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First ever published Fayette County History book in print again!

The La Grange Tourism Committee recently awarded funds to the Fayette Heritage Museum to reprint a long out-of-print Fayette County history book.

The author, Frank Lotto, was born in Germany in 1863 and immigrated to the United States in 1883. He was a school teacher and later studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1891. He was elected to the Twenty-fifth Texas Legislature in 1897 and served as a Representative for the Forty-second district in Austin County.

After serving in the Legislature he worked as the traveling agent for the German language newspaper, “La Grange Deutsche Zeitung”. While recovering from rheumatic fever at the Fayette County Hospital the thought of writing a book on Fayette County history entered his mind.  With financial support from his friends, he embarked on the project in January 1901 expecting to complete the volume in six months.  It took much longer and Lotto survived on the good will of his friends and the citizens of the county, often living with them while working on the book.

 Lotto published his soft cover book: “Fayette County: Her History and Her People” in September 1902 and it was printed at the Sticker Steam Press in Schulenburg, Texas. The 424 page history of the county includes a detailed description of the county along with five periods of history beginning with early settlement in 1821, and continuing through the organization of the County, the Civil War and Reconstruction Period and ending  with the “Era of Development 1876 to 1902”. Also included are photographs of many prominent citizens with brief biographies, copies of original documents from the courthouse, concise histories of all the communities in the county and advertisements from businesses across the county.

In 1908, Lotto left La Grange and moved to San Diego, Texas in Duval County where he practiced law and served as a justice of the peace and the Duval County Attorney for a number of years. In January 1942, Frank Lotto was beaten to death in his home in San Diego, Texas by a young man who followed him home and robbed him of $5.00

 Thanks to the information in Lotto’s book many descendants of early Fayette County residents are able to find information about their ancestors that would be available nowhere else. The book was last reprinted in hardcover in 1936. The Museum owns several copies of both the soft and hard cover copies and they are used heavily by researchers. The Museum has received many requests over the years from people who would like to purchase a copy of the book. Obviously, no more copies exist except in used book stores, internet rare book sites and the occasional garage sale.

The Tourism Committee funds allowed for a printing of 500 soft cover copies that recreate Lotto’s original cover and includes a new short biography of Lotto himself as well as a complete index.

 The book is available for sale along with other Fayette County history books and Texana titles in the Museum Gift Shop at 855 South Jefferson.  For more information call 979-968-6418 or check the website at www.cityoflg.com/library.htm.