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Subject: [PIATT] Piatt Conference Minutes - Monday 6-25-01
Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2001 21:34:03 EDT


Subscribers to the PIATT-List might enjoy reading about some of the research
and activities of those who participated in the 2001 Piatt Researchers
Conference. Our location in Doylestown, Pennsylvania this year allowed easy
access for research in New Jersey, Philadelphia and southeastern
Pennsylvania. Each day over the coming week, I will post a copy of the
minutes from one of the evening meetings at the conference. By the end of
the week, you will have them all. Here are the Minutes from Monday Evening,
6/25/01:

PIATT FAMILY RESEARCHERS' CONFERENCE
Delaware Valley College, Doylestown, Pennsylvania
June 25, 2001

Present: Elizabeth "Liz" Branstead, Beth Ann Lauer, Kenneth Lawrence Lauer &
Mary Joan (Piatt) Lauer, David Conrad Piatt, James Donovan Piatt and Edith
(Ross) Piatt, Joseph Howard Piatt & Pauline (Carpinelli) Piatt, Laverne
(Ingram) Piatt, Richard O. Piatt and Mary (Keiper) Piatt, Ira "Skip" Piatt,
Sharolynn Pyeatt, Christine Webb, Elizabeth Webb.

Everyone spent the day in Somerville, Somerset County, New Jersey.

Laverne and her group (David, Liz, and Sharolynn) drove past the library and
went first to the Administration (Court House) Building to check out deeds
and wills. After stopping for lunch, they moved on to the Library, where
they confused the librarian by being the second group of Piatts to show up in
one day. They copied some things that they knew had been copied before for
David's imaging project, then decided to see some of the territory. They
drove out to New Brunswick, took Rt. 27 to see Six Mile Run, and went into
Franklin Park to see The Old Dutch Church. (They reported that there is no
water in Six Mile Run! It looks as if it is all grown over). Laverne made
the point that, just to complicate matters, Rt. 27 is the county line between
Somerset and Middlesex Counties. Therefore, the Wyckoffs lived right across
the road from the Piatts, but the families were in two different counties.
Richard said that the route of the road has changed since the era we are
researching. Historically, there was a bend in the road that placed everyone
in Somerset County.

Richard and his group (Mary, Skip, Jim & Edith, Christine & Elizabeth) went
first to the library. Richard did not feel that they made any major new
discoveries, but he was able to get photocopies of some information that he
had formerly copied by hand. They had a very nice lunch, but were fatigued
and came back to campus early.

David had not seen the Kearney Charts previously. He said that he was
interested in acquiring a set for himself and a set for a library. Joe Piatt
was able to oblige by providing two sets to David and a set to Christine as
well. Christine said that if one more set could be made available, she would
see that it was placed in the Special Collections Section at the University
of Kentucky.

Laverne commented that John Piatt's land now seems to have an apartment or
professional building on it. The last time Richard saw the area, there were
still some ruins of an old house on it. The area across the road (the
Wyckoff property?) appeared to be vacant.

The economy of New Brunswick at the time was very much impacted by the
availability of water transportation and the presence of the canal. Richard
suggested that anyone who is interested in the history of the area and the
impact of the canal would be well advised to visit the Canal Museum at
Easton, Pennsylvania.

Laverne and Richard both found the list of letters remaining at the Post
Office in Philadelphia, and James Piatt of East Jersey is mentioned. Why
would a letter for James of East Jersey be sent to Philadelphia? Could it
have to do with shipping and the involvement of the Piatts in shipping?

Laverne also found the descriptions of the properties for sale in the area
fascinating. The houses seemed very grand for the time. Two stories with a
full basement----Laverne would consider buying that!

Richard said that he has no doubt that the Piatts had some involvement with
shipping during the era of the late 1600s and early 1700s. Richard has seen
papers apprenticing one of the early Piatt sons to a shipmaster, for example.
And John Piatt died in St. Thomas. He may have traveled back and forth many
times before his death.

Liz showed the group the first half of the combined index for the first six
volumes of Piatt Family Newsletter. She and a friend have been working on
the project of transcribing and combining the indexes, and Ken has been
helping with proofreading. She hopes that, in another year, all twelve
volumes will have been included and she will be able to make the combined
index available to other Piatt researchers.

Joe & Paulie went to Norristown and attempted to determine who was the
original owner of their son's home (built in 1901). Unfortunately, they got
"the run around," were bounced around from floor to floor and department to
department, and did not succeed in the end.

Regarding plans for Tuesday, Richard reported that he is planning to spend
the day at the New Jersey Archives tomorrow. There is a ton of material
there to research, and he could use extra help doing things like checking the
wills of men who owned local stores for names of Piatt and collateral lines.
Laverne has not made a decision yet about what she will do. Liz pointed out
that there were a couple of other places that were also closed on Monday that
might be open on Tuesday, for example, the Hunterdon Library.

Notes by Beth A. Lauer


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