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Piatt Castles

The Piatt Castles Oral History Project Over the years, the Piatt Castles have been the subject of all kinds of folklore and legend, some delightful - some disturbing. In order not to lose these stories, we are asking folks with stories about the building and the family to please write them down for future reference and study.

The Mac-A-Cheek foundation for the Humanities
P.O. Box 166
West Liberty, Ohio, 43357
ph: 937/465-2821

Visitor Handout Information Dear Piatt Family Member,
Congratulations! You are possibly one of a great number of people who are descended from Rene Piatt, a French Huguenot who came to America about 1680. Your relatives can be found in every state in the continental U.S. and have their own family newsletter, Piatt Photogravure, published by Mary Joan Piatt Lauer.

In Albert F. Koehler's book, The Huguenots: The Early French in New Jersey, an entry about Rene reads as follows:

Renune Piatt, a native of Dauphiny, France, fled to Holland and later came to America, settling at Piscataway before 1680. The New Jersey Archives state that in early deeds he is designated as "Renune Piatt, alias La Flower." Letters of administration of October 16, 1705, granted to his widow Elizabeth give his name as Reyneer (Regnier) Peatt, alias "Le Flure" of Piscataway. His son John was of Somerset County.

Note the different ways in which Rene's name is spelled. Another interesting spelling you may find in your research is Pyott.

The Piatt family history is full of intriguing, intelligent, and eccentric characters. Two of whom are Colonel Donn Piatt and Brigadier General Abram Sanders Piatt, the brothers who built the Piatt Castles outside of West Liberty, Ohio Abram's descendents still call Mac-A-Cheek Castle home; his great-great grand-daughter Margaret is president of the Piatt Castles Company.

Often a family member will ask us what we know about their relation to the brothers or ask if we have any information about their branch of the family. Mary Joan Piatt Lauer has graciously donated 12 bound issues of Piatt Family Newsletter, published in recent years by Eleanor M. White of Rockledge, Florida. Should you want to look throught the volumes for your research, please call the Piatt Castles' Director of Education, Angie Waryne, at 937-465-2821 to schedule an appointment to come and study during our business hours.

Carrying on Ms. Whites fabulous work, Mary Joan Piatt Lauer can be contacted at:
Piatt Family Photogravure
4223 Tacoma Avenue
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46807

It is through her you may subscribe for current issues of the family newsletter.

Another source is the Woodward family of California. Most of their research is on the Piatts west of the Mississippi. However, they visited the Castles this past spring, and we were able to help them find information on the family back east. Presently, they are working on a CD Rom which catalogs all of their Piatt research. Hopefully, we will have a copy for family members to use here in the future. Their address is:
The Woodwards
P.O. Box 502
Lebec, California 93243

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Email: mcpgene@excite.com