They Lived Long on the Land

They Lived Long on the Land. A Castle as a Farmhouse. , After serving in the Civil War, General Abram Sanders Piatt (1821-1908) returned home and resumed running his family farm. In 1864 he began construction on a new farmhouse., Completed in 1871, this stone mansion replaced the nearby home where Abram had lived with his first wife, Hannah (1823-1861), and their children., Mac-A-Cheek, the new castle-like dwelling, was home to Abram, his second wife, Eleanor (1834-1899), his younger children, and domestic and farm workers., The home was built with limestone and wood from the Piatt's land. They encahnced their home with a convervatory and flower garden., Mac-A-Cheek was the hub of an evolving complex of farmland, mills, and workshops. It also served as a local Grange hall., Like most farmhouses of its day, Mac-A-Cheek was a place to process and store goods like butter, cheese, meat, and produce., This house and some of the surrounding farmland is still owned by members of the Piatt family who continue to call it "home.", In 1870, the 900-acre farm on which Mac-A-Cheek was being built included 16 horses, 6 oxen, 7 milk cows, 42 other cattle, and 28 swine. That year it produced 750 bushels of wheat, 2,000 bushels of corn, 180 bushels of oats, 60 bushels of potatoes, 85 bushels of hops, 8 tons of hay, and 500 pounds of butter.,

"I could not operate my farm and go about on foot as I used to. No, I could not do without my little white horse on whose back I ride every day." , Gen. Abram Sanders Piatt, 1905

, Prior to building Mac-A-Cheek, Abram and his family lived in a smaller farmhouse that was later relocated and occupied by Abram's son Kentucky Ben.,

"…Born in the city General Piatt was bred in the country. He was a son of the soil." , Ben Piatt Runkle, "Abram Sanders Piatt," Obituary in the West Liberty Banner, March 26, 1908