Dora Piatt,my ggaunt, sister to my gggrandmother Mary Jane Piatt Decamp. 8 siblings in all. I have names. Parents were John Piatt b.1837 and Mary Elizabeth Puterbaugh Piatt b. 1847

Benjamin Piatt, Jr was born in 1814, death unknown since county records were destoyed in a courthouse fire in 1913. He was married to Elmira Lavina Bayless, date unknown once again. Jackson Pierce Piatt was one of his children who married Barbara Ellen Chamblin. Junior,s father was Benjamin , Sr, born 1763, died 1851. He was a Lieutenant under McCollough. He had two wives, Mary Polly Waddell and Mary Phillips. His Father was Jacob Piatt III. Going further back was Jacob Piatt II and Jacob Piatt, Sr. Senior was a son of Rene who was an immigrant to this country. I have lots more. Contact me at jdpiatt@aol.com. By the way, this is your nephew.

Jennifer,

I am working on the Wheater family tree and have collected quite a bit of information on Wheaters in North America. Could you give me some more details on your family.

Bill Wheater

Rene La Fleur. He came from France. Then he moved to New Jersey. He change his name to Piat. He had several children also used the name Pyatt, Pyeat, ect. If I had your e-mail. I could mail you the copy of the letter that my nephew James Dale Piatt found this information when he was working on the family tree. He passed away in July 1992. His wife won't let anyone look at the family tree book. He went back to 1500. They settle in Adams County, Ohio. My Great grandparents were Benjamin Piatt and Aluryra Bayless. My grandparents were Jackson Pierce Piatt and Barbara Ellen Chamblin Piatt. My Dad was Mark Fedrick Piatt. He was born Monroe township Adams Co. Ohio 1891. I want to make sure that we have the same information.
Betty J Piatt Mitchell

Does your book contain any Pyatts/Piatts from the
Eddyville, Ia area?

I have a gr gr great grandmother Tabitha Piatt born OHIO Feb 28 1828, and on the 1860 census says her father born VA and her mom born NY. Do you know what states your earlier Piatts were from? I am not familiar yet with this tribe you mention, but have been told by relatives that this Piatt line of mine had our Indian blood. I have a photo of her daughter. I am interested in seeing your photos if you would like to write me back.

Hello Jean.
I haven't worked on this for a while but was pleased to see your response. Grandma always said her grandmother was Cherokee. And indeed there is no doubt that Mary Jane and Virgil are Native american. However, my research in the Cherokee nation didn't go well, and while on a trip to Piatt Castles ( the two grand homes Northwest of Columbus, Ohio
which the Piatt family built), I found out from a resident that many of the Native Americans that were hired by the Piatt family were from a sub tribe of the Pawnee called Maccochee.
This is not documented and may come out wrong. But I have found evidence of this in Pawnee history. Mary Jane and Virgil had many customs that were considered strange by midwest standards, and were rumored to be witches by nosey nieghbors who saw them pour salt around the exterior of the property and other acts considered odd. I have to dig around and see if I have any more info on where they came from before they hit mid Ohio. I do know that wherever Mary Janes parents came from, they travelled through Cincinnati Ohio on their way. There is even a street named after one of the Piatts in Cincinnati. Anything seem interesting or ring any bells Jean? Let me know.

Hi Sheri, Of course it is all very interesting! But I do not yet know the parents names for my Tabitha Piatt. (1860 census calls her Abitha, someone else had Tobitha). She was born in Ohio but unknown what city. She married Peter Berry and settled in Kansas. I have read online that the Ohio Piatts you mentioned did hire local natives, but I believe the Indian bloodline would be from an earlier time and location. I also read how several smaller tribes were grouped with the Cherokee nation/reservation such as the Shawnee, so this could mean our Indian quite possibly is one of the smaller tribes. I wish I could find an 1840 or 1850 census for Ohio to trace my Tabitha back to her parents. Where are your Piatts on the 1860 census? and where did the census say their parents were born? I will try to find them if you do not have it yet. You may also email me if you like, especially if your photos are scanned and available for emailing.

The name you mention "Aluryra" caught my eye because my Tabitha Alviria Piatt resembles it a bit. I am looking for Tabitha's parents names. She was b 1828 Ohio and said that her father unk Piatt was born VA . What years did your Piatts live? and do you have a Tabitha (or Abitha it was spelled on one census). Thanks

Jean, where was your Tabitha/Abitha Piatt in the 1860 census? If you could post that information I could check what records I have to see if we can learn more about her. And when and where in Kansas were she and husband Peter Berry?

And if I may add something to the discussion of Indian blood, possibly through a female line who married a Piatt----science has given us a way to examine this question. If a direct female descendant of the suspected woman with Indian blood can be found, she can have her mitochondrial DNA tested for Native American markers. At each step from the ancestor to the living descendant, the person must be a female. This is because mitochrondrial DNA is passed from mother to daughter who passes it on to daughters who pass it on, and so forth. Yes, the sons inherit mtDNA from their mothers, but they do not pass it on, so the mtDNA passage is broken by a male in the line. More information on mtDNA can be found at the Family Tree DNA website at:

http://www.ftdna.com

I have no commercial interest in this company but it is the one we are using for the Y-DNA study for our Piatt gentlemen. And the test is easy--just a swab from inside the cheek.

The mtDNA test can be rather pricy but the questions answered may be of interest to enough people that they may want to chip in to have one person tested.