Platt Family Association 

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Newsletter Queries

Mar 1999, Vol 19, p5-8

Betty Short, RR2, Box 2150, Brackney, PA 18812, e-mail BettyShort@aol.com, seeks parents/Platt connection of Stephen Platt, b 24 April 1770, place unknown, d. 12 October 1846, mar. Kezia Wickes, b. 5 July 1776, d. 12 October 1856. Settled near Vestal Center, Broome Co., NY in 1800. Listed in Vestal census in 1835. Both buried in Vestal Center Cemetery. Children: Daniel Platt, b . 13 July 1798, settled in IN; Esther Platt, b. 11 November 1800, mar. Abram Kinney; Lydia Platt, b. 6 Oct 1803, d. 19 August 1806; Epenetus Platt, b. 4 March 1806, d. Vestal Center 13 December 1891; Joel Platt, b. 12 January 1809, settled in Rep., OH; Elijah Platt, b. 12 April 1811, d. Justine, CA 2 August 1897; Silas Platt, b. 16 October 1813, d. 12 August 1838; Nathan Platt, b. 4 November 1816, d. Binghamton, NY 29 November 1845; Emily Platt, b. 15 April 1820, mar. Peter Maricle. Family papers have Elijah Platt as father of Stephen, but no other information. Another paper says that Stephen had brothers Charles and Richard.

Catharine Schuyler, 204 N Market St., Johnstown, NY 12095, e-mail schuyler@telenet.net, sent a query asking parents/connection of Mary Platt, b. Huntington, NY abt 1730, mar. Huntington 1751, Pres. Church by Rev. E. Prime Hun, Zebulon Whitman, b. Huntington 1730, d. 1759. Mary remarried. Since posting this query, Cathy and I have e-mailed back and forth on this topic and have made a search of Whitman genealogies as well as Platt. We have not been able to find any Zebulon Whitman who married a Platt of any name, Mary or not. It appears that someone made a mistake. Does anyone know if there was any basis for this assertion?

Cathy also says that the poet Walt Whitman mentions in his writings his Gramma Hannah Platt Whitman. A Hannah Platt (1756-1845), daughter of Obadiah Platt of Huntington, NY (Platt #122-22) married, as her second husband, Isaiah Whitman. The poet's father was Walter, but there is no Walter listed in the household of Isaiah and Hannah. Does anyone know the Platt connection here?
Query partly answered: Before we published this newsletter, we got an answer to our Walt Whitman query. It was provided by the owner of the website, www. LongIslandGenealogy.com/ You might want to check out this site.
He sent me a copy of the genealogy of the Whitman Family, originally done, he thinks, for the Whitman Historical Society of Huntington. It covers the Whitmans from the 14th century to the present, through 19 genearations. It was a bit more than I had asked for, and if I had printed the whole thing out (I didn't) it would have run 36 pages. I did save it, and if any of you want a copy, I can send it along.
Hannah Platt, daughter of Epenetus ⁴ Platt (1700-abt 1772), b 10 August 1724, d. aft. 1758, m. 1) 14 May 1746 Tredwell Brush of Huntington, m2) 12 March 1758 Joseph Whitman of Huntington.
Hannah Brush, daughter of Tredwell Brush and Hannah Platt, m. 22 April 1775, Jesse Whitman, b. 29 January 1748/9, d. 13 February 1802. 4 children.}
Walter Whitman, son of Jesse Whitman and Hannah Brush, b. 14 July 1789, d. 11 July 1855, m. 8 June 1816 Louisa Van Velsor, daughter of Cornelius Van Velsor and Naomi Spouse[?]. 9 children.
Their son, Walter (Walt) Whitman (the poet), b. West Hills, NY 31 May 1819, d. Camden, NJ 26 March 1892.
So, it appears that a different Hanna Platt (Brush) (Whitman) was actually the poet's great-grandmother, and via her Brush marriage, not the Whitman. To confuse matters further, the daughter of Obadiah 5, mentioned above, also a Hannah Platt (Brush) (Whitman), m 1) Nathaniel Brush and 2) Isaiah Whitman. What a tangled web!

