Editing Key Biscayne (section)

===Territorial years===
Following the [[First Seminole War]] and a treaty with Spain, Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821. Under pressure from US settlers, [[Seminole]] and [[Black Seminoles]] began to migrate into central and southern Florida. In the early 19th century, African-American slaves and Black Seminoles escaped to the Bahamas from Cape Florida to evade American [[slaver catcher]]s. In 1820, one traveler reported seeing 60 "Indians", 60 "runaway slaves", and 27 boats of Bahamian [[Wrecking (shipwreck)|wreckers]] preparing to leave Cape Florida. In a short period before the [[Cape Florida Light|Cape Florida lighthouse]] was built in 1825, an estimated 300 [[Black Seminoles]] found passage from Key Biscayne to [[Andros, Bahamas|Andros Island]] in the [[Bahamas]] on seagoing canoes and Bahamian boats, settling at Red Bays and [[Nicholls Town]]. Although Key Biscayne was less suitable as a departure point after the lighthouse was built, the Bahamas remained a haven for escaping slaves.{{sfn|Blank|1996|pp=42–43}}

In 1824 Mary Ann Channer Davis, who had moved to St. Augustine with her husband in 1821, bought the Fornells claim to Key Biscayne from one of the Fornells' heirs for US$100. Mary and her husband William Davis, a deputy [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshal]], probably were aware of plans to build a [[lighthouse]] on the Florida coast somewhere between St. Augustine and [[Key West, Florida|Key West]], and knew that Key Biscayne was a likely location for it. Mary and William sold three acres (about one-and-a-quarter hectares) of their newly acquired land at the southern tip of the island (Cape Florida) to the U.S. government for US$225. The federal government built the [[Cape Florida Light|Cape Florida lighthouse]] on that land in 1825.{{sfn|Blank|1996|pp=23–27}}

The first U.S. citizens to take up permanent residence on Key Biscayne were [[Captain (nautical)|Captain]] John Dubose, his wife Margaret and their five children in 1825, when Dubose became the first [[Lighthouse keeper|keeper]] for the new Cape Florida Light, a post he held until the lighthouse was burned in 1836. The family was also accompanied by two former slaves of Margaret's brother. The Dubose household grew during that time and was reported in 1833 to consist of "eleven whites and several negroes".{{sfn|Blank|1996|p=37}} During his tenure as lighthouse keeper, Dubose received hundreds of plants and seeds from Dr. [[Henry Perrine]], United States [[Consul (representative)|Consul]] in [[Campeche, Campeche|Campeche]], [[Mexico]], which he planted on the island. In 1835 a major [[hurricane]] struck the island, damaging the lighthouse and the keeper's house, and putting the island under three feet of water, which killed almost all the plants that Dr. Perrine had sent from Mexico.{{sfn|Blank|1996|pp=28–32}}