John James Piatt (March 1, 1835February 16, 1917) was an American poet.

Early life and education

John James Piatt was born on March 1, 1835, in James' Mills,

Dearborn County, Indiana Dearborn County is one of 92 counties of the U.S. state of Indiana. Located on the Ohio border near the southeast corner of the state, Dearborn County was formed in 1803 from a portion of Hamilton County, Ohio. In 2020, the population was 50,6 ...

, to Emily (Scott) and John Bear Piatt. The town was later called Milton and relocated to

Ohio County, Indiana Ohio County is a County (United States), county located in southeastern Indiana. With a 2020 population of 5,940, and an area of just 87 square miles, Ohio County is the smallest county in Indiana by area and the least populous. The county seat ...

. The Piatts moved to

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, when John James was six. He attended

Capital University Capital University (Capital, Cap, or CU) is a private university in Bexley, Ohio, United States. Capital was founded as the Theological Seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio, Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Ohio in 1830 and ...

and

Kenyon College Kenyon College ( ) is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1824 by Episcopal Bishop Philander Chase. It is the oldest private instituti ...

Career

Piatt was on staff at the ''Ohio State Journal'' (later ''

The Columbus Citizen-Journal ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' was a daily morning newspaper in Columbus, Ohio published by the Scripps Howard company. It was formed in 1959 by the merger of ''The Columbus Citizen'' and ''The Ohio State Journal''. It shared printing facilit ...

'') with

William Dean Howells William Dean Howells ( ; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American Realism (arts), realist novelist, literary critic, playwright, and diplomat, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of ...

, with whom he wrote ''Poems of Two Friends'' (1860). He published some poems in the ''Louisville Journal'' (later ''

The Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is a daily newspaper published in ...

'') in 1857 and then became an editor of the paper. He started publishing in ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 ...

'' in 1860. Piatt married Sarah Morgan Bryan on June 18, 1861. They lived in Georgetown, in Washington, D.C., where John became a clerk and then librarian of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. Sarah and John James published two books together: ''The Nests at Washington, and Other Poems'' (1869) and ''The Children Out-of-Doors'' (1885). According to the ''Cambridge History of American Literature'', Sarah and John James's poems were not interesting for their literary merit but only for their thematization of the American West. Around 1882, Piatt became a United States

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, and later in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. He came back to the United States in 1893, settling in

North Bend, Ohio North Bend is a village in Miami Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. It is a part of the Greater Cincinnati area. The population was 835 at the 2020 census. History North Bend was founded in 1789. It was pl ...

. According to the ''

Dictionary of American Biography The ''Dictionary of American Biography'' (DAB) was a multi-volume dictionary published in New York City by Charles Scribner's Sons under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). History The dictionary was first propo ...

'', "Piatt's poetry shows the regular

meters The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

of his time, but is original and varied in subject mater and appreciative of natural beauty, literary associations, and human feeling." He was sometimes considered a poet of

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, the Ohio Valley, or the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

. Contemporary reviewers thought his poems were "cheerful, pleasant, and sunny". Leonidas Warren Payne Jr. considered Piatt one of the "minor poets of the West". He died in Cincinnati, Ohio, on February 16, 1917.

Books

* ''Poems of Two Friends'', with

(1860) * ''Poems in Sunshine and Firelight'' (1866) * ''The Nests at Washington, and Other Poems'', with Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt (1869) * ''Western Windows, and Other Poems'' (1869) * ''Landmarks'' (1872) * ''Pencilled Fly-Leaves: A Book of Essays in Town and Country'' (1880) * ''Idyls and Lyrics of the Ohio Valley'' (1881) * ''The Children Out-of-Doors'', with Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt (1885) * ''At the Holy Well'' (1887) * ''A Book of Gold, and Other Sonnets'' (1889) * ''Little New-World Idyls'' (1893) * ''Odes in Ohio'' (1897)

Early life and education

Career

Books

References

Further reading