Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-10-20

! y T was in. a little tower room OF
l.t.ai of the historic Dom Piatt
Castle, in Logan county, O.,
one autumn years ago that James
Whitcomb Riley, the Hoosier poet,
penned his popular poem, When
the Frost Is on the Pumpkin and
the Folders in the Shock" and
there later Dom Piatt. himself a
brilliant verse writer, wrote paro-
dy, 1.-The Bloom Was on the Alder
and Tassel on the Corn"
Now, this famous castle of Dom
Piatt is to be sold. The temple de-
voted to the MUSES. by it's builder
may even be used as a sanatorium,
and in the rooms where literati
once assembled worn and weary
neurasth henics may come to be given
their strychnine and arsenical ton
les by neurologists. So it is, from
Parnassus to Esculapius!
Centenary of Dom Piatt
This is the centenary year for
Dom Piatt, as he was born in Gin
cinnati, O., June 10, 1919. He came
from a brilliant family, and was one
of four brothers who were journal
lists and poets. Dom Piatt was the
second son of Judge Benjamin M.
Piatt, grandson of Col. Jacob Piatt
of the Revolutionary Army, and
great grandson of John Piatt of
| Huguenot descent, who settled in
New Jersey prior to the Revolution,
! He was educated partly at Urbana
I o., and at St. Xavier's College in
Cincinnati. He began his newspaper
Leareer in 1S40. He was admitted to
the bar in 1851, and soon after was
made Judge of the court of commo on
pleas of Hamilton county, o. He
became secretary of the American
Legation at Paris under John T.
Mason as ambassador, and on the
death of Mason he acted as Charge
d Affairs. Returning to Ohio in
1860, he Joined the staff of the
"Mac-o-chee Press published by
his brother, Abram Sanders Piatt, al
West Liberty. O., and aided in Abra.
ham Lincoln campaign for the
presidency. The Piatts were loya'
to the Union cause and in 1861 Donr
Piatt enlisted in Company c. 18th
Ohio Volunteers, of which his broth
err Abram was colonel Later Donr
Piatt swas made chief of staff by
General Schenck.. He went through
all the battles with Schenck unit
that officer was wounded and ther
Col. Piatt was placed on a commits
sion to investigate the loss of Harp.
ers Ferry. At Baltimore, he au.
Ithorized Gen. Birney to recruit 6
brigade of negro soldiers, enlistinl
! none but slaves. The result was the
practical emancipation of every
slave in Maryland. Lincoln, wht
had not yet reached that period il
negro emancipation, severely re
buked Col. Piatt, who barely es
capped discharge.
Col. Piatt seemed to have militar,
foresight, and a short time befor,
Lees invasion of Maryland he or
dered Gen. Milroy to evacuat'
Winchester, Va, but Gen. Hallecl
countermanded the order. and Mil
roy eventually had to cut his wa,
out with the loss of two thousant
men.
After the war Col. Piatt returned
Ito the Mac-o-chee country in Ohio
and was sent to the State Legisla.
ture, where he aided in securing f;
negro suffrage amendment to th,
state constitution.
Used Caustic Pen in Washington
Re-entering journalism, Col. Plat
became associate editor of the New
York Sun and later Washington cor
respondent of the Cincinnati Com
mercial. In 1871, with George AL
fred Townsend, who wrote unde
the nom de plume of Gath" fe
the Cincinnati Enquirer, he estab
lished the Washington Sunday Capi
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