However, TirtT about the same time,V^the U.S.Guano Company^ headed by Alfred 
G. Benson^was engaged in an attempt to obtain a monopoly on the guano islands 
in the Central Pacific. As a result of the efforts of this firm, some doubt 
arose as to the proper claim to Enderbury, and it was some time before the 
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Pheonix Guano company ob/ grinc-d " . 
on, early in^ 185 ^ had deposited papers with the State Department, which 
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diy would 
him rights to an enormous number of Pa ific I lands. 
He based his company’s claims on the purchase of a document by a W lliam W. Taylor 
which claimed most of the islands. Taylor"s document in many ways hardly satisfied 
the provisions of the guano act. In his affidavit he stated that "many years 
ago he cruised in the Seas embracing such jjprancTJ islands, has been at many of 
them, and thinks that they contain deposits of guano. He claims as his discovery 
all which are not in possession of or claimed by any nation or person except 
himself, especially those of the Caroline, Washington, and Sydney grousp.” m 
To this statement wkx a list of some fifty islands, (many cf which are kxwxH 
now known not to exist) was appended. 
On the basis of these tenuous claims and apparently through an oversight 
in the Department of StatexxxhXKdxwxxxixxHxd a bond was filed in the name 
of the U.S. Guano Company which was accepted by the State Department on March 
1, i860. 
It seems readily apparent that the U.S. Guano Company claims were quite 
invalid, but nevertheless Benson tried to implement his position by means 
of the old adage "Possession is nine-tenths of the law. 
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The Phoenix guano company had already placed men on Enderbury to fulfull 
their claims to possession but Benson sent a ship 
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