A Castle as a Farmhouse

A Castle as a Farmhouse. They Lived Long on the Land. , Construction of this stone mansion was begun in 1864 by General Abram Sanders Piatt (1821-1908). Finished in 1871, it replaced an earlier frame house where Abram had lived with his first wife Hannah and their children before her death in 1861 and his service in the Civil War. Named Mac-A-Cheek, the new castle-like dwelling was occupied by Abram and his second wife Eleanor, his younger children, domestic workers and farm laborers. , , Not only a home, Mac-A-Cheek served as the hub of an evolving industrial, commercial and agricultural complex consisting of over 1,000 acres of tenant farms, merchant and custom mills and metal working shops. Like all farm houses of its day, it was the processing center for agricultural products: butter, cheese, meat, vegetables and fruit. In the basement was a large kitchen adjacent to several storage rooms containing the produce grown for family consumption. , , Following Abram's death, his son William and wife Julia moved into Mac-A-Cheek where they supplemented their income by opening the house to tourists. This house, with its surrounding 80 acres is still owned by members of the Piatt family who continue to regard it as "home." , , I follow the plow in the furrow, , Turning over the rich mellow earth; , While green corn goes waving and flashing, , As rejoicing with me in its mirth. , The rich soil is teeming with blessings, , While I'm toiling its rich fruit outpours; , Its fullness of treasures surrounds me, , 'Mid the roses that bloom at the door. , Gen. A. Sanders Piatt, date unknown , , ". . . Born in the city General Piatt was bred in the country. He was a son of the soil." , Ben Piatt Runkle, "Abram Sanders Piatt," West Liberty Banner, March 26, 1908