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