In 1890, one quarter of the island was owned by a mysterious (and possibly fictitious) man named Bertrand G. Chandos, allegedly the brother of a recently deceased Mrs. Bensley. Of this woman, the San Francisco Examiner said "the answers to letters that were sent abroad some time ago establish beyond any doubt the fact that the stories told to various people here about her birth and early life in England and Scotland were wholly false". Chandos had exchanged letters with Mrs. Bensley in which their relationship was represented inconsistently; "in nearly all of [their letters] he addresses her as 'My dear aunt,' and she writes to her 'Dear nephew.' In a few of his letters he addresses her as 'Dear madam.'" It was alleged by the Examiner that Mrs. Bensley had woven a "web of intrigue" with its "primary object the defrauding of [her husband] John Bensley, and later the cheating of his creditors". By 1903, the island was owned by ex-sheriff B.F. Rush, who sold it in June to attorney Louis Titus of San Francisco for "somewhere in the neighborhood of" $10 ($ in ) per acre. The deal was described by the Sacramento Bee as "the most important real estate transaction that has taken place here for some time". The same month, the Suisun Board of Trade discussed a proposal to construct a road connecting Suisun to Joice Island and nearby Grizzly Island; this road would reduce the distance between Suisun and Joice from to . By October, Titus was "putting his grounds" in condition for a wildlife preserve, which was expected to be "one of the best preserves in the State". The reserve was restricted to "the private use of himself and friends"; their first shoot was planned for October 18. In November, Titus and two friends shot 63 ducks on a single hunt; several days later, he returned with his wife, and the two of them shot 35. A 1905 hunt at the island's Belvedere Club, with twelve guns, shot 376 ducks. However, in June 1905, the owners of Joice Island decided to use the land for agriculture, forming the Joice Island Asparagus Company. This corporation was capitalized with 1,000 shares of stock sold at $100 each, for a total of $100,000 ($ in ). The island was planned to be reclaimed and devoted to growing asparagus and alfalfa. By October, levees were being constructed by