James W. Piatt compiled a one-volume scrapbook of newspaper clippings, letters, admission tickets, and ephemera documenting cases he tried as an attorney, his interest in the Freemasons and local politics, and other judicial, legal, and miscellaneous local affairs in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania.
The scrapbook features clippings related to local criminal trials. Prominent among them is extensive newspaper coverage of the 1892 trial and execution of Charles Wall for the murder of his wife, Julia Wall. Piatt served as the prosecuting attorney for the case, reported to be the "First Legal Execution in Wyoming County." Several articles relate to Wall's contention that Piatt acted dishonestly during the trial.
Newspaper coverage of the 1893 trial and execution of Isaac Rosenweig and Harris Blank for the murder of Jacob (Jakey) Marks, all three Jewish peddlers, is also prominently featured. Piatt served as a defense attorney during the trial. Piatt pasted in four letters addressed to him by Rabbi Adolph M. Radin, Visiting Chaplain of the New York Board of Jewish Ministers, who attended Blank and Rosenweig prior to their execution. Two letters addressed to Piatt from Harris Blank, one annotated as being written in the hand of Isaac Rosenweig, are also featured.
Piatt included clippings related to two other murder trials for which he served as an attorney: the trial of Adelbert Harford for the murder of George Kelley with an axe, and the trial of Fred Wall and Bert Pratt for the murder of C. Washington Werman.
Two of James Piatt's Sheriff's Office admission tickets for executions are also pasted into the volume, one for the execution of Charles Wall on March 8, 1892, and the other for the execution of Isaac Rosenweig and Harris Blank on May 18, 1893.
Later clippings and ephemera relate to local politics, judicial affairs, contested judicial elections, Freemasonry and the Knights Templar, and miscellaneous local affairs.
James Wilson Piatt was born on February 9, 1850, to William McKinney Piatt (1814-1889) and Rebecca Heston Piatt (1818-1888) in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. James W. Piatt was a life-long resident of Tunkhannock. He married Frances Cecelia Overfield (b. 1846) on March 4, 1875, and they had their only child, Eulalie Mae, on September 28, 1878.
James Piatt attended Lafayette College, graduating in 1870 before going on to earn his A.M. degree in 1873. He was admitted to the bar in 1871 and tried cases in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania. He was elected district attorney of the county from 1875 to 1878. Piatt served on the Supreme and Superior courts of Pennsylvania as well as on U.S. Circuit and District courts. He worked as the director and attorney for the Wyoming National Bank and was active with the Freemasons and Democratic Party, serving as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1884.
