Jacob Wyckoff Piatt Sr. (1801 - 1856)

Born 29 Mar 1801 in Boone County, Kentucky

Ancestors

Husband of Martha Eugenia (de Valcourt) Piatt — married 29 Aug 1837 (to 29 May 1856) in Cincinnati, Ohio

Died 29 May 1856 at age 55 in West Liberty, Logan County, Ohio

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Biography

There are variant spellings of Wyckoff. This subject’s middle name is seen as both ‘Wyckoff’ and ‘Wykoff’.

Jacob Wyckoff Piatt was born March 29, 1801, a son of Benjamin McCullough Piatt and Elizabeth Barnett. He was was a prosperous Cincinnati attorney and noted orator whose wealth came from his legal practice and real estate investments. On September 27, 1826, he married Caroline Dickerson Canfield (1804-1830), daughter of David and Mary Canfield, in Morris, New Jersey; they had two daughters. Caroline was buried at First Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Morris County, New Jersey.

On August 29, 1837, Jacob married Martha Eugenia de Valcourt (1813-1903), the daughter of Francois Alexandre de Valcourt and Margaret Hermange Gold. They were wed at St. Peter's Cathedral in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio which was later replaced by St. Francis Xavier Church. They had eight known children.

Jacob died May 29, 1856 and was buried at Piatt family Mac-a-cheek Cemetery, West Liberty, Logan County, Ohio. Martha was interred in Saint Joseph Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio when she passed away in 1903.

Children of Jacob Wyckoff, Sr. and Caroline D. Piatt:

• Juliet Eyre Piatt 1827-1854; m. Col. Michael Shoemaker (1818-1895)
• Caroline Canfield Piatt 1829-1914; 1m. Thomas Courtney Jenkins; 2m. John Morris, M.D.

Children of and Jacob Wyckoff Piatt, Sr. and Martha deValcourt

• Laura E. Piatt 1839-1840; d/y 11 months
• Mary Arabella Piatt 1841-1932; m. Robert W. Carroll (1826-1879)
• Benjamin Mahlon J. Piatt 1845-1923; m. Willameta Willis (1844-1923)
• Charles de Valcourt Piatt 1846-1932; m. Mary Katherine Nolan (1855-1919)
• Margaret Theodora Piatt 1847-1850; d/y 2 yrs.
• Eugenia Wykoff Piatt 1849-1879; unm. shares stone with mother
• Adele Louise Piatt 1852-1902; 1.m. James Bonner; 2m. 1882 Charles Washington Grant (1857-1927)
• Jacob Wykoff Piatt, Jr. 1854-1895; m. Susan Hill Grant [later Kelso] (1855-1939)

Research Notes

NOTE: Not sure about this information: Around 1832, Jacob married Harriet Lanman (1804-1853), daughter of James Lanman and Mary Griswold; they had one son: John Hopper Piatt 1833-1907.

JACOB WYCKOFF PIATT, SR., on April 1, 1853, established the Cincinnati Fire Department. It was the first full-time paid professional fire department in the United States and the first in the world to use steam fire engines. But it was by no means an easy task. He became so unpopular to the bulk of the community in his vigorous and solitary opposition for years to the volunteer system that it was found necessary for the police to guard him to and from the council chamber, where he continually spoke against it. He was at one time mobbed, and burned in effigy before his own door by the volunteer firemen and their supporters. When the Latta steam fire-engine was invented in Cincinnati, a committee was appointed by the city council, with Mr. Piatt as chairman, to devise means for its use. He insisted on placing Miles Greenwood, a prominent mechanic and founder, who had long been at the head of the volunteer fire department, in charge of the new machine, for the sake, no doubt, of producing harmony in the then divided state of public opinion. Mr. Greenwood accepted the office and through his personal popularity and practical knowledge of mechanics, made the machine a success.

Information cited directly from Find A Grave memorial page for Martha Eugenia de Valcourt Piatt. (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/136196804/martha-eugenia-piatt). Maintained by Terry T (contributor 47154391).

Sources

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26403970/jacob-wykoff-piatt: accessed 10 August 2023), memorial page for Jacob Wykoff Piatt (29 Mar 1801–29 May 1856), Find a Grave Memorial ID 26403970, citing Mac-a-cheek Cemetery, West Liberty, Logan County, Ohio, USA; Maintained by Robert (contributor 46505507).

SOURCES cited by Find A Grave contributor:

• Piatt Family Bible: The Holy Bible: Baltimore, published by Fielding Lucas Jr. No 138 Market St. Originally owned by Jacob W Piatt, now (1962) in the possession of Mrs. Schuyler T Lockwood, Covington. Copied 1962 by Mrs. John P Lockwood, Boone Co Chapter DAR in Florence Ky. Published in the Kentucky Bible Records Volume I in 1962.
• M. V. Woodrough September 2002 website
• The Tribe of Jacob Piatt, N. Louise Lodge, 1934.
• Edited Appletons Encyclopedia, Copyright © 2001 Virtualology Angelfire