For Elise, A few years ago when we visited the Pioneer House in Logan Co OH during one of the Piatt Conferences I heard someone behind me say "John of France"--or was it "John and Frances." I couldn't tell. Then I began wondering if the phrase had been altered over the years of retelling. And with the origin of the immigrant in France anyway it could added to confusion. Anyway, it is the line of the Five Revolutionary brothers which told the "John of France" story the more and I began trying to locate the papers of the late Nannie Louise Lodge who wrote "The Tribe of Jacob," which also mentions "John of France." I thought if I could find her correspondence, some light could be shed on the origins of the story. But I've had no luck finding her papers as yet. Any advice on where they might be would be appreciated. Lodge died in Covington KY in 1936 having no direct heirs. The Pioneer House is the log home of Judge Benjamin M Piatt and his wife Elizabeth Barnett Piatt. It fell into disrepair after the death of their son General Abram S Piatt but was discovered by the Younckman family a number of years ago when the Younckmans bought that portion of the Piatt property. The Younckmans restored the house and turned it into the Pioneer House gift shop. Elizabeth Barnett Piatt is said to have run a station on the Underground Railroad here despite the fact that her husband was a federal judge in Cincinnati. Elizabeth's activities are mentioned in an article on the Underground Railroad published in National Geographic, July 1984. Sadly, the article does not mentioned Elizabeth by her given name! -- Laverne Ingram Piatt Ontario, OH

For Laverne, As I said before, I think John & Frances is possible, but considering the status of women in his era, I doubt that he would be identified as her husband. I have not gotten out Joe Kearney's charts, but, if my memory is good, he was a Franchman living in a mainly Dutch settlement and to have identified him as John of France seems more likely. People were much closer to the old country than we are all these generations later and it never crossed my mind that it meant anything other than identifying his ancestry. Who knows? Perhaps he flaunted his difference from the rest of the community. I would also think his appearance would have immediately identified him as not being Dutch. The French and Dutch do not have the same coloring or body type. I have temporarily put away my Piatt work and gone back to working on my current book. I will be leaving next Satuday [28th] for two weeks out west and I need to finish up some work on the Quaker families named Coale before I totally forget what I have done. Elise