Switch to EncyclopediaClose XPIATT, JOHN JAMES: 1835-1917.
"John James Piatt … poet, journalist, was born at James' Mills (later
Milton), Ind., the son of John
Bear and Emily (Scott) Piatt … When John
James was six years old his parents moved to Ohio, establishing
themselves near Columbus. The boy attended the high school in that place, and later,
Capital University and Kenyon College. Apprenticed to the publisher of the OHIO STATE JOURNAL to learn the printer's trade, he
became acquainted with William Dean Howells, who was then
associated with that paper, and the two formed a lasting friendship. Some of
Piatt's verses appeared in the LOUISVILLE JOURNAL
in 1857, and soon afterward he accepted an editorial
position on it. In 1859 he began contributing to the
ATLANTIC MONTHLY. His poem 'The Morning
Street' evoked Howells' praise and the statement that he himself
wished he could write something worthy of inclusion in the ATLANTIC. The following year (1860) the two
published in collaboration Poems of Two Friends.
"On June 18, 1861, he married
Sarah Morgan Bryan, poet and contributor to the LOUISVILLE JOURNAL. They went to live in Washington where Piatt
was a clerk in the U. S. Treasury Department from 1861 to 1867. During this period he became acquainted with Walt
Whitman, who frequently referred to Piatt's writings. In 1867 Piatt joined the staff of the CINCINNATI
CHRONICLE, and removed to North Bend, just below Cincinnati, on the Ohio
River. From 1869 to 1878 he was
literary editor and correspondent of the CINCINNATI
COMMERCIAL, but also served as assistant clerk (1870) and as librarian (1871-75) to the U. S. House of Representatives. From 1882 to 1893 he was U. S. consul at Cork,
Ireland, and for a few months in the latter year at Dublin.
"During all these years he was writing and publishing poetry and some prose
… Piatt's poetry shows the regular meters of his time but is
original and varied in subject matter and appreciative of natural beauty, literary
associations, and human feelings … When political changes caused
Piatt's recall from the consulate of Ireland, he settled at North Bend, O.
He continued his literary work, contributing to the CINCINNATI
INQUIRER as editor of book reviews and to various periodicals, until a
few years before his death, when he became an invalid through injuries received in a
carriage accident. He died at Cincinnati, his wife, three sons, and one daughter
surviving him."
He edited and compiled The Hesperian Tree: an annual of the Ohio
Valley for 1900 (reissued in 1901) and for 1900-03.
Condensed from S. G. B., Dictionary of American Biography,
Vol. XIV.
- Poems of Two Friends (withWilliam Dean Howells). Columbus, 0., 1860.
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Close X - The Nests at Washington and Other Poems (withSarah Morgan Bryan Piatt). New York, 1864.
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Close X - Poems in Sunshine and Firelight.
Cincinnati, 1866.
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Close X - Western Windows, and Other Poems. New
York, 1869.
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Close X - Landmarks, and Other Poems. New
York, 1872.
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Close X - The Lost Farm, and Other Poems.
Boston, 1877.
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Close X - May Festival, 1878. Ode for the Opening of the Cincinnati
Music Hall. [Cincinnati, 1878.]
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Music Hall" by PIATT, JOHN JAMES: 1835-1917. in:
Close X - Poems of House and Home. Boston,
1879. (Reissued in 1888 as Dream of Church
Windows, Etc.: Poems of House and Home.)
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Close X - Pencilled Fly-Leaves: a Book of Essays in Town and
Country. Cincinnati, 1880.
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Country" by PIATT, JOHN JAMES: 1835-1917. in:
Close X - Idyls and Lyrics of the Ohio Valley.
Cincinnati, 1881.
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Close X - Children Out-of-Doors: Verses (withSarah Morgan Bryan Piatt). Cincinnati, 1885.
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Close X - At the Holy Well; with a Handful of New Verses.
Cincinnati, 1887.
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Close X - A Book of Gold and Other Sonnets. London,
Eng., 1889.
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Close X - Lost Hunting Ground, Etc.; Little New-World Idyls and Other
Poems. New York, 1893.
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Poems" by PIATT, JOHN JAMES: 1835-1917. in:
Close X - The Ghost's Entry, and Other Poems. 1895.
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Close X - Odes in Ohio, and Other Poems.
Cincinnati, 1897.
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Close X - How the Bishop Built His College in the Woods.
Cincinnati, 1906.
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