Richard J Harvey, 423 Falls Ave., New Castle, PA 16105, e-mail rharvey@ccia.com, seeks Platt connection of Charles Platt, m. 22 November 1829 Marie Benedict, b. 12 April 1810, d. Eden, KS December 1892, daughter of Eliphalet Benedict and Elizabeth Harvey. Children: i. Angaelae R. Platt of Atkinson, KS; ii. Elizabeth (Wymore) Platt of Raton, NM.} [see also Vol 17-4 ]

Denise Platt, e-mail sqigmad@aol.com, is a granddaughter of Charles Washington Platt (1907-?) of Johnstown, PA. He had brothers Lester, Delbert, Leroy, Madison, and Henry, and sisters Alice (Dowling), Ethel (Yuska), and Cora (Costil). This is the family identified in the Charles Platt 1963 book as (CC) for Clinton Charles Platt (1831-1940) of Blackwell, PA. She is interested in finding a connection with other Platt families.

Edward R Smith, PO Box 44, Georges Mills, NH 03751, e-mail edwardrsmith@msn.com, seeks Platt connection of Delia Marie Platt, b - 1928, dau. of Clarence Edward Platt and Delia Elizabeth Walsh. She mar - 1954 James LeRoy Dayton, b - 1933, son of Clifford Ward Dayton and Bertha Belle Ray. children: Katherine Marie Dayton, b - 1954, James Michael Dayton, b - 1956; Mark Alan Dayton, b -1958, Kenneth Jay Dayton, b -1960.(specific dates omitted in internet version.)

From Richard Platt: For several years, a man named Platt Brightwell has been a member of our Scottish Country Dancing group in New Haven. He was unable to tell me how he got his name. Recently I met his father, Henry Platt Brightwell. It turns out that there is no family connection after all, but there is a much more interesting story. Mr Brightwell's grandfather was a Virginian, Henry Barnet Brightwell, and an officer in the Confederate Army. He was captured and paroled under the care of a Col. Platt of the Union Army. Col. Platt befriended him and was so king that the Brightwells took the Platt name into their own family. Henry Barnet Brightwell later was killed in a train wreck about 1890. But, who was this Col. Platt? Mr. Brightwell though he was one of the Plattsburgh (NY) Platts. Charles Henry Platt (1822-1869) (Platt #132-122-31), and a Plattsburgh Platt, was an Episcopal clergyman and Chaplain of the 28th NY Volunteers. And George Platt, (abt. 1800-abt 1885) (Platt #142-221-5), of Leroy, NY but not a Plattsburgh Platt, is simply identified as "Colonel" in the 1963 Genealogy. I can't say with any degree of certainty that either of them is our man. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Lorie Norton, PO Box 1126, Bloomfield, NM 87413, e-mail tljkn@fisi.net,has found the following Delaware wills:
Samuel Platt, MD, 1798 in White Clay Twp, New Castle. Daughters Dinah Worth, Margaret McCrea, Elizabeth Evans, Ann Anderson, Martha Durgan, Jane and Mary, Son, George and granddaughter Ann Ross. Exc. wife, Margery, and William McMechen.
2nd will: Samuel Platt, Jr. MD, Newark, 1795. Sisters Elizabeth Evans, Martha Duraghan; bro-in-law John Duraghan; Samuel Anderson, Mary and Ann Anderson, children of sister, Ann Anderson. Half brother George Platt; half sisters, Jane and Mary Platt. Exc. George Russell.
3rd will: Thomas Reynolds, Farmer, White Clay Crk, 1775. He refers in his will to the following: dau. Ann Platt; granddaughter Dinah Platt; grandsons Samuel and John Platt; grand-dau. Margaret Platt, alias McCrea. Exc son-in-law Samuel Platt and son George Reynolds.
Can anyone identify these Platts?

Karen Sweet, 45 Fort Hill Ave., Shelton, CT 06484, e-mail cheyenne64@aol.com, is looking for par/grpar, etc., of Rufus Platt, b. abt 1821, d. Norwalk, CT 27 January 1896. His death certificate states that he was born in Ridgefield, CT, but it may be Litchfield, CT. He married Clarissa Albin, dau. of Nathan and Sarah Albin of CT. (See Vol. 16, pp 17-8 and 23-26.)

G Richard Handrick of Lexington, MA wrote a paper entitled "A Platt Family of Bradford County, Pennsylvania" in 1992. This paper is about the family of Zophar Platt, b. CT.(see Vol 19-3 ). But at the end of the paper he has a note "Unplaced Platt" about Abel Platt.
"The Platt Family folder at the Bradford Co. Historical Society, Towanda, PA, has an obituary of Abel Platt, sent in by Tom Rickey, Geneva, NY in 1986. The newspaper from which it was taken is not identified. However, the Independent Republican [of Montrose, PA] for March 29, 1901 notes the passing of Abel Platt, 'an old-time hardware merchant and business man at Laceyville' (from files of the Susquehanna Co. Historical Society, Montrose, PA).
"The story from Mr. Rickey says that Abel Platt was born near Laceyville, Wyoming Co., PA, 1815 Aug 8 and died at Laceyville 1901 march 13, age 85y 7m 5d. He married Lucy Seger on 1837 Sept 4; she died 1886 Oct 23. Their surviving children were sons Henry and Lafayette, both of Laceyville, and daughters Mrs. Frank Warwick of Meshoppen and Mrs. Emma Warwick of Geneva, NY.
"As a young man, Abel had lived in Owego, Tioga Co., NY, and worked as a tin peddler. After he married, he farmed at Herrick, Bradford Co., Penna., for six years. Then he moved to Wysox, Bradford Co., where he lived for eight years. Finally, he moved to Laceyville, where he owned and operated a hardware store.
"William S. Young, of Aiken, SC, has suggested to GRH (1991) that Abel Platt might be a grandson of Major Jonathan Platt (b 1765 Apr 20, will probated 1825 June 10), who lived in Tioga Co, NY. This Jonathan Platt is in the Charles Platt, Platt Genealogy in America (1963) as Platt no. 124-121. Mr. Young has researched the Platt families of Tioga County, NY, who form part of his ancestry."
Can anyone confirm or disprove the above conjectural connection?

Richard J Harvey, e-mail rharvey@ccia.com, asked if Charles Platt (see below) could be son of Nathaniel Platt, son of Zopher Platt. (See Vol. 11, pp16-18). This information is at variance with that submitted back in 1993 by G. Richard Handrick. This is what Richard Harvey submitted:
Charles Platt, b. 1818, m. Cordelia, b. 1824.
*Charles Clinton Platt, b. 25 May 1842, m. Aliza Jane Fetterman/Fretterman, b. 27 January 1862.
**Adelbert Clarence Platt, b. 17 September 1882/88, m. Margaret Rachel, b. 18 February 1896.
*** James Clarence Platt, b. 14 September 1916, m. 23 November 1915 [sic] Pauline Marion Callahan, b 4 June 1915
****Wanda Platt
*Alma Platt, b 1845
*Heila Platt, b 1847
*Sarah Platt, b 1850.
Mr. Handrick replied that he did not believe that this Charles Platt and his wife Cordelia could be part of the Bradford County, PA Platt family, especially not a son of Nathaniel or grandson of Zopher. But he does write:
"Ephraim Platt, son of Zopher, and elder brother to Nathaniel, appears to have had a child he named Squire Platt (his real name, it seems) who had a wife Cordelia Lamphere. Three of their children who had died by the ages of 2 to 6 years (b dates c1849, c 1852, and c 1859) are buried in East Herrick Cemetery of Bradford County. Inscriptions on their gravestones name their parents as "Squire and Cordelia Platt." The wife is called "Adelia (Mrs. Squire Platt)" by C.F. Heverly in his History of bradford Co, PA (1915).
"I have found no other recorded information about Squire Platt and his wife. There are no gravestones in the cemetery and I have not located the names of any adult children of this couple. I would like to propose that Squire Platt is the same person as your Charles Platt, b. 1818, with wife Cordelia.
"Putative children of Ephraim Platt are a dau. (b 1800/1810), Isaac (1809-1849), Zopher (1811-1909), Anson, and Squire. Isaac and Zopher are buried in East Herrick Cemetery, Anson is named as purchaser of a cemetery plot there, and Squire could have been born in 1818. The birth dates of his dead children are suitable for a marriage of Squire and Cordelia."

Tammy Spencer, e-mail jspencer@cwix.com, says that her maternal grandfather was Theodor Gilbert Platt, b. Newberg, MO 27 June 1909, son of Walter Robert Platt, b. NY and grew up there; worked for the railroad in NY before being transferred to Newberg, MO where he met and married Lillian Maud? and d. while working for railroad, 1917/18. Can anyone find this family?

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this page last updated 4 Nov 2002