Description: Returning from the war to their boyhood hometown, Abram Piatt and his brother Donn built homes less than a mile apart, outside West Liberty in Logan County. Donn's house, Mac-o-Chee Castle, a three-story, 36-room Gothic limestone chateau featuring two central towers, was designed by Abram's son William and completed in 1879. Donn Piatt capitalized on his family's Huguenot descent to become charge d'affaires at the American embassy in Paris. Like his brother, he enlisted in the Union Army a private, leaving at the rank of lieutenant colonel. He returned to newspapers during Reconstruction, operating the Washington Capitol, which primarily ran stories on the numerous graft scandals of the period, including the Pacific mail bribes and the Credit Mobilier. William McCoy Piatt's family operated the houses as a tourist destination from 1912 until their departure in 1984. The Castles were entered in the National Register in 1982. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F15_006_1
Subjects: Logan County (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.
Places: West Liberty (Ohio); Logan County (Ohio)
 

Description: In 1812 Captain James Manary built a blockhouse to control a point in the wilderness three miles north of Bellefontaine, at that time the northernmost settled place in Ohio. In a typical one-story log blockhouse, rifle ports lined every wall near the ceiling, and soldiers stood to fire from a bench running the perimeter of the room. The Army of the Northwest, under General William Hull, stopped at Manary's Blockhouse on its march from Dayton to Detroit. There, surrounded by what he imagined to be a superior force, Hull surrendered. He was court-martialed, sentenced to death, granted clemency by James Madison, and spent much of the rest of his life attempting to restore his reputation. James McPherson, a veteran of the Revolution and the War of 1812, bought the house in 1823; members of his family lived there until 1919. In 1924 it was moved to Indian Lake State Park, filled with objects from the period, and made a museum. The Ohio Guide described the array: "[...] willow and hickory chairs, a cornhusk doormat, spinning wheel and loom, andirons, early matches, stone vases, tintypes, snuff boxes, grease lamps, and a rare display of cotton printing of the Revolutionary War period." Reverse reads: "Manary Blockhouse. Photo no. 2 is one corner of the same room as photo no. 1. District 10, Logan Co., Lakeview." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F15_003_1
Subjects: Lakeview (Logan County, Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; War of 1812
Places: Lakeview (Ohio); Logan County (Ohio)
 

Description: In 1812 Captain James Manary built a blockhouse to control a point in the wilderness three miles north of Bellefontaine, at that time the northernmost settled place in Ohio. In a typical one-story log blockhouse, rifle ports lined every wall near the ceiling, and soldiers stood to fire from a bench running the perimeter of the room. The Army of the Northwest, under General William Hull, stopped at Manary's Blockhouse on its march from Dayton to Detroit. There, surrounded by what he imagined to be a superior force, Hull surrendered. He was court-martialed, sentenced to death, granted clemency by James Madison, and spent much of the rest of his life attempting to restore his reputation. James McPherson, a veteran of the Revolution and the War of 1812, bought the house in 1823; members of his family lived there until 1919. In 1924 it was moved to Indian Lake State Park, filled with objects from the period, and made a museum. The Ohio Guide described the array: "[...] willow and hickory chairs, a cornhusk doormat, spinning wheel and loom, andirons, early matches, stone vases, tintypes, snuff boxes, grease lamps, and a rare display of cotton printing of the Revolutionary War period." Reverse reads: "Manary Blockhouse. District 10, Logan Co., Lakeview. Photo No. 3 showing one end of a leanto with a very fine collection of china and glass ware. See Historic House Museums Topic S621 on file." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F15_004_1
Subjects: Lakeview (Logan County, Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; War of 1812
Places: Lakeview (Ohio); Logan County (Ohio)
 

Description: Mac-a-cheek Castle (alternately, Mac-o-Chee Chateau), a Flemish mansion on a bluff outside of West Liberty, was built for the Civil War veteran and newspaperman Abram Sanders Piatt in 1864, and completed in 1871 by his son, William. Returning from the war to their boyhood hometown, Piatt and his brother Donn built homes less than a mile apart. Donn's house, Mac-o-Chee Castle, a Gothic limestone chateau featuring two central towers, was designed by Abram's son William and completed in 1879. According to the Ohio Guide, Mac-a-cheek's library and drawing room, lined in cherry woodwork, contained "antique furniture, Colonial paintings, old sabres and the dueling pistol with which Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton," and served as a meeting places for local literary figures. William McCoy Piatt's family operated the houses as a tourist destination from 1912 until their departure in 1984. The Castles were entered in the National Register in 1982. Reverse reads: "The Piatt Chateau, Mac-o-chee, Mack-a-cheek. Near West Liberty, O. District #10, Logan Co." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F15_005_1
Subjects: Logan County (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.
Places: West Liberty (Ohio); Logan County (Ohio)