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History in
a Pecan Shell
Lotta is said
to be named after the wife of a man named J. E. McLemore, although
no mention is made in our source of the man's authority to name the
town.
Lotta was a community with a post office - for only six months - in
1915.
Never a thriving community, Lotta's population was a mere ten people
in 1936 - the same as reported in 1990. Perhaps they are the same
people.
The community did have a school at one time - and a railroad (The
Louisiana and Arkansas Railway) until it was re-routed in the 1950s.
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Lotta, Texas
Forum
J. E. Mclemore
was my great grandfather and he indeed named the community after
his beloved wife. They were third cousins and had 12 children. He
bought 10 thousand acres of peach orchards. (That is what I was
told). His oldest daughter was Mozelle and when she was 18 he appointed
her as postmistress to the post office at the train station. There
was a huge house built with only four rooms [including] a dormitory
for the girls and one for the boys. The dining room table always
had 25 or more to eat and was in the hall. There was a teacher and
a German couple that ran the smoke house and helped with the cooking.
The family was from Dallas and was very wealthy. Mr. McLemore was
not skilled to run a large peach plantation and the family lost
the largest part of their money on this venture. Mr. McLemores secretary
was Mr. Martin Luther. He was a salesman, an honorary Colonel, a
great spokesman and author of at least one book on salesmanship.
He was also the fastest telegrapher in Texas at the age of 21. -
Holly Swanson, Saginaw, Texas, October 15, 2004
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1920s map showing
Lotta in eastern Harrison
County
From Texas state map #10749
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
